HE SAID NO.
EPISODE 48
Amifel had been fasting and praying for 3 days straight, she had cleared her schedule for that purpose.
She broke her fasts in the evening and up till then, she had seemingly not heard anything from God. Her ears had been on alert and she had been itching to hear the golden yes.
Be it Yes or even No, she heard nothing.
As she broke her fast on the evening of the third day with boiled egg, butter, tea, and sliced bread, she was a little disappointed and was even contemplating extending her fast.
“Till when?” Grace asked.
“I can’t say right now,” she said as she took a sip of tea. “Maybe 7 days…”
Grace chopped her fingers in silence as Amifel continued.
“I started this prayer clueless, my heart was a bit troubled too because I was nervous about God asking me to let this go again but right now I feel so much at peace.
My heart is restful even though I haven’t heard anything.”
“But are you saying that you didn’t hear or perceive anything, like anything at all?”
Amifel shook her head mildly.
“That shouldn’t be a course for alarm. If you had said God hasn’t said anything, I would have been worried.”
“What is the difference?”
“’ God is not speaking’ is different from ‘I am not hearing’”
“Yeah” Amifel nodded.
” Extending the fasting and prayers is the right thing to do. I am sure that God has been speaking.”
“I don’t even know what to think.”
“I think you should sleep. Don’t overwork your mind.”
“Is it a coincidence that Daniel’s call has been even more frequent in the last 3 days?”
Grace chuckled.
“He is even messing with my mind.”
“Switch off your phones now.”
“What if an important client calls me while my phone is off?”
“Then you might like to consider extending the fast to like 30 days…”
Amifel flung half a slice of bread towards her and Grace laughed as she caught it and threw it into her mouth.
*******************************
Amifel sat on a bench at an open park. She seemed to be the only one there. She was enjoying the serene view of the quiet environment as she admired the beauty of nature.
She sighted an unusual flower with black and shiny gold petals from where she was seated.
Curiosity got the better part of her as she stood up to have a better look at it.
She was wowed.
Strange yet so beautiful.
“You like it?”
Amifel looked up quickly, she saw no one. Maybe it was her mind playing games. She was about to touch it and probably trim off a part of it when he heard the voice again.
“Do you know what it is called?”
This time she saw him, he was tall and lanky, casually dressed in a white short matched up with neat and crispy white shirts. He could have been easily mistaken for a young man save the white strand of full and fluffy hair that surrounded his face and tabernacled beautifully on his head.
He was not bent nor wrinkled, he was neither using sticks nor eyeglasses. Never had old age been that beautiful.
“I don’t know, I have never seen it before?”
He smiled and that was when she had the opportunity to see his teeth. Not a single tooth was missing, they were neatly arranged and sparkling white.
This man was definitely not as old as she thought. Maybe he even dyed his hair. She was going to ask him.
He plucked a portion of the flowers and inhaled it deeply, smiling as he did.
“Are you in a hurry?”
“No, not at all.”
“Let me show you more…” he said as he took her hand in his and headed into the woods. The place where they were headed seemed to be far.
“You seem to like him very much,” he said as they navigated through the thick bushes with their hands.
“Who?”
“Daniel.”
She smiled.
“That smile says it all.”
“I do. I like him very much but I am yet to get God’s consent about him.”
“He already gave you his answer.”
“But I have heard anything.”
They arrived at an open space, it was even more beautiful than where they were earlier. She slipped out of his hands as she ran ahead of him excitedly. She suspended her hands in the air as she swirled around following the order of the gentle breeze.
As the strange man she met earlier perused the short and well-trimmed bushes, looking for something oblivious to her, she sighted a seat that looked even more beautiful than the one she sat on earlier, she walked towards it briskly and just as she was about to land her butts on the seat, she felt his firm grip on her arm.
“Don’t sit there, it is dangerous!” he said firmly.
She took one more look at the seat the moment she stood straight. It was a bench adorned with beautifully colored garlands, it looked harmless to her.
He must have read her mind because he motioned for her to bend down and take a look at what was underneath the seat.
A green cobra was majestically curled underneath the seat, the shade of its color blended perfectly with the slightly overgrown grass around it. It hissed at her slowly as it turned its head in another direction.
Her heart skipped a beat as she straightened up quickly.
He patted her on the back gently to calm her down. “It’s fine, I am here.”
“Take a look at this. “ He continued as he opened up his hands to reveal a stick of star-shaped flower with multi-colored layers.
“Wow! Where did you get this from?”
“Somewhere around” he smiled. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
She nodded.
He took her hands again as he led her further till they arrived at a bigger scenery.
This time, she maintained his grip and refused to let go of his hands.
He stood as he looked across the horizon with a big smile on his face.
She looked in the same direction but she didn’t see anything.
“You said he already gave me an answer?”
He nodded, his gaze was still steadied towards the horizon.
“How come I am not hearing anything?” she asked.
“Maybe because you already deduced an answer format in your head.”
“Isn’t this supposed to be a yes or no question?”
“What if he doesn’t use any of those?”
“How else could it come?”
“What if he gives you the answer of peace.” He said softly.
“The answer of peace?” she asked, confused.
He did not say anything this time, instead, he walked towards a seat that she didn’t see earlier, still holding her hands.
Each garden seemed to have seats around it. At least she had seen three of them with seats.
She thought that he was going to sit down but he didn’t, he swung her hands playfully in the air for a while before releasing it.
The moment he let go of her hands, her legs felt heavy, like they needed some rest. She eyed the seat with the corner of her eyes as she asked him. “Can I sit down?”
He smiled and then he sat down calmly.
She took a cue and sat beside him.
“When you were about to sit on the decorated chair, what did I do?”
“You prevented me from sitting on it. You said it was dangerous.”
He smiled again and said nothing further. She sat there waiting for him to say more and when he didn’t…
“But I asked you if I could sit down here and you said nothing.” She queried him.
“I actually did.”
“No, I didn’t hear you say anything.”
“But I gave you the answer of peace.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“Why did you sit down.”
“Because I watched you sit there.”
He smiled again as he nodded.
“If you had chosen not to sit down, I wouldn’t have forced you but I sat down there to show you that it was safe.”
He placed a bouquet in her hands. It was an assorted mix of beautifully colored flowers with amazing shapes. The black and gold flowers were also included.
She received it as she wondered when he gathered them together.
“Who are you?”
“The prince of peace!”
To be continued…
Written by Sodamade Olamide Tolulope.
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