And it dropped, she felt her heart race, how on earth was she to explain to Ayo that she had allowed it slip from her hands? She was not a fan of voodoo but the instructions had been specific from the witch doctor.
“Do not let it fall, if it does you’d run mad instantly”, the words he had said so coldly to her.

How many seconds more would it take for her sanity to vanish, she wondered as she stared at the yolk and fragmented egg shells on the floor. How many seconds more?

Seven days ago

“Only ten applicants would be picked across the nation. We wish you all the very best, currently there are only a thousand of you left out of the fifteen thousand applications submitted at the start of this competition. The truth however is that the best ten would be picked on not just merit alone but also by chance.” The speaker paused, as though trying to ascertain that the audience in the hall was truly listening with undivided attention.

“I have to emphasize that chance or luck if you choose to call it that plays a big role in the final selection. You all seated here are the best 1000, getting the best 10 is chiefly dependent on chance. So if you know what you believe in, what your faith might be; if you pray, whatever deity you worship, you just do what you need to do. May life be fair to you all.”

The speaker had then dismissed the applicants and a noisy atmosphere had resulted almost immediately.

Layo had packed her stuffs and files into her bag, she was still on her seat and was not too bothered about standing up. All she had on her mind was winning, she wanted to be among the best 10 so bad that she developed a headache merely from the thought.

She had had no interest initially but Funmi had continued to pressure her to apply, Funmi had even gone on to submit the application for her and Layo had been surprised when she had been called for the first series of tests.

That had motivated her to move on and with much studying and prayers from her flatmate Funmi, she had ended up among the best 1000.

Funmi was still praying for her, that she knew, and Funmi had also been trying to involve her in her morning prayers. There were days she joined her and there were days she hugged her pillow instead. But right now, with this best 10 struggle, she was certain she would be needing a lot of prayers.

She brought out her phone and dialed Funmi’s number.

“Hello babe, how far?” Layo greeted.

“I dey oh. How was it dear?” Funmi asked over the receiver.

“It was fine, but I’m scared, I’m really scared Funmi.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Be praying for me oh, they are going to pick just ten out of the one thousand of us left. And it would be based mainly on chance.” She paused, “pray that I get lucky.”

She heard Funmi’s laughter over the phone and somewhat somehow she got irritated.

“What’s funny now?” She asked.

“Sorry that I’m laughing, but the thing is as believers, we don’t live on luck. We live on God’s grace, His grace sustains us. So I won’t pray for luck for you.” Funmi replied before adding, “Layo, are you there?”

“Yes,” she replied almost in a whisper. She could tell where the conversation was heading, Funmi never hesitated to talk to her about Jesus when ever she got the chance.

“Babes, I don’t need you to get offended. But the truth is Jesus has made this grace available and sufficient too, all you need do is connect to Him. I’d pray for you though and God will do wonders but you need to draw close to God for your own good.”

“Thank you, I’ve heard. Sha pray for me.” Layo replied, “Take care, ore mi.”

“Alright, bye! See you at home.”

Layo had ended the call and sighed, it was not like she did not know about God, she loved Jesus but she was just a regular churchgoer, no commitment and no understanding of God and His ways. She had no hunger to even know Him more, she knew it was bad but she was not sure she was ready to be the kind of Christian Funmi was. It all seemed like too much responsibility.

She stood up and began to head out of the hall. She had almost gotten to the bus stop when she heard her name from afar.

She turned back and was surprised to see who had called her from a  car parked just a few feet away from where she stood. She was shocked, never in a million years would she have thought she would ever get to see that face again; somewhere in her mind she felt strongly that this was a dream.

He called her name again, this time with a smile on his face. And that was when it struck her, this was certainly not a dream.

To Be continued next week Friday!!!

Written by Stephanie Ugbor