Your Neighbour's Gen

Earlier that day, the sun was shining so hard, it looked as though it had picked a quarrel with the earth. There hadn't been supply of power for days, as is the usual story. A precarious pole had fallen once again just around the corner of my house, and had cut out the little unreliable electricity that we used to charge our phones and laptops.

Of all the the electric poles in my area, this particular pole was the most erratic.  It could fall at the slighted provocation, and each time it did, power would be cut out for days and sometimes weeks.

That night the heat was something else. My dog Chuckie in his rambunctious nature had eaten all the wires on my gen. I still can't explain why he did it. I punched my phone to death, then I picked up my laptop and watched movies till it died too. I was in the dark, trying to find sleep when my neighbour put on his gen.

The gen was one of those gens that sounded as though they had something choking them, and stopping them from sounding properly. The worse part is that he keeps it close to me, in a bid to escape the noise and fumes himself.

Over at my house I couldn't sleep, the noise was too much. The fumes from his gen was gradually filling my room, so I had to close off the window where the fume was coming from. Sadly that is my best window! More air comes in through that window.

 But it wasn't my neighbours fault that I was having such a bad night, his gen was his only escape from the situation. I vowed to fix my gen the next day, but then there was
 the Chukie  factor. That night I just lay in bed sweating, in total darkness, with a pounding head, and unable to sleep.

Eventually my neighbour ran out of fuel and peace was restored to my world. I opened my window and let air back into my room. It was 2 am, and that was when I was able to find sleep.
I woke up by 6am to prepare for work. There still was no light! I looked in the mirror while brushing my teeth, and what looked back was scary! Swollen eyes.

This is the life of the average Nigerian.