Oct 222010
 

Time raced on.
Speckles of guilt danced lightly on his young face as his heartbeat synced with the pacy movement of time, creating a rhythm that nagged forever. His fattened thighs shivered under the weight of the cross he had chosen to bear and for the first time in a long while, his religious walls seemed to be crumbling.

He shut his eyes, immersing himself in the shadows of his religious fanaticism and shutting off the radar of emotions and reasoning that were beginning to cloud his thoughts. His mind raced back to the mountainous Shabwah province where he had met with divinity and like ‘Moses’ returned with a sacred mission – anti-western in every essence. There, he sucked from the breast of fanatics who fanned the ember of hatred, branded in religious hegemony and made men mobile explosives. There, he lost his humanity.

He felt a tap on his shoulder.

Those large innocent eyes opened to meet the friendly gaze of an air-hostess, handing him a glass of juice. He lowered his gazed quickly like a child, cautioned by his parent not to look on fair maidens. He shook his head in disapproval at the startled hostess who moved on to the next seat.

Relieved, he reclined.
His virgin mind plunged into sexual ecstasy, awakening the hardened phallus from its twenty-one year slumber. It roared and stretched its rusty muscles like a wrestler threatening an opponent, wishing to plunge just once into the deep waters of ‘Vaginia’ but … he was enroute Detroit.

He felt warm.

A feeling of self-righteousness glowed on his face as his mind wandered to the array of virgins that await him on the other side. In the same instance, the death knell beeped, stirring the horror that is to come. Remorse flushed through his face and thick balls of sweat formed a ring on his forehead. No doubt, the time is near and his time is short!

Tears trickled.
He saw his mother’s face and the tears trickled more. He had not spoken to her in four months and as he walked through life’s final path; he wished he had called if only to hear her voice. More tears trickled.

He felt a nudge and turned to see a little girl holding out a white handkerchief. Puzzled, he looked at the girl’s mother who smiled in approval. With trembling hands, he accepted the gift with a smile.

His heart quaked.
For a minute, his humanity clashed with his religious values. For the first time in several years, he saw his true reflection in the mirror. He saw the monster religion had made of him. In the eyes of that little girl, he had seen what true religion should be. Angry, he reached for the detonator. Turned to the little girl sitting quietly on her mother’s lap and said with a smile,

“Thank you”.

He walked up to one of the air hostesses and whispered into her ears.

“I’ve got a bomb strapped in -between my balls that would go off in 15 minutes! I must get it off now! I don’t want anyone to die!”

He pulled down his trousers to reveal an explosive device sewn to his underwear. She raised alarm.

As they bundled him away, he waved at the little girl who smiled and waved in return. No doubt, he had seen the world through the eyes of a child and life for him would never be the same again.

Comments

comments

Dammy Keke @dammy2k2

Avatar of Dammy KekeDeep with a probing heart and a wandering thought.

Go to Dammy Keke's profile, and read more of his/her posts.

  25 Responses to “Muttallab: Through the eyes of a child”

  1. Avatar of Lade

    I’ve read this before. On your blog, maybe?
    As i felt the first time i read it, so i feel now – beautiful and so masterfully crafted. If only Mutallab did truly see the innocence of a child.

  2. Avatar of Seun-Odukoya

    Well written.

  3. Avatar of Jaywriter

    Loved the emotions with which the story was told. Good one. You got real talents. If you were a filmmaker, you’ll probably make Million Dollar Baby or On the Waterfront or some other film like that.

  4. Avatar of henry c.onyema

    Lovely. Only , Mutallab was never able to see the world through a kid’s eyes.

  5. Avatar of julemyles

    Just hope to see a sequel to this…

  6. Now this is creativity at its utmost best…..

    Enjoyed the read all the way.

    Well done!!!

  7. Avatar of MyLife

    such a lovely touching story…i truly wish it was real :)

  8. Avatar of Scopeman

    “He lowered his ‘gaze’ quickly”.

    Well done!

  9. Avatar of inspire

    Very well written. Send off to a Literary magazine what about Farafina? Or try Africanwriting.com?

  10. Avatar of abby

    Mercifully, the bomb didn’t go off at all.

    This is nice and reminds of someone’s post on the site as well about airplanes, a lil kid and a lost individual with super powers.
    Nice work Dammy!

  11. Avatar of RemiRoy

    Hmmm, nice going. You modeled the emotions and thoughts in his head so well.
    I really like.
    I’d like to visit your blog. Do post ur add here.

  12. Avatar of Anderson Paul

    if only
    very nice piece.

  13. Avatar of jeff unaegbu

    A film in the making. I almost heard a danger sound track playing in the background as I read on. Good!

  14. Avatar of

    Thank u so very much for imaginatively painting another picture of Mutallab’s foiled terrorism. Creative empathy is to me a mark of literary genius. Bravo! The only sore point for me would be that second paragraph where u quickly labelled his religious beliefs “fanaticism” while refering to him as a brainwashed beast. I think u unknowingly projected ur own judgement into the subject’s mind there. Moreover, that derogatory label or commentary should have been reserved for the end. That’ll further let us appreciate the powerful spiritual metamorphosis he went through after digesting that loving little girl’s act of genuine love &innocence. Thus, in the beginning he definitely couldn’t have seen himself as a fanatic, nor be branded one, but at the end he realises he had lost his humaness & finds it once again by tasting what true religion is all about. LOVE! Get my drift bro? Yeah, I knew u would *winks*

    • Avatar of Dammy Keke

      Seriously, this is one of the very best comment/criticism I have gotten on this site ever since I started posting. You are so right about my second paragraph. It gave it out. Thanks for visiting.

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