"Ben, I'm very shy. I can't climb up that stage to minister with you" Eben warned, but i ignored him with the consolation that as long as i partnered with him to do the song, we both would hold each other up.
On that Wednesday evening during Night prep, we had just finished our dinner when i got the inspiration to write a song that i heard in my mind. The more i wrote, the more it made more sense.
I was the only one in class that evening and that was intentional because I didn't want distractions. But soon after, some folks started walking in and noise soon after.
The first guy who walked in, walked up straight to me because he knew i was a writer, so he wanted to hear my new work. He sat beside me as i wrote and i could tell he was having a nice time.
Eben walked into the class and observed i was also writing a song, so he decided to join in. He was so gifted that he wrote a verse for the song in just ten minutes. His verse gave the song light and good vibes. The way he even sang it, his voice, the melody it relayed, it was amazing.
When my life was looking lost
You just came and rescued me
And you showed me all your love
From now and till eternity
How could i repay your love
For you blessings in my life
You just keep on protecting me, saving me from all evil and sorrow and shame
Jehovah aka ne me olu ehh (Jehovah who has done this good works)
Chineke mma mma ( Take all the praise, my creator)
The guy beside me concurred that his piece was very amazing.
Eben, why don't we sing this song on sunday, during the special number slot? I suggested.
'Ben, don't even try it, I'm a shy guy. I can't stand before seven hundred students to sing. What if we make mistakes? This is a boarding school, so everyone will still see us tomorrow morning and they will laugh at us. I'm not doing that ohh' He warned.
I kept pushing till it was Saturday evening and he gave me a green light although warning that he wasn't sure. I just took it as a big yes and submitted our names to the chapel prefect.
Most of my classmates were ecstatic because I was finally going to do my piece after several advise over the years. So, we had support from my classmates. They came out in mass to hear Eben and I sing our composed song.
Finally, it was time and i could tell Eben was really scared. He wasn't shy, he was scared and so was i. But i had to be strong because i told the chapel prefect to write on the list "Ben and Eben."
So my name came first. The funny thing was that the chapel prefect wrote Ben and co, which made Eben to have a reasonable excuse to hide. His name wasn't mentioned.
When our names were called out, Eben hid and i was begging him to come out, he didn't burge. My classmates were already hailing us, shouting and clapping.
'I told you I wasn't sure if i would do this song with you' Eben said.
I just stood there disappointed. He wasn't wrong though. He warned that he wasn't courageous enough to do that and i didn't listen. Now i had to face the music.
I walked up to the stage and one thousand four hundred eye were on me. I so much wanted to subtract two from the bunch. So certain the two eye would belong to Eben. A typical example of a sly.
I wanted to do our song but i had to respect the fact that the both of us wrote the song, so i chose another song by Frank Edwards titled changing lives
The song was going so well, my seniors, mate and juniors were enjoying how cool the song was till i attempted to hit the high pitch and went off key. The hall echoed with laughter, but I wasn't afraid just disappointed.
The keyboardist, who happened to be my senior but was also a friend, suggested i sing another song.
"Eben, I'm sorry but really I'm not" I thought briefly.
"Excuse me, i will sing another song. I actually wrote this song and i would love to sing it." I said before hitting it off.
Your guess is as good as mine. Everyone in the building was so glued to the song. The next day, Junior students were just singing the song over and over again. My seniors called me to sing it specially for them. Some called me to write songs for them.
I became really popular. Nobody knew the verse Eben wrote, they just enjoyed the chorus of the song.
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Cheers.