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Rate This Contest Entry: Contest: June 30th, 2005 Author: Gillian Akafo Aku looked up just in time to see the inscription: “University of Ghana.” A dreamy look came into her eyes as she remembered that day… She was in Sokpoe, a little village by Volta River. It was 5.00pm. She sat behind the mortar her mother said was bought the day she was born. In it was the usual mix – dried fish, dried shrimp and most importantly, dried pepper. Taking up the pestle that was leaning against the bench on which she sat, Aku started pounding at the pepper mix. Soon, she heard the footsteps she knew too well. They belonged to her best friend, Abla. The look on Abla’s face confirmed what the pattern of her steps had announced – Abla was excited. She had “news”. “Guess what?” Abla asked. “What?” “I have news!” Abla replied, taking the pestle from Aku. Aku smiled as she watched her friend throw the pestle up, clap twice, catch it midway and bring it down on the mix with a thud. It was true what they said: Aku was the prettier of the two, but Abla had a smile that could melt any heart of ice. She was also a very lively person. Aku was the more serious one. “The two musketeers.” That was what the village folk called them. They had been friends form birth. The same midwife delivered them, Abla first then Aku the day after. From Primary, right through Junior Secondary School, they had sat together in class. They would listen anxiously as the teacher read out the reports at the end of each term, wondering which of them would be first and which would be subjected to the position of second best. They both excelled in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (B.E.C.E). There was no Senior Secondary School in their village. Aku guessed her friends “news” had to do with S.S.S and she was right. “I’m going to school in Accra! My uncle is coming for me on Saturday.” Abla cried. “Wow!” Aku exclaimed, “You are so lucky!” “Oh, I have to leave. We are preparing supper. I told Tata I’d only be a minute.” With that, Abla put the pestle down and ran off. Aku was genuinely happy for her friend but she couldn’t help wondering what life had in store for her. Unlike Abla, Aku had no relatives in the city. All she had was her mother who was away at the farm. Each morning, they woke up as soon as the neighbour’s cock crowed, more out of habit than as a result of the shrill noise the cock made. After sweeping the dusty compound, Aku would go to the river three times to fetch water for cooking and for washing. Meanwhile, her mother would be preparing “Donkono” from corn, and frying fish. When they were both done, Aku would pick up her Bible from the poorly lit hut and read a few verses from it to her mother, after which her mother would leave for the farm, and she would go to the primary school to sell the “Donkono”, and fried fish with pepper. This had been her routine since she completed J.S.S. Saturday morning, Aku went to her friend’s hut. She saw a big blue car parked in Abla’s compound. Abla came rushing out. She had been expecting her friend. “Did you make them?” She asked. “Yes,” Aku replied, holding up two friendship bands. She tied one on her friend’s wrist. Abla tied the other one onto Aku’s wrist saying: “We’ll be friends forever. It shall be well with you.” “Thank you.” Aku replied, “And please don’t forget.” Aku had made Abla promise to send her study materials. She was determined to take the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations as a private candidate. Abla kept her promise. Each day, while Aku waited for the primary school’s break period, she laboured diligently at the materials Abla had convinced her uncle to send. Abla’s uncle was very helpful. He made sure Aku was registered for the exam. Aku stayed with him and Abla during the examinations. She was surprised that she could answer most of the questions. Her mother was right. Hard work does pay off. After the examination, Aku returned to the village. One day, at 5.00pm, Aku sat behind the pepper mix. A big blue car pulled up beside her. Abla jumped out grinning. “Guess what?” She asked. “What?” “I have news! We passed the S.S.C.E. What’s more, you did so well that you’ve been awarded a scholarship! You are going to the University for FREE!!” “University of Ghana.” Looking out of the car window, she felt overwhelmed and uneasy. She shook off the doubt, remembering how she had gotten there and whispered to herself: “You can make it!” Rate This Entry! Warning: fopen(/home/writingc/public_html/entries/b3_rating/b3r_data/.txt) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/writingc/public_html/entries/b3_rating/b3_rating.php on line 69 Error opening file. Use browser's back button and try again people have rated it so far. 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