Moth path

The moth seeks moon light

But is tricked by lesser lights

Quick death beckoning

Ife sat outside all evening wrapped in her flowery satin house coat after she had put Emeka to sleep. She watched moths fly towards the fluorescent garden light, kissing the glow of the lamp again and again until they fell onto the concrete floor, where they wriggled for a few seconds and then became still.

She envied the poor moths. What she would give to be in their place but she had no courage to do anything about her situation. Sitting amongst the trees and flowers calmed her soul though. The tinkling water sounds from the impressive waterfall that Obi bought from Germany helped too.

She looked at her watch. It was now 21.00. She had to go back into the house to check on their five year old son and to stay put. Obi would be coming back any minute now. She would be in trouble if he saw her like this. He didn’t like the idea of his woman sat outside. Not even in the privacy of the beautiful landscaped garden in their palatial mansion. He told her that he couldn’t bear the thought of anyone seeing her beauty besides himself. So she was locked in the house mostly and was flaunted briefly when he had business partners to dinner and needed to clinch a deal. Afterwards, she was relegated to her obscure pedestal.

Though she suffered emotional and physical abuse at his hands, Ife resigned herself to her fate. She felt as she laid her bed, so must she lie in it. She didn’t tell a soul her pain. Not her parents or her friends.

She let her mind trail slowly back to how she got here as she made her way back into her cage. She was of a humble background but had always dreamt of a life of glitter and dazzle. So, when Obi came along and offered it to her on a glitzy plate of gold as soon as she finished secondary school, she married him within a heartbeat. She refused to listen to Ohie, her best friend who told her she could live the life she wanted if she went to the university and got a job. Ohie even suggested she could learn a trade if the idea of slogging away at Uni was too much for her. She didn’t listen. She had the path of least resistance to her goal right in front of her. She took it. It had made her parents happy too.

When Obi came back home that night and had another go at her mind and body, she remembered those moths again.

Ohie who had left for higher education in the States as soon as Ife got married came back home in the 10th year of Ife’s miserable marriage. She saw with her eyes all that Ife had kept from her over the phone. As a human rights lawyer she pulled out all the stops to deal with Obi.

Seven years later, Ife owned a successful sim card manufacturing business and had started to see someone again. Obi spotted their wedding invitation when he came by to drop off Emeka as he did every other weekend since their divorce and the look on his face reminded Ife of how lucky she was.

Be clear in your soul

On the right path to your goals

Success awaiting

❤Aweni

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