Facing The Reality Of Life (Pt. 2): Entry For Dreemport/Scholar and Scribe Fiction Challenge.

You can read https://ecency.com/hive-199275/@ngwinndave/facing-the-reality-of-lifepart one here.

Aunty Kate's driver waited for the kids to settle down in the car before skillfully manoeuvring the car out of the premises. As soon as the car was out of sight, Ada and her siblings could no longer hold back the tears they didn't want the little kids to see. They wept bitterly, and one could hear them asking over and over again, "Why? Oh why?", but no one could answer their questions.

The visitors tried their best to console them amidst their own tears. Ada could not help recalling the events of the past few weeks.

She had travelled to her husband's station from her school as her husband had insisted that she should further her education since their kids were with her parents. A few days after she arrived, she got a call from one of her sisters telling her that their mother had been admitted to the hospital. They needed her to be around to make it easier for them to handle their mother's restaurant, and also take care of the three little children. It wasn't until she got to Hilltop that she heard the full story.

Grandma and two of her daughters left home one particular morning. They always went with her every morning to get the place ready before clients start coming in to dine and order. Their brother who was at home was helping Nwabu, Christy and Bliss to pack their lunch bags so that he would walk with them to their school which was not far from their house. From there, he would take a bus to his own school which was farther away.

As Grandma got to her restaurant, she saw a strange object in front of the door. It was a black plastic bag tied with black and red pieces of cloth. Without thinking twice, she kicked the object away with her right leg, unlocked the door and went in to start the day's business.

At about noon, she started feeling some strange sensations on her legs, and before long she was finding it difficult to move her legs. Thankfully, Grandpa just arrived at the restaurant for his break hour. Seeing his wife's condition, he quickly hailed a cab to convey them to the hospital since he could not take her on his motorcycle in this kind of situation. They thought it was a minor case that could be resolved the same day, but it turned out to be the first of the many days and nights in the hospital trying to find a solution for a case that could not be diagnosed after running several tests. How is it possible to use a microscope and other laboratory equipment to diagnose a case that had spiritual undertones?

It was only when Grandma confided in her husband and children that she had a strange dream a few days earlier that they understood that the case was not a physical one.. In the dream, someone had threatened her to choose between her life and her restaurant. She never gave the dream a second thought until she found herself in the hospital battling for life and the doctors could not help.

Meanwhile, Nwabu, Christy and Bliss just assumed that Grandma was very busy at the restaurant that she could not come home to see them for many days. Those were very trying times for Ada, her siblings and Grandpa as they tried to hide the truth from the three little children, hoping that Grandma would recover and things would go back to normal. They took turns sleeping over at the hospital with her. With Ada's help, they were able to keep the restaurant open because money was needed to pay for tests and medication. Alas, that which they feared most happened that morning.

Ada had just got to the hospital with food for her mother, and also to keep her company while her younger sister Glory would go to the restaurant to bathe, change her clothes and rest. She met Glory outside the hospital room who told her that the doctors were on ward-round and had asked her to wait outside. Ada, took her place, waiting for the doctors and nurses to finish attending to her mother. Suddenly, there were hurried movements of the medical team in and out of the room. Ada did not understand what was happening until they saw a stretcher being wheeled out of the room with a white sheet covering the person on it.
" Noooooooooo!!!", she screamed rushing towards the stretcher, but she was held back by some nurses who tried to calm her down and console her. It was such a pitiful sight to behold.

When she had managed to pull herself together, she called her husband to let him know what had just happened. He could only try to console her over the phone. After ending the call, she tried to get in touch with her father but the call was not answered. After trying a few more times without success, she decided to call her brother, Phil, who immediately asked his boss for permission so he could go to Hilltop. On his way, he decided to call Uncle Ben.

Ben was Aunty Kate's husband, and was one of the top executives in the same company as Grandpa. He had just got back from the emergency unit of the company's private hospital, where Grandpa was receiving treatment after being involved in an accident that almost claimed his life that morning. He wondered about the events of that morning, the call he had received from the officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps who had rescued Grandpa after he was hit by a lorry while riding his motorcycle, and also about the call he received from Aunty Kate telling him that Grandma had died.

Earlier that morning, Grandpa had come to work but he just kept having an uneasy feeling. After some time, he called Ben to inform him that he wanted to go and see his wife at the hospital. Some minutes later, Ben got another call from Grandpa, but was surprised to hear a strange voice introduce himself as an officer of the Road Safety Corps and inform him about the accident. He was still wondering how to inform Ada and her siblings who had been calling Grandpa's number since the officers handed the phone over to him.

When Phil's call came in, Ben asked him not to come to the company but that they should meet at the restaurant as he wanted to see the siblings together. He was thankful that his wife, Kate, had already picked Ada up from the hospital and taken her to the restaurant to meet the others. The pain of losing a mother was already too much for these siblings so he needed someone to be with him as he had to tell the children about the accident. He called a few other friends and relatives so they could be there as well.

They all tried to console Ada and her siblings, encouraging them to be strong to be able to take care of their injured father and the three little kids... How were they even face these trio that had been asking to be taken to visit Grandma at the restaurant these past few days? They all agreed that Phil should go home first before the others, and that Aunty Kate should distract them by sending them over to her house to play with their cousins.

For days, people kept coming over while the burial arrangements were going on. They eventually broke the news of Grandma's passing to Grandpa who then understood why he was feeling uneasy that fateful morning. He kept wondering how his youngest daughter, Christy, and his two grandchildren would cope when the get to know because there are things that can never be kept secret forever.

I, @ngwinndave, authored this post. I also designed the photo using Canva elements