HEAVEN'S GATE

The alarm rang in its usual loud way as soon as it was seven O’ clock and as it continued, Stacey came round gradually to consciousness. Her initial spontaneous reactions was to jump off her bed, put off the alarm and have a bath in preparation for Chief Ferekun’s arrival. However this evening, she was unusually moody and this bothered her. What is there to be moody about? She asked herself thoughtfully. Is this not what I’ve always wanted? Unlocking her gaze from the ceiling, she turned and looked round the room. By her bedside were a number of expensive shoes and stilettoes which were always a subject of discussion whenever her friends came visiting. On the rack by the wall were bags of various colours, designs, and sizes. Her jewelry box was full and even the new one Chief bought for her was teeming with choice necklaces, wristwatches, pendants and earrings. On the stool beside her bed were her four phones each costing a value that could match her parents’ salaries. Even her bank account, the one she opened for the purpose, was not left untouched by Chief’s bounteousness. Her status had so changed within the seven months of their dalliance that she was able to buy herself an apartment off campus without batting an eyelid. But what stupefied her most was that all these bounties were a token for engaging in a once-in-a-week romp with the bald Lagos chief. With these, she assured herself that there was no reasonto fret. Jumping off her bed, she made a dash for her state-of –the-art bathroom and in fifty minutes Stacey was heading out of her apartment towards the silky blue Avensis vehicle waiting for its final occupant in what was to be an inauspicious ride. “Oga said I should come and pick you and bring you to the club.” “WHAT!” Stacey fumed facing the driver. “So your Oga thinks he can do whatever he likes now ehn? What exactly does he take me for? Does he think I’m a gold-digging minx who he can send his driver to pick up from the streets? It’s not his fault; it’s because I’ve been too modest in my demands.” Throwing her gold purse into the car and placing herself in the ‘owner’s seat’, she took another cold look at the driver before ordering the man to drive her to the club. Stacey hissed and cursed as she was being driven to the high-brow part of the city. As another round of vituperations poured forth from her, they were quickly stifled when suddenly the colossal contents of a long vehicle on the second lane tipped over and compressed the Avensis. A crowd assembled quickly and spirited efforts were made to rescue the occupants of the crushed vehicle. The object which had fallen on the car was a large tank-like container and it took a long time of hacking and sawing to get it removed. When the remains of the car came into view, the crowd gathered and all they could see was a large mass of mangled wreckage from which it was not possible to extricate any living being. Stacey was being driven at a very high speed to her destination through a hazy and circuitous channel and in a jiffy she was one of the members of a queue in front of a very enormous and gigantic gate. There were mighty white-robed beings that screened each person on the line, they were aided by a very large screen which displayed the lives and works of those being screened. Those who did not make it were sent along another route past a large dark tunnel and Stacey observed numerous people on that road. As she stepped to the fore-front of the queue, the screen displayed the events of her squalid short life. When the viewing was over, without anyone saying a word, she moved away from the line, away from the scrutiny of the big angels and from the beauty of the brightness that exuded from behind the white gates. She contemplated begging and pleading like some were doing but she knew nothing could be done to salvage the situation. Tears began to form in her eyes and as she moved further away from Heaven’s Gate, her senses became aware of complaints, of regrets, of weeping and of wailing. The alarm rang in its usual loud way as soon as it was seven O’ clock and as it continued, Stacey came round gradually to consciousness.
By Dapo-Thomas, E.