SEVEN YEARS IN A DREAM 🏡 HOUSE____PROMPT #53

Adaeze had the same dream for seven years.

In the dreamm, she was inside a big white hoouse with goldden currtains. There was food on the tabble - jollof rice, fried chiicken, malt. And a man was waiting for her at the table. She never saw his face, but his voice was sweet. He would say, "Adaeze, you finally came. I have been waiting for you since you were small."

She would wake up smiling. Every time.

Her mother took her to the prayer house in Nnewi. The prophetess said, "This is your husband from the spirit realm. He is a rich man in America. He will come for you. You must not follow any village boy."

So Adaeze waited.

She finished secondary school, fine girl, fair skin, long hair. Boys came - Chinedu the teacher, Obinna that fixes keke, even Emeka that just returned from Malaysia. She told all of them, "No. My husband is coming from America. He is already waiting for me."

People laughed, but Adaeze believed. Every night, she entered the white house in her dream and ate chicken. The man would say "Soon."

She was 23, 24, 25...... Still waiting. She refused to learn tailoring, refused to go to market, refused to apply for NCE. "Why should I suffer? My husband is coming."

On her 26th birthhday, she had the dreeam again, but this timme it was differrent. The white house was dirty. The curtains were torn. The food on the table was spoiled, with flies. And the man at the table finally turned - his face was her own face, older, tired, wrinkled.

She woke up shouting.

She ran to the prophetess. The prophetess was sick, lying on mat, eyes white. The prophetess said, "Adaeze, I lied to you."

Adaeze froze.

"Seven years ago, your mother brought you to me. She gave me 2,000 naira to tell you sweet story, so you will not follow boys and bring shame. I did not see any American husband. I saw a lazy girl that likes dream. So I gave you a dream to hold."

The floor opened.

Adaeze walked home like a mad woman. Her mother was cooking. She asked her mother, "Mama, is it true? You paid prophetess to lie to me?"

Her mother cried. "I meant no harm! I was protecting you! I did not want you to spoil like your sister!"

Adaeze sat down on the floor of their kitchen. Seven years. Seven years of waiting for chicken that never existed. Seven years of saying no to real life because of fake dream.

All her mates had gone far. Chinedu the teacher is now principal. Obinna now has three shops in Nkwo market. Emeka that returned from Malaysia is married with two kids.

And she, Adaeze, 26, no skill, no school, no husband, just fine face and empty pot.

That was her rude awakening. Not that someone lied to her. But that she chose to believe the lie because it was sweeter than work.

That night, for the first time in seven years, she did not dream of white house. She dreamt of herself sweeping her mother's shop, packing rice, calling customers. She woke up by 5am.

She went to her mother and said, "Mama, teach me how to do your rice business."

Her mother looked at her, confused. "You want to sell rice?"

Adaeze said, "Yes. I have woken up."

It was not America that was coming. It was her own hands.

And for the first time, the dream she had in the morning was one she could control.

IMAGES ARE AI GENERATED

Prompt: The Inkwell Combined Writing Prompt #53 - Rude Awakening
Genre: Fiction