CNF: When Silence Feels Strange.

Living in a country like Nigeria, getting used to the sound of generators due to the lack of power supply becomes normal, but some people's cases are even worse than that of others, as both on the street and off the street (back in their apartments), they have been forced to live with the sound of generators, and there is no escaping that. No matter how hard they try to enjoy some peace and quiet, they have nowhere to go to enjoy that, as the sound of generators is on the streets and back in their apartments, both from them and their neighbours.

The sound of the generator is something we have been forced to live with; some people deal with it just on the streets, some deal with it just at home, while some have to deal with it both at home and on the streets, and that is when it becomes bad because you get used to it and feel strange when you don't hear it.

Once you gain admission into college, as a rookie you are mandated to stay in the school dormitory, and after your first year in college, you can live off campus if you want. When I gained admission, I lived in a school dormitory, and after my first year in school, I decided to live off campus so I could experience what life was like off campus, but it came with a very terrible experience. The apartment I moved into had 30 rooms in total, and every occupant owned a generator, including myself, who had just moved in, and that should explain how terrible it was. Imagine having 30 generators on at the same time, the sound, the vibration. There is no way one could think clearly or have a quiet time.

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There was no way the apartment was quiet, as there is no way that all 30 generators will be off at the same time; if yours is off, that of at least 10-15 others will be on. You can turn off your own generator so you can experience some peace and quiet, only for 10 others to turn theirs on and even add playing very loud music to it, and the quiet time you crave for stays a craving that is never satisfied.

Living in an apartment like that was terrible at first. I could not sleep at night because of the noise. Even as a student, I could not read in my apartment, as I had to go to a friend's place just so I could read whenever I wanted to, and at that point, I started regretting ever leaving the school dormitory because things were different there. The peace and quiet we enjoyed then was heavenly, but I never valued it until my experience with generator sounds, loud music and people shouting for no reason, and I could not help but wish I could turn the hands of time to when I decided to try living off campus.

One afternoon after lectures my friends and I experienced something that felt strange in my apartment: "silence". It had never happened before that you stepped into that apartment and at least 5 generators were not on, but that day not a single generator was on, and for the first time in months, since after I moved in, the entire apartment was quiet; there was no generator sound, no loud music, and nobody was shouting or making unnecessary noise.

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"Are you sure we are in the right place?" Dera asked as he went back outside to confirm we were in the right apartment.

"I am shocked, bro. I know we are in the right place, but, bro, I never thought this lodge could ever experience this level of silence." I responded, waiting for him by the staircase as he tries to be sure we are in the right apartment.

"Bro, this is your apartment, but why the silence?" 'Dera?' he asked as he approached me.

"All occupants agreed on the time to turn on the generator and when to turn it off so that we can all hear ourselves think from time to time." One of the occupants who overheard our conversation responded.

"Thank God." Dera said, "Are you sure you are an occupant here too? Why don't you know about this?" Dera asked.

"I have been living in your place for over a week now; how will I know that?" I asked as I opened my door, and we went in, and for the first time in months, I experienced some peace and quiet in an apartment I paid for.