Librokraft Publishers

Segment 1
Rain was falling. The wind that accompanied it blew furiously sounding like a hundred howling dogs. Trees bent as it blew and leaves trembled after it was past. The rain and the wind were having a field day.

Tricia did not like it. She prayed to God to stop the rain as she waited in a shed in front of the shop were she xeroxed her documents. She wanted to get back to the admission block as soon as possible so that she would submit her file. She was securing the admission which the school offered her. She had been offered admission into the school of natural sciences in the department of geology.

But the rain would not abate. And she could not afford to get wet. She was prone to cold and so it meant instant illness should she go out into the cold. But that was not the only reason why she would stay where she was till the rain stopped. Another reason was her documents. The rain would spoil them. So she waited.

She was the first child in a family of four. Her immediate younger was also a girl and then the boys who were twins. Her father was a civil servant at a low salary grade while her mother was a petty trader.
They were not rich, but they were not very poor. Each member of the family tried to contribute to the up-keep of the family in any way he or she could. She used to help her mother sell her wares at the market after school hours. That was when she was in the secondary school. Even the twins helped by picking palm kernels and oil beans which their mother sold for little money.
Though they were not rich she was happy with her family. Their parents loved the children and the siblings loved one another. It was a happy family. It was this same family that would pull its resources together to see her through the university.
“Excuse me,” someone said to her interrupting her thoughts. “May I pass?”
“Yes sure.” she said and took some steps to the side so as to allow the person to pass.
Then she looked up.
It was a boy , about two years older than her nineteen years. He was very tall, with wide shoulders and a narrow waist. He was dark in complexion. He was so dark that his teeth seemed to be like a moon in the darkness of his face. He had an umbrella.
“Thank you,” he said and walked past her. He kept the umbrella just before the shop and entered the shop. He did what he wanted to do and started coming out. Just then the wind howled one more time and seemed to be interested in the umbrella. The wind lifted it up and started to blow it away. And he was not close enough to stop it. But Tricia was fast. She caught it just as it made past her. She turned and saw him behind her. And she offered him the umbrella.
“Thank you very much,” he said.
“You're welcome,” she replied.
The wind stopped blowing, but the rain continued to fall.

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