Three months passed.
I had grown visibly leaner now, and I easily got exhausted. I made sure to avoid my family members in the guise of going on business trips. In a bid to experience the 'life,' I was about to lose, I dove into terrible things. I knew I was damned to die, but the fear of death drove me into worse things than I could imagine.
I went to the US and squandered as much money as I could, fooled around, and got into drugs. It got so bad that I got arrested and later deported. I still couldn't tell my family members, so I had to sort out my transportation and settlement myself. With most of my money gone, I was far more depressed than before I voyaged into that terrible life.
I found myself in a backwater motel in Ogun State eventually. The place was terrible, but I was almost out of money. After paying for accommodation, I entered the shabby room, sighed at the sight, and plopped down on the bed, drowning myself in my depression again. I steered clear of beer this time. I wasn't going to allow myself to waste away any further.
My thoughts were interrupted by raps on the door. I bellowed angrily at the door, wishing the person would disappear. The knocking continued, and I was forced to go and see who dared to knock at a random stranger's door.
The door opened, revealing a clean-cut young man with a smile on his face and a bible in his hands. I groaned when I saw that. The Jesus people had come again.
"Look, I don't know why you are here, but whoever you're looking for is not here. I just got the room, okay?" I tried to keep myself calm and not roast him for interrupting my pity party.
"I'm here to see you." He said in a voice I found annoying for some reason. He smiled, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking he was a stupid young man who had everything working out for him. With that thought, I got enraged and roared at him.
"But I'm not interested in seeing you! Good! Bye!" I slammed the door hard in his face. I returned to my bed, fuming. I waited a bit, anticipating another knock on the door so I could let hell loose on him. He didn't knock anymore.
"Better." I mocked under my breath.
I returned to where I was wallowing in self-pity and to not lie. The self-pitying usually made me feel better for a short while. Consoling myself had been the go-to treatment I partook of for those months that I drank myself into a stupor.
I fell asleep. This happened very frequently now. I would spend most of the day indoors, sleeping, or just on the bed, resting. I usually didn't have an appetite for anything. I knew my condition had reached a critical stage. I needed to see my family soon.
I had a dream where I was in a cold black void. There was nothing around me. I was floating, feeling no force of gravity. Then, a light sprang up in the darkness a few meters away. Involuntarily, I drifted towards it. As I approached, I saw a white figure standing on nothing as though he was on bare ground.
I stopped in front of him and waited. I didn't know what was going on, and I didn’t know where I was. The person looked at me and with a stern frown, he proclaimed with an authoritative and robotic voice.
"Access denied!"
A wave of horror took over me as I knew I was damned. A powerful and terrifying suction force suddenly came from beneath me, drawing me into a blackness worse than I had ever seen. I couldn't even find the time to scream. To hell with me.
***
I woke up drenched in sweat, and for a second, I looked up because I felt that I wasn't alone. I saw a dark shadowy figure, looking down at me. Death. Fear, much greater than I had ever known, came on me. I jumped off the bed, and due to my already weakened body, I fell to the ground.
I looked up again, and there was nothing there. I knew my time was almost up, and from the dream I had, I was being given a final chance to make a choice. I wouldn't have believed in the concept of heaven or hell, but with these two little experiences, I knew what I had to do.
I struggled to my feet, wobbling towards the door. The goal was to find that young man wherever he was and listen to what he had to say. It was not a coincidence that all these things were happening.
I opened the door and found the young man sitting on the floor and flipping through his bible like he was at home. We both stared at each other for a second. The man was startled, and I was shocked.
"You didn't leave?" I asked. a weird fuzzy feeling spreading in my chest.
"God told me to stay, so I stayed. I'm sorry, but I must pass this message to you. It's a life or death thing." He said in an almost cowardly fashion. I ignored all of his mannerisms.
"I know. Please come in. Thank you for not leaving." From my heart, I thanked him. I led him into the room and poured out my life to him, humbly taking in all the words he spoke to me. I said that prayer of faith and the fear disappeared.
***
"Daniel! What happened to you?" My mother exclaimed in horror and pain.
I went home to see my parents the day after the encounter. Their hearts all broke when they saw me. I had become a shadow of my former self, gaunt, tired, listless, and pale.
"I'm so sorry. I— I couldn’t bear to tell you. I was diagnosed with blood cancer 5 months ago. The doctor said it was too late to do anything about it, and I didn't want to burden you with hospital bills."
My family grieved over me the days after, but I was happy to console them, informing them that I had set everything in order. I sat and dined with them to the best of my ability, as food no longer meant anything to me. I anticipated the day I would leave the world because I had read of the things that waited on the other side.
"I'm ready." I said. The dark shadowy figure had returned while I wrote on my bed, but i wasn't afraid. I had... hope.
(End.)
Psalms 23:2-4
[2]He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
[3]He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
[4]Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Sighs..