ShortStory II Unseen Palace Queen

By Fred Nwaozor

The fascinating story of the duo commenced jokily but eventually metamorphosed into a serious movie.

They – Bethel and Martha – were seemingly less busy at the time being fresh graduates of university and secondary citadel, respectively. It suffices to assert that they ostensibly had all the time in the world to create a beautiful world of their own and choice. The conspicuous free moment was perhaps the driving force.

It all began on a Monday, precisely 10th December 2012, as they were separately as usual catching fun on the then most famous social media platform popularly known as ToGo. It was a memorable fateful day, to assert the least.

“Hi pretty!” the dude greeted in grand style.
It was about 8:25 pm, hence the best moment to engage a total stranger in a rigorous chat. Theirs wouldn’t be an exception.

“Hello handsome!” responded the damsel after a reasonable suspense.
The girl was unarguably pretty to the best of his knowledge, having painstakingly considered the appearance of her gorgeously displayed profile picture.

“Good to have you here.” He tendered in a jiffy. “You are indeed a very beautiful creature.” He hurriedly applauded.

“Thanks.” She wrote. “I appreciate.”

From her response thus far, he needn’t be told she was the jovial and lively type.

“You are welcome, dearie.”

The chatting was apparently progressive as could be boldly observed by anyone within the scene.

“This is Bethel.” He introduced graciously.

“Martha.” She succinctly supplemented.

The online conversation, in the long run, disclosed countless unknown identities to each participant, such – but not limited to – as Facebook account names, phone numbers, as well as participants’ localities and social cum academic statuses.

The first interaction lasted for hours before they called it a quit. This was so unusual among online pals. The duration of the unexpected chat seemed as if the duo had before then known each other for ages. A lot was really deliberated on their first encounter.

The chap gallantly went to bed, felt fulfilled, after the long chat. That ought to probably be the feeling of the damsel, who thanked the guy for his companionship prior to their departure from the platform.

Martha, 18 and hails from Agulu in Aniocha Local Government Area (LGA) of Anambra State but lived in Nkpor within Onitsha with her lovely family, was a fresh school leaver who had a strong dream – thus was deeply in need of a company that would spur her to go for the best. Bethel of Imo State was apparently a suitable match to this noble aspiration.

The friendship, online though, was getting every attention it required as the duo would be invariably busy on a daily basis discussing not just trivial issues but serious ones. This smoothly progressed to an extent that some of their respective siblings were informed of the union, even though they were yet to meet.

The both parties involved enjoyed the togetherness as they could testify to the good moments emanating from the unending electronic conversations.

The remarkable experience continued unabated till further notice. Subsequently, the chatting transcended to Facebook and became more lively and scintillating to the delight of the duo.

The frequent discussions revealed she was chocolate skin-coloured, slim and tall, whilst he was average, chocolate and equally slim. They were pleased with the descriptions, hence stuck passionately to each other.

He wasn’t just a friend, but equally a brother and counsellor as she was bold and proud enough to testify the unalloyed benefits being derived from the seeming divine friendship.

On his part, the feelings weren’t different. She wasn’t just a pal but endlessly seen as a heart-mender and soul-mate despite the distance, that, he couldn’t spend a whole day without hearing from – or reaching out to – her.

Martha whose native name was given to be Nkiru, was no doubt absorbed by Bethel as a palace queen who couldn’t be spotted anywhere around the royal dynasty. Days, weeks and months passed, yet the awaited physical presence of her majesty was not felt by the naturally-crowned young king.

The aforementioned bitter experience was the painful and ugly side of the splendid story. In spite of the unbearable pains, he waited patiently, yet to no avail. The excruciating effect of the ordeal was so severe and untold.

It’s noteworthy that she equally wished and longed to meet with him, but unfortunately couldn’t at the time possess the needed power and immunity to make out time for the foreseen meeting.

Sadly enough, months down the line, they lost contact unannounced owing to unexplained circumstances, perhaps resulting from change of contacts and what have you. This further resulted in a monstrous situation.

He was thereafter merely consoled by the pleasant look of the softcopy of her photographs, which were in his possession. Pathetically, that rather constituted more harm than good.

Amid the anguish and nightmares, he only sought consolation from the Creator who he thought had the needed powers to bring the unseen queen back. But still, ‘Angel’ – as he fondly called her – was nowhere to be found despite the frantic efforts made.

“Could it be real?” the dude soliloquized at one lonely night while deeply filled with nostalgia as he lay moodily in his sad bed. “When will this end?” he added soberly.

As days rolled by, all he could imagine was when he would once again come across her, but all the lofty daydreams couldn’t materialize into realities. The futile nature of the anticipation brought another devastating moment in his precious life.

As God would have it, two years later – 2014 to be precise, he reconnected with her via the social media after which it was cemented through phone calls.

This time, she was an undergraduate, studying Mass Communication in the revered Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU) and already in the second year of the degree programme.

It was like dream-come-true, though the reunion never yielded a physical meeting between the duo contrary to their wishes and prayers, particularly that of the dude.

“Could it be their fate?” a keen observer might ask.
Nevertheless, the chap remained resolute and resilient, perhaps due to his scientific experience. It has been on record that engineers, or scientists generally, have a unique way of doggedly pursuing something even when the scenario seems so challenging. He had been a graduate of Electrical Engineering from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University (ABU, Zaria in Kaduna State. Thus, he refused to see it as a mirage.

Oh, they lost contact again after some months. Afterwards, all his moves to find her proved abortive. She couldn’t be located on any social media and all her phone numbers remained unreachable or unavailable.

He saw hell as this very moment lingered, and remained helpless and unsure of what the next second entailed. Yet, there was obviously a burning desire to reunite with that same lady who had thus far caused him sleepless nights.

“I must see to the end of this endless journey.” exclaimed the lover boy, in one of his usual lonely moods. “I will never give up.”

The rest is history, please!


FDN Nwaozor
-Novelist, Playwright & Poet-
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frednwaozor@gmail.com
Twitter: @mediambassador

N.B: This short story was scripted on 10/12/2016