It's been 5 years since Jabez left home for war in Libya, he was 20 at that time having finished his training. He was tall, with a broad chest, slim, and chocolate in complexion.
"I will be back in a year," he told his mum as she bid him goodbye. A year passed without his arrival, then two years. Everyone assumed he would return home, gradually their faith started to faint as more years passed without his return. His mum could only imagine the worst.
"What has happened to my son?" She cried, "he was only a young boy who just started life" she explained to those who comforted her.
"But ma, no bad report has been heard since they left," one of the men said, hoping it would calm her down.
"It's been 5 years. Where could he possibly be?The war was supposed to last for a year." She said amidst sobs.
Looking at his picture hanging on the wall only brought back memories that made her cry.
Jabez blinked his eyes, sluggishly he opened them and looked around the vicinity, nothing looked familiar. He was lying on a mat and at the other end was a pot filled with leaves. The room was roofed with thatch, and the walls were made with wood.
"Where am I?", He asked a man standing at the doorpost.
"Thank Goodness you're alive," The man said ignoring his question.
"Who are you," Jabez asked as he tried to sit up.
"Relax, I will explain everything to you. My name is Mohammed, and this is my house".
"How did I get here?".
"I saw you lying in a pool of blood in the desert 6 months ago. Initially, I thought you're dead until I noticed some signs of life in you. I never gave up on you because someone once helped me and this I promise to do for anyone who Is helpless and I could help".
"6 months?" Jabez recapped, surprised to have spent that entire moment lying unconscious. "I want to go home," he said as the thought of his family flashed him.
Jabez's mum became worried. His number was no longer connected, and no news has been heard about the soldiers who went to Libya. Each time she went to the barrack to enquire about them, all they kept telling her was how they're fine. The fact that there was no bad report comforted her a little.
"He will come back soon" she continually told her equally worried daughters.
The door rang, standing before her was a young man with beards dressed in a military uniform. Her heartbeat was fast, she feared it was a piece of bad news. No military officer had visited her home, and she knew each time they did, it's always bad news.
"Please, don't tell me my son is dead" her hands shivering.
"Mum, this is me, Jabez".
"Jabez?" She screamed as she hugged him tightly, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I thought I had lost you, I couldn't even recognize you".
She couldn't contain her joy as she invited friends and family for a banquet. "My son is back," she wrote, sending a message across. A round table was set with different delicacies, and drinks of different types as friends and family came to celebrate with the family. Jabez narrated to them all that had happened as they sat for the meal.