Hailu felt every part of the sky falling apart on him on the grounds of his heartrending sophomore grade results. He was sitting in a certain cafe burying his head in his arms. He was sweltering through record breaking heat. Pertaining to his parents, quite a lot of thoughts were flickering through his mind time and again.
But he did not want to utter a single word with regard to a problem which was coming in and out of his mind fasterthan a speeding bullet. Day in and day out, he made an effort to swallow his anger and not to utter a single word to his parents’ about his grade. He cursed his rotten luck every so often in connection with the problem surrounding him. But he did not want to spill the beans. Most of his classmates in the university loved him with all heart. He was helpful. He had a high opinion of everyone.
In the eyes of him, all were equal and one and the same. All kidding aside, he was a knowledgeable and capable person. He did not want to distance himself from studying. Nothing made him happier than seeing his parents smile given his success stories. He was always a hard worker. But now life could not be as easy as a pie. As Hailu was fighting with his thoughts, feelings and ideas, he did not see his best friend Samson standing beside him. At his friend’s wit’s end, he embarked on tapping on Hailu’s shoulder.
As he went far deep in thought, he did not wake up at the drop of a hat. Sooner or later, the two friends embarked on talking about university life. As Samson could not contain his worry, he asked his friend why he was unusually acting that way. Hailu said after running his fingers through his hair, “As you know, I passed all the freshman courses with flying colors. But the sophomore grade results turned out to be tear-jerking. My parents expect a lot from me but I ended up scoring saddening results.
In this fashion, it would be easier said than done to materialize my objective. Everything is turning its back on me at this point in time. Some of my friends are putting a spoke in a wheel.” “Leave everything in God’s hands. The Bible says if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you.
Therefore, do not hesitate to ask God to make your dream come true. But you need to know the fact that no matter what happens God is with you. If you keep on turning a blind eye to the situation, the whole thing will keep on getting into uncharted waters. You are painting yourself into a corner, ” answered Samson. “If you were in my shoes, you would not come up with this solution. At this instant, I am surrounded by quite a lot of problems which are difficult to get out of them.
Anyways let us switch the conversation. I do not want to seep on the matter,” responded Haile. Haile was the first born son. When he was a child, he was dreaming of making his parents happy by scoring astonishing results apart from becoming a renowned architect of all time. He was in the habit of standing first both in primary and secondary schools.
Following his cleverness, Hailu was showered with a lot of prizes from a wide array of organizations and stakeholders. Hence, his parents were dead sure that he would make his dream become a reality no matter what the hurdles may me down the road. When Hailu passed the Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate Examination, his parents turned out to be infinitely happy.
To this end, his parents made a big feast and invited quite a lot of people. As of the time he went to a certain higher learning institution of the country to pursue his studies, his parents were looking forward to seeing his graduation day to come. Sadly, his parents did not know things going on behind closed curtains at that specific point. As ill luck would have it, Hailu kept on drinking alcohol and using drugs with his ill-mannered friends. He was cutting classes and spending the night out of his dorm.
As he scored straight “F” in all subjects, he was dismissed from the university. But his parents did not know what was going on behind a closed door. Every month they sent money to Hailu. Thus, he spent the money on house rents and drinking alcohol. To tell the truth, he did not utter a single word pertaining to his dismissal from the university. He turned out to be a laughing stock and the talk of the entire university students. On the pretext of a wide spectrum of reasons, Hailu kept on troubling his parents to send him money. Life was not that good for him. He kept on pouring gasoline on the fire.
When the inevitable graduation day showed up, he did not know what he had to do. His parents knew the day like the palm of their hand. After a long fight with his thoughts, he made up his minds to tell his parents fabricated stories with regard to the graduation day. One fine day, Hailu gave a call to his mother about the graduation day. But he did not inform her the exact graduation day. This time, the entire family grew to be very happy and embarked on preparing feast. During the graduation day, Hailu posted a graduation photo using his friends’ gown.
Hailu’s parents did not doubt about the gradation. After a week, Hailu returned home safe and sound to get himself engaged in the graduation ceremony. Everybody was very happy. More than a thousand people partook in the graduation formal procedure. His parents spent a large amount of money on the feast. Everybody was talking about the largeness of the feast.
The ceremony was held in July. Hailu’s parents were patiently waiting the day their son would start work to come now and then. One fine day, Hailu’s friend named Belay knocked on the door of Hailu’s parents. After Hailu’s parents accorded him warm greetings, they began taking about the graduation ceremony. As Belay did not know the secret behind, he kept on talking openly about the graduation ceremony. “The graduation was wonderful. I know how much you became for your son’s failure to graduate Hailu.
Though I bombarded him with pieces of advices time and again, he was not in the position to lend me his ears.” “Which Hailu are you talking about?” asked the mother shockingly. “Your son, Hailu.” “Have you lost your mind?” “No, I have not. As he was drinking alcohol from time to time, he gave the cold shoulder to education. It was when he was a second year student he interrupted education.
“ “What did you say?” “Mother, I said your son will be…. oh, oh… This time, the mother felt like fainting. She could not control her feelings. Family members gathered around the mother. Some of them were bursting into tears but they did not know what was going on. When Hailu showed up, he could not control his feelings. He realized that his friend had unknowingly shed light on his secrete. Hailu regretted the day he gave in to drinking and smoking.
Herald February 24/2019
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
