DAWN TO DUSK

"Irene, Irene! Hia, where has this naughty girl gone ehnn? Why is it that if I don't shout so much she will not hear me.
Irene ooo!" Madam Zika, fondly called Apunanwu by her friends, called out exasperatedly.

"Yes ma," came the reluctant and sleepy reply.
"Haa, you mean you are still sleeping? Well, that means 'zero one zero' for you today.

As Irene rushed in hurriedly, her appeals fell on deaf ears.

"Can you not taint my mood this morning? I will see how much you have done of the chores you have when I return."

Walking out with a swift gait, Apunanwu, eyed her beautiful but modest housemaid, inspecting her appearance. "You should get your hair made," she added passively.

At the corner of the room, Irene collapsed to the floor, letting out a moan following the hunger spikes in her tummy. She had been looking forward to having breakfast and even dreamed that she cooked her favourite ukpegede, a meal made from overripe plantain and corn flour, while cracking jokes with her aunty in the kitchen. Oh, what a disappointment! She wondered at what might have upset her mentor, who is often pleasant, this morning.

With her tummy letting out a loud groan again, she slowly rose to begin her daily chores. She now had making her hair to the list of things to do. She had better hurry before Anwu returns. She smiled broadly, recalling how she admired her aunty so much that she called her 'Sun' in her heart long before the new friends began calling Madam Zika 'one who radiates like the sun'.