Nnenna’s Lagos Adventure: The Great Escape
In a dusty backwater town in Lagos, circa early 2000s, lived a young girl named Nnenna. Her family of six was a lively bunch—always bickering over who left the fan on, who hogged the bathroom, and whose turn it was to sweep the veranda. The house was like a pressure cooker on high, and poor Nnenna was the steam trying to escape.
One sweltering day, Nnenna decided she’d had enough of the chaotic family shenanigans. She concocted a daring plan to run away from home. She packed a small bag with essentials: a change of clothes, a tin of sardines, and her prized possession—a comic book with superheroes that always saved the day. With a dramatic flourish, she tiptoed out the back door and disappeared into the Lagos sunset.
Fast forward twenty years. Lagos had grown into a bustling metropolis, but the small backwater town where Nnenna’s family still lived was the same, save for a few new potholes and a particularly tenacious goat that had claimed the corner shop as its personal domain. Nnenna, now a successful and well-traveled woman, decided it was time to return—not for revenge, but for redemption.
”She packed a small bag with essentials: a change of clothes, a tin of sardines, and her prized possession…”
Upon arriving, she was greeted by the town’s familiar faces and the ever-present heat. Her family, though older and slightly more grizzled, still had their quirks. Her mother, with her ever-ready wooden spoon, was now a self-proclaimed herbalist. Her father had taken up competitive yam planting (he insisted it was an Olympic sport in disguise). Her siblings had transformed into an eclectic mix of local celebrities—one was a celebrated “griot” of town gossip, another ran a food stall with the most mysterious ingredients, and the third was a local dance sensation who had never stopped dancing since her youth.
Nnenna’s return was met with a cacophony of “Nnenna! Is that really you?” and “How could you just disappear for two decades?” It was like walking back into a sitcom where she had missed twenty seasons.
She decided to address the elephant in the room with humor and a touch of nostalgia. At the town square, she set up a small booth with a sign that read, “Free Therapy Sessions—Bring Your Problems and Leave With a Smile!” Her goal was simple: to help others who had felt trapped, just as she had, but with a lot more laughter and fewer sardines.
The booth quickly became a hit. Nnenna’s stories of her adventures and misadventures around the world made people laugh until they cried. Her advice was a blend of practical wisdom and outlandish suggestions, like holding a dance-off to settle family disputes or using exaggerated facial expressions to communicate grievances.
The town soon learned that while Nnenna had run away to escape, she had returned to reconnect, heal, and spread a bit of comic relief. Her family, although bewildered by her global escapades, embraced her with open arms and a whole lot of laughter.
In the end, Nnenna’s great escape had led her back to her roots, and her return turned out to be the town’s most entertaining rehabilitation. And though the family dynamics hadn’t changed much, they now faced their squabbles with a dose of humor and a lot of patience. Because if there was one thing Nnenna had learned, it was that sometimes, you have to leave home to find out how to truly appreciate it.
Jed’s Journal
