The day she cut her hair, it was like it snowed. Black tufts fell down like snow on the morn of Christmas. Ijem stared into the mirror helplessly, the bags under her eyes had reduced a lot from the way it was the past three days. Her dark skin was glowing; a discernible contrast to how it was three days ago.
Her collar bone seemed fuller and the fat had returned to her cheekbone. She couldn't bear to look at the rest of her body, so she let her eyes linger on her arm, where her almost invisible mark laid still- A scorpion tattoo on her arm, she had drawn when she was twenty and crazy.
Her eyes went back to her glorious hair that was half cut. The hair that once sat on her head like a king who couldn't be dethroned; but the king was now on the floor, defeated. It wasn't only the king that fell, her heart had also fallen, leaving her soul damaged.
It had crumbled to the ground- brick by brick till only dust was left.
Ijem fell to the floor, as she was recovering from depression that left her helpless. She had always thought depression was an excuse to avoid one's problems, but now she felt it; The cold wrinkled hands of depression that grabbed her while she was in the laboratory room.
The laboratory's waiting room was bright, as rays of light passed through a small space in between the curtains from the window brightening up the room. The ceiling fan dangled from the ceiling rotating slowly, It was obvious the fan had been there for years. The cream stained walls were decorated with several posters, including that of AIDS awareness and right next to it was a poster offering help for depression. Ijem so lost in thoughts that unknown to her consciousness, her eyes had starred at the paper a bit too long until something else caught her attention; A spider web neatly woven was etched at the corner of the wall, She stared at it for long noting the creativity and the beauty of the web.
Obi her fiance sat beside her tapping his leg gently. He didn't like hospitals but Ijem had convinced him that the laboratory wasn't a hospital. However, he had come to the conclusion that they were alike, the smell of drugs and disinfectants hung in the air and he could also smell a little urine.
Obi watched her, the way her eyes surfed the perimeter as though she was searching for something, the way her hands found its way to her lips in a telltale way, that showed she was nervous. He knew she was nervous and deep down he too was a little nervous. He had grown to love her, the huge figure that couldn't even hurt a fly he had teased her a lot about her nature. He shifted closer to her and gently wrapped his arms around her.