AN ELECTION GONE WRONG-Episode 6

0
703

 
Somewhere in your dream, there were ballot boxes and officials gathered around a compound which looked like a school premises. There was a throng of people in a long file waiting for their turns to cast their votes. From all indications, it was the national presidential and parliamentary elections that were going on. From where you stood, you saw things moving on smoothly until it was dark.
 
Then, you saw a few macho men moving toward the ballot boxes. You stood still at where you were, looking on to see what would happen. As they neared the ballot boxes, the police officers on duty by then approached them to caution them. Before the police officers could get close enough, there were three gunshots from an unidentified direction. The poor voters ran for their dear lives.
 
Three police officers were shot dead instantly. The other police officers scampered around to find the direction of the shots. Just before a minute, two more shots came from the bush. One hit a police officer and another hit a voter. The macho men hurriedly run with the ballot boxes to a place where they kept some motorcycles and rode off at top speed.  What looked as a mere drama became a serious shootout between the police officers and the macho men.
 
Visit http://www.pobsonline.com for more amazing stories
 
From where you hid yourself, you were sure you would escape death. Few minutes into the shootout, a police officer fired a shot at one of the macho men at the same time that he was hit by a bullet from another macho man. The police officer lost control of his gun and directed it toward you. Painfully, you were hit by a stray bullet. All of a sudden, you woke up! You began to sweat profusely and your whole body was as hot as burning coal. Your body shivered like a child suffering convulsion.
 
You managed to shift to one corner of your room and coil yourself up like a snake. Thoughts of what you heard from the macho men, what Jonas told you and what ensued between you and Esinam began to run a race through your brain. You were caught between continuing your work and finding out the hidden truth.
 
After a long conflict within yourself, you decided to keep mute and do your work.  “What if they find out that I want to expose them?’ “Who would support me? I don’t have a family. Who do I talk to?” “After all, if there is war, we shall all suffer it. It wouldn’t be me alone”. These were your bedrocks.  You gradually managed to drift back to sleep, not forgetting the fact that you were four days away from the polls.
It was a bright sunny Monday morning. It was the seventh day of the last month in the year 2020. You woke up from your bed, peeped through the window and saw the atmosphere look dull and uninviting. It was an unusual Monday morning. It looked much like a Sunday morning in the harmattan season. You picked up your wrist watch from the new plastic table you bought from returns from your new job.
 
It was five minutes past 7 O’clock. You needed to be at the polling station to cast your vote, it dawned on you. If you didn’t get there early enough, you would have to be in a long queue to cast your vote and that you didn’t want to suffer. You quickly took your bath, got dressed in the finest clothing in your wardrobe; thanks to the politicians.
 
Visit http://www.pobsonline.com for more amazing stories
 
At exactly thirty minutes past seven, you were at the polling station. It was the premises of an R/C basic school. Few steps from the polling station, you could see a long file of people waiting patiently to cast their votes. From a mere sight-count, you could estimate about five hundred voters waiting to cast their votes.
 
Well, you hadn’t come early enough to avert the problem you most hated and you needed to cast your ballot too. Your single vote could change something. In times like that, people came to the polling stations as early as 3:30A.M, waiting patiently for day to break so they could cast their votes and go back to their various jobs. You knew you had spent so much time sleeping the previous night so you chose the only option left; to join the queue.
Around 10:30 A.M, you were able to cast your vote peacefully and successfully and you decided to hang around to watch the whole electoral process. You walked toward an uncompleted classroom block which stood few meters from where the ballots were being cast. You sat there all by yourself, observing the electoral process when your mind decided to keep you company.
 
Not a good company, nor a bad one but just maybe, the best one you could get at that juncture. Your mind took you down the traces of memory where you visualized the dream you had the other time. It looked so real and you began to fight your fears within you. You knew you would curse yourself and your whole generation if the dream came to pass because you had the chance to save your people.
 
You were lost In thoughts trying to figure out the best way to resolve your conflict when someone mentioned your name from afar. You failed to hear it at the first instance but not the second time.
 
You turned to the direction of the sound and holala! It was Esinam.  You couldn’t hold the joy that grew in your heart when you saw her. You walked up to her, hugged her and had a little chat with her. Ever since you took her dial, you only met her twice, most of the time you spoke on phone.
 
“Good morning” she greeted
 
“Good morning, Esinam. How are you this morning?”
 
“I’m doing great. You?”
 
“I’m great too. Just finished casting my ballot” you said
 
“Oh okay. I’m yet to join the queue. I just got here”
 
“Oh! You are late. Such a queue! You need to join now”
 
“Since you have voted already, what are you still doing here?
 
“Yes. I am just monitoring the process. You know, these guys could be tricky sometimes” you said.
 
“Okay. Let me join the queue then. I shall see you when I’m done”
 
While leaving, something struck her mind. “Wait a minute. I thought this guy said he is a politician? So why does he have to be here himself? Is it allowed? And isn’t his life so important to him? Or he was just being a man with me? Well, let me ask him after the election” She concluded and joined the file.
 
You sat still at where you were previously, down the valleys of your mind, thoughts of times to spend with Esinam played games with you. You smiled broadly at the kisses and fun that you anticipated with her. You saw both of you locked in a world of your own. Where you built an empire. You were the emperor and she was the empress. All you saw were roses and butterflies. You foresaw a beautiful future with a brilliant family and an everlasting love.
 
You sat there still, day-dreaming about Esinam when your earlier thoughts came flying back into your head. You tried resisting them but the more you tried, the more they came and the more they wrestled your sweet future with Esinam. Finally, you decided to go to the next polling station. Maybe, those strange thoughts would die at your own polling station and they may not get the strength to follow you to the next polling station.
—————————-
—————————–
 
And this brings us to the end of episode 6 of this interesting story. Please and please, no matter where you are or who you are, try as much as possible to uphold peace and justice in the least way you can during this election. Ghana needs you alive! Your family and friends need you alive! Stay safe and promote peace!
 
Visit http://www.pobsonline.com for more amazing stories
 
To be continued…….