SHORT STORIES BY TIO

Mascara smudged, teary eyes, hair dishevelled, she looked terrible as she stepped out of her car, thankfully, none of her neighbours was outside.

Anyone seeing her now would assume she was mentally deranged or somewhere close to it.

As she took the stairs to her apartment situated on the third floor, she could feel her heart breaking into a million pieces.

She opened her door and stepped into an apartment that would soon be taken from her.

She had been holding it in for a while now, trying to figure things out.

She had no one, absolutely no one to turn to, she had never felt so alone.

How did she get here? How did things get so bad? She worked so hard for ten years to get her life together but now everything was gone.

Her marriage was gone, her husband just won custody of their kids, she was asked to evacuate the building the next day, a week earlier, she had gotten fired from work.

She entered her kitchen took out a bottle of wine and a glass and sat on the floor, drowning herself in alcohol like she had been doing for the past five months while she watched her world crumble.

Her heart kept pounding, the tears came back, this time very hot as she could feel the heat on her cheeks.

Why was life so unfair to her! Was this nature's way of punishing her? Did nature hate her that much?

She kept murmuring "Nkechi, what has your life become?"

Nkechi cried herself to sleep on her kitchen floor.

*coughs hysterically*

Fire! Fire! Fire! The neighbours kept screaming.

The noise woke Nkechi up from her little slumber, so this is why she had been coughing so much in her sleep.

Her entire kitchen was covered in smoke, how much of it had she inhaled?

"She is in there, I saw when she came back" someone outside said.

Oh! So someone did see her.

She could barely see, she crawled towards the kitchen door, seeking a way out.

She couldn't even scream for help, her throat hurt like hell.

"Let's get in and save her" A female voice screeched.

"Get a grip, we could all die if we go in there, let's wait for fire service to come do their job," someone else said.

Ten minutes later, a troop of firemen barged into the compound barking orders around.

But before they could to her side of the building, she was gone, turns out the smoke was from an electric iron, she had forgotten to unplug it before leaving to court in the morning, could you blame her though? She had a lot on her mind.

As she took her last breath,  she said "I hope I find peace in the afterlife".

She died smiling.