On Temi Alabi’s twenty-second birthday, January 19, she received a dog in a package and the box in which it came bore no return address and was enclosed. She opened it on the floor in her room and the sunlight glimmered pleasingly on the charming little figurine. The dog was ceramic, two inches tall sitting on a ceramic porch.
Two weeks earlier the campus literary magazine had published “Canine Extraordinary”, a short story of hers about dogs in a girl’s life and how it affected both her and her family. Only she knew that the piece was as much facts as fiction, thought someone intuited at least something of the true importance that the story had for her, because the tongue dropping dog was packed with extraordinary care.
No one would got to such trouble to protect a one thousand naira novelty figurine unless the packaging was meant to signify the sender’s perception of the depth of her emotional involvement with the events of “Canine Extraordinary”.
Temi’s shared her off campus apartment with two other ladies in the university, at first she thought one of them had sent the dog but she was not close to either of them and they seemed unlikely candidates. Between her studies and her writing, she used up all the hours of the day devoted to sleeping watching movies or eating. She could not think of anyone who would have gone out of his way to buy the dog, packaged it, and send it anonymously.
The following days, she received the same package with ceramic dog in it, with different sizes and descriptions and the mystery deepened. One afternoon she went for lunch in one of the cafereria on campus that serves noodles. She went to order after sitting for some minutes and returned finally with a bottle of Fanta on a tray, she saw a ceramic dog on the table. She nearly dropped the tray in surprise. She looked over at a guy and a lady who sat right in front of her table and they were grinning at her, but they weren’t saying anything, so she said.
“You’ve been giving me dogs? But I don’t know you- do I?”
The guy said, ”Oh, you’ve gotten more of these, have you?"
“This is the fourth. You didn’t bring this for me, did you? But it wasn’t here a few minutes ago. Who put it on the table?’
He winked at his girlfriend and said to Temi, “You’ve got a secret admirer hun.”
“Who?” Temi asked almost impatiently.
“The guy was sitting at that table over there.” The guy said, pointing across the room. The table was now empty; the busboy had just finished clearing away the dirty dishes. “Soon as you left to get your drink, he came and dropped it on the table.” he added.
The girl said, “You don’t really know who he is?’
“No. What did he look like?”
“Tall.” The guy said. “Quite tall with good physique. Nice hair.”
“Nice eyes too.” His girlfriend said.
Temi held the dog and walked over to the busboy and sought a better description of the dog giver.
“He chop fried rice and jollof rice with salad and coke.” The boy said. “You no see am when he sidon for there?’
“I didn’t notice him, no.”
“Him be lepa, but not too lepa he get body small. He con wear Jeans, blue checkered shirt. He fine sha and e be like say he be ibo boy and he just they look your side but no fit talk anything.”
"Do you know his name or department or did he mention it somehow?’
“No oh.”
“Damn.” Temi said. She got home and found yet another plain white box on her doorstep. She opened it reluctantly. It contained a clear glass dog.
*Yeah so sorry i ended it here, wouldn't want to drop it all down now would i?
Who could this guy be anyways? What could he could want with Temi? Tell me what you think. Would write up the rest later stay connected * #smiles #hugs.
