GET FOUND!

It’s a noisy evening in the room here in my hostel (it is hall 4, baby). If you were here, you will notice that my roommates are either cooking, sleeping, getting set for night class or making noise like me. Just as quickly as scientist described lightening, an avalanche of memories sweeps through my wandering mind. 

There’s one that seem to have completely seized my head, the childhood game (or should I say play!): Hide-and-Seek. C’mon, tell me you remember! You also remember those folks who hid too well. The unending search for them always brought the fun game to an abrupt end. After what seemed like hours of searching, I’ll usually shout “where you dey? Oya, come out…game up!” I guess you still remember the many argument that greeted their coming out? I once overheard a man saying to a bunch of kids, “hide-and-seek becomes interesting when you GET FOUND! So true!

A girl I love needed some money to enroll for a holiday writing workshop that was hosted by her lifelong literary mentor. The program meant a lot to her. It came to pass, the workshop came to an end and she couldn't attend, so she became depressed. Later in her own words, she said “I didn’t wanna bother anyone” (bother? What are friends & family for?). Some people praised her on what they called maturity. But, her family and friends (me included) said how pissed they were that she didn’t trust them enough to share in her dreams. She played Hide-and-Seek, adult style. According to Robert Fulghum, “Wanting to hide, needing to be sought, confused about being found”.

It come in form of sentences like, “i don’t want to bother anyone”. ”I don’t know how people will see it” “What if?” “What if not?” C’mon brothers and sisters stop hiding too well and GET FOUND! We need each other to survive. The wound you don’t open won’t heal. Don’t worry about folks who might injure it with scorn, others will be there to treat it with the plaster of friendship. Swallow your pride and GET FOUND!

Get in the game. Oh! What fun it is to be found! You keep struggling with that course and a friend has the light…GET FOUND! You are starving and a sister got a table for two…GET FOUND! You are lonely and you could use a friend...GET FOUND! You are broke and a brother got some cash to spare…GET FOUND! Enough tears, enough wishes, enough loneliness, enough reclusion, enough hiding, just GET FOUND!

To everybody who has been hiding too well… GET FOUND and make life interesting!

pulished in LAWSAN EDITORIAL, 2014 edition.