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One bar of signal
One bar of signal
The very first time Ada successfully received a message, she nearly fell down from the rocky mountain she always stood on while trying to receive signal.The mountain top sat behind the village, She could see the neighboring village from where she stood.The next hill with service was miles away.This hill was her best option, although it had the weakest signal.
She usually got only one bar, sometimes none. It was a very frustrating thing.That bar was enough for her to feel less lonely .
Everytime she climbed up that hill or was even on her way to the hill, she thought of her brother who had been in another country. He was the reason she went up that hill. She loved communicating with him, even if service was poor in the village. He was the only family she had .
She would always climb up the hill, not because she didn't have anything doing or she expected anything to happen, but because every walk up that hill reminded her of her brother, Chike.
Before he died, he had worked in another country.Every Sunday evening, right before sunset or during sunset, she would race up the hill to catch a signal just for a phone call.The signal was usually stronger right before sunset.
The calls were never stable or perfect.Their voices were always cracking,the call connecting and reconnecting. Sometimes, the signals would just vanish completely and the call would drop out of nowhere, but Ada loved those calls more than anything. It meant the world to her.
Her brother Chike was involved in a car accident on a rainy highway. Suddenly Chike was gone.
Eight months had passed since the accident, Ada still had the habit of climbing up the hill, she convinced herself it was just that,nothing more.
As she sat on a rock on that very hill, a cool breeze brushed her face. Her phone buzzed. No one ever texted her. As she unlocked her phone, she saw the sender's name. It was Chike. How could this be?
She was in shock for a few minutes.The message read, "Don't leave yet."
"No," Ada whispered as her hand trembled.
It had to be a mistake. Maybe someone recycled his phone number or perhaps a cruel joke was being played.
"Who's this?" she texted a quick reply.
"Stay until it's dark," the sender replied without wasting time.
Ada stood up so quickly that her phone nearly fell. The wind blew in from the left, and the grass swayed to the left, following the wind's command. She contemplated running out of fear but stayed out of curiosity. Soon the sun disappeared. It was beginning to get darker.
As time went by, nothing happened,Ada laughed nervously.Of course nothing would have,spirits couldn't send text messages.As she was about to leave, she received another message.The notification sound made her heart drop.
"Look east," the message read.
A small, not-so-bright flicker of light appeared three times.
Another message popped up. It said "Go there."
Ada frowned.The light was coming from a little forest adjacent the mountain. Villagers rarely visited there.
Using the mysterious flashlight and the messages on her phone as a guide, Ada ventured into the forest and found a badly injured elderly man near a pickup truck, telling by his injuries he had been there for some hours or more.She managed to use the weak signal on that hill to call for help and saved the old man's life.The medical personnels revealed that if Ada hadn't found him at the time she did, the injuries could have been much worse.Everyone called Ada a hero. She wasn't the real hero, someone or something had led her there.She came to conclusions that it was probably her late brother, whom she believed was always watching over her.
The one bar of signal wasn't so helpful in the past in helping her communicate with her brother, Chike. It helped her save someone's life and she was grateful indeed.Going up that hill wasn't so useless after all.
Later that night, she received a series of messages from her brother late brother chike ,who reminded her of his normal teachings and sayings . He left her with the important lesson that "even with one bar of signal, people can still find each other". She reminded her brother how much she missed him, which he acknowledged.The signal then was gone forever, but Ada found peace in knowing that the love, experiences and lessons from those we love still remain forever even long after they are gone.
#inkwell #writing #inkwellprompt #inkwell #creativenonfiction
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