There are certain times when one feels compelled to avoid certain obligations or duties that we are expected to perform. You find yourself in a fix and have to come up with the most convincing situation to get everyone to think that indeed you were very willing but certain circumstances got in your way. These circumstances have to appear unavoidable while on your part you are insistent that you are still willing to be involved. Well, sometime back I found myself in such a situation and had to come up with a foolproof way to go about it. I would recommend it although there is a need to be cautious in approach.
When I turned fourteen, I remember coming home from school to meet all my siblings at home. We were all happy that the following Monday would not require that we wake up early to school although our parents had reminded us that we were going to be accorded certain unspecified duties to relieve them of the excess workload. How I hated chores or anything that was assigned to me. Worse still, my siblings had come to learn that I liked hiding behind their shadows doing nothing and sharing their credit thereafter.
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It was thus a shock to me when my mother informed us that we would all accompany her to the farm come next morning, so that we may lend a hand in harvesting her legumes. How I hated going to the farm that I felt the bile rising up my throat. I also must have felt a little dizzy and was ready to forge some way to get out of the fix. I could not imagine working in the sun and the sweat always made me scratch my body. Not that the others were not affected by the weather, but they never seemed to mind it that much.
I started my tricks during supper time when I pretended that I felt a little nausea after tasting a fried meal. I intimated that there was something offensive about the oil. Asked whether I felt ill, I answered that I was not sure and added that I felt a slight headache when I bent over to pick anything. It was therefore relieving when my mother announced that I might not make it to the farm. But I was cautious not to express my jubilation lest I got caught in my tricks. I expressed my desire to participate inspite of my mother’s protest that I may also need to see a doctor.
When bedtime came it was not easy to get to sleep. I lay there wondering whether I was convincing enough. I knew that my mother was aware of hiring people to d the task, and was a little ashamed because she always insisted that we need to learn how to do things by ourselves. The only way to get rid of this feeling is to convince them properly that I was unwell. In the darkness of my thoughts I wondered aloud attracting the attention of the other family members. After they had taken the cue I became alert and muttered incoherently. This continued for a while until my mother came to my bedside and uncovered me. I woke up acting confused and was glad when she pampered me and soothed me back to sleep.
That morning I was exempt from work. More so, my elder sibling was asked to remain behind so that she may keep an eye on me. My mother had taken my chatter for hallucinations and was convinced that I had been struck by malaria. Not many people noted that after they had left for the farm I instantly became energetic and took to playing on the video game all day. By the time they returned I was exhausted but ready to convince them that I feel much better. I could not imagine being dragged to the hospital for I also hated the testing process in equal measure.
