Saint Patrick

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Dorm 10 is no more. It has been razed to the ground. To be honest, I feel no emotion. Life has moved on for me. I have new attachments to be sentimental for. But when I was 13 and in form one, Dorm 10 was everything. I would go to Dorm 10 after evening preps so that Moi could make me cold power. Moi was one of the few people who always had drinking chocolate and sugar in his locker. Inside, I would stare at its wooden hallway; at the neat cubicles that only allowed two beds, and would hope against hope that I would one day live there. Dreams are valid and come true. In my third year, Chelanga became the Captain. I secretly visited his room at night, under the pretext of giving him some biology revision papers. We had a long conversation about his intention then, of being a priest, but then I discreetly asked him to knock someone out of Dorm 10 so that I could stay there in my fourth year. The joy I felt when I placed my metal suitcase, on my locker, INSIDE DORM 10!!!!! was unparalleled.

In my year long stay in Dorm 10, I developed a close affection with a rat whom I would later call Rodney. I never saw his face but he was always skittering up the roof and I would only see bits of his fast-moving tail. One night, when lights were out, I got into bed, not knowing I had covered Rodney under my sheets. I woke up in the morning to find that Rodney had burrowed through my sheets and my mattress to get out. I also realized that he was my friend because he did not bite me. When we finished our syllabus and we were just in our dormitories revising, I would read aloud to Rodney from my favorite literature book at the time-Looking for A Rain God. I would act out the dialogue in Bindeh’s Gift and I bet he was enthralled because he would be quiet in those moments. When it was time for me to leave, I looked up the roof and bade Rodney goodbye.

Poor Rodney. It is sad to know that all your descendants were burnt in this fire, and now your bloodline is finished. I say goodbye to you and to Dorm 10. It is over. It is finished. It is ended. Arriverderci. Sayonara. Saisere.

 

 

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