This is the true story of a young girl named Nneka who attended the prestigious Federal University of Technology, Owerri. She was deeply in love with her boyfriend, Gerald, who was also a student at the same campus.
However, one day, Gerald abruptly ended their relationship, leaving Nneka heartbroken and devastated. The young ambitious Gerald had amassed some sudden wealth through certain internet schemes, and so he found Nneka unbefitting for his new status. Meanwhile, they had bonded as one in the preceding years. They had gone about almost all school activities together. It was a loss too great for Nneka to bear. And she was also an orphan.
Unable to handle the recurring trauma of seeing Gerald every day on campus frolicking around girls of different sizes and colours, the poor girl decided to escape.
She packed her little earthly belongings in the middle of the night, leaving behind only a note for her roommate explaining her sudden departure. With tears in her eyes, she boarded a bus to Onitsha, and from there to a place in Agbor, Delta State. Looking at one thing, yet thinking about another, Nneka was in a hurry to flee, to leave behind her pains. And where she ran to was unknown to her.
As she wandered the unfamiliar streets of Agbor, Nneka stumbled upon a bookshop owned by an elderly woman named Mrs. Iyaye. Sensing Nneka’s distress, Mrs. Iyaye offered her a job at the bookshop and a place to stay within the compound, just behind the shop.
In the weeks that followed, Nneka found solace in the quiet charm of the shop and the wisdom of Mrs. Iyaye. She immersed herself in the world of literature, finding comfort in the stories of love, life, loss, and resilience.
Some months later at the university, Gerald started regretting his decision to break up with Nneka. He had gone totally broke, even got arrested by the police, and all he had amassed confiscated. He searched high and low for Nneka, realizing the depth of his love only after she was gone and his pockets empty, too.
Time passed, and Nneka began to heal from the pain of her breakup. She found joy in her new life and rediscovered her passion for writing. Little did she know Gerald had found out where she was, and was on his way to Agbor, determined to win her back.
One day, as Nneka was arranging books in the store, she looked up to see Gerald standing in front of her, holding a bouquet of flowers and an apologetic expression on his face. Overwhelmed with emotion, Nneka listened as Gerald poured his heart out, expressing his regret and begging for a second chance.
Torn between her past and her present, Nneka realized that she had grown stronger during her time away. She thanked Gerald for his apology but gently explained that she had moved on and found happiness in her new life.
With a bitter-sweet smile, Nneka watched as Gerald walked away, knowing that she had finally found peace and closure.
Before the end of that year, Nneka was flown abroad for her studies by Mrs. Iyaye’s first son, Anthony, who later married her on her graduation as a medical doctor in the United States of America.
Credit: Ahiara TV