A New Dawn Beckons

Gone are the days of being misrepresented. Gone are the moments of laxly traumas and countless overnights in a bid to achieve… vanity.

The character peered up from the words that form his very own existence, eyes fastened on the one that handles the pen; the very device that births him. Yes, Mike Dammy lives as Mike Dammy writes. The latter continues scribbling in the striped journal oblivious of the curiosity in his character’s face. Or perhaps he ignores it. 2014 has been a blessing and a curse. The character wonders which his creator would embrace.

Disclaimer: Henceforth, I’ll be addressing the character as ‘Dammy’ or ‘the character’ and the writer which is Dammy himself as ‘the writer’.

It all started with a single tweet;

“Getting married this year… House Warming this year… Acura ZDX this year…”

Maybe it was faith; perhaps hope but Dammy remembered not what fueled the inspiration behind the statement. His church, CAC, Mende, Maryland disappeared as they went around a bend; the sanctuary where he breath his first breath of the year and congratulated close by ‘neighbors’ like his pastor would say. The time was 01:05 and the date read January 1st, 2014. The New Year had just arrived.

Slowly, but surely, they meandered through the pot holes and traffic along Ikorodu road down to their humble abode in Ikorodu. His brother still tapping on his Blackberry Torch 1 yawned for the umpteenth time and his mum squinted further as she fought to see the road markings in the misty fog that had enveloped Lagos. This is my year, Dammy said to himself. Fast forward twelve months and the writer wonders if it indeed is his year.

The year zoomed off pretty much after its opening act and only slowed down to permit Dammy end things with M in the month of love. Ironic. The writer focuses as he tries to see into the mind of his character and ascertain the reason for that single act. Was it fate or has there been a situation of poor decision making, he couldn’t tell. Dammy’s face remained stern, a book devoid of words or pictures.

March arrived and the phrase YOLO became more apparent in his doings.

Come on, just a little…

Come on, pop it a little…

Come on, sip it a little…

Come on, rock it a little…

Deceit spoke with the voices of men and a broken Dammy heeded its call. They say the heart of man is wicked and Dammy’s held firm as he broke all borders in two weeks. Forever a black hole in his heart; those two weeks in March. ‘Dammy two weeks’ sounded like a suitable nickname.
But Heaven intervened and Jesus came calling as usual. Salvation beckoned and this time, the nickname dissolved into non-entity. The past roared its fangs like a cobra in an exhibition fish tank but that was all it was; an exhibition. Only to be remembered or forgotten, asides that, the past was useless. Hence, Dammy’s giant steps into the future and boy oh boy, April was one blessed future — the emergence of C… The year was just getting started.

It comes to mind what or who Marc Anthony was thinking about when he penned down his hit song and popular Dettol advert theme song as many know it; I need you. You see, Dammy was a crush-magnet. His admiration for beautiful members of the opposite sex knew no bounds and if Marc felt a quarter of what Dammy felt with C, he was indeed happy for C was an Angel. Her semi-circle smile initiated sparks in his head and her voice always dealt a massive blow to the walls he tried to build but alas all of it was all gone in a flash. Her smile was as much as he got and an electrifying half hour where all but the sunset paused in romantic coalition as much as he managed. The beautiful damsel floated back to Port Harcourt to her true love and Dammy succumbed to depression valley.

True to his ability to fall in and out of crushes, he was quick to meet another… and another… but the smile of C lingered in his mind and all came to null until he met Her.
Now, ‘Her’ brings to mind a beautiful, intelligent lady and yes she was and still is but love was too complicated and Dammy had learnt that firsthand. His walls steadied themselves and anticipated another massive hit. This was early august where the days grew longer and nights invariably shorter.

* * * *

The crunchy escapades of Dammy, his alliance with wisdom and death wish as he plugged away hours upon hours of his life in a bid to create a perfect rendition of a ‘Convention Centre’ like his master’s degree project entailed cannot all be described here as months and months on end would be required of the Writer to create a befitting memoir of a life that is Dammy’s. Life is too short for that hence his quickening steps towards creating a suitable prelude.

* * * *

The character sat still in the settee. His eyes fastened on the eyes of the reader trying to understand what they think of him. Hero perhaps? Probably not. Prude or Inconsequential bastard seems more like it.
But really, he cared not what they thought. As the year grinds to a halt, he is grateful for what he has. He approaches the New Year as a war-hero albeit timid. He has proven himself not to be perfect but to be true and deserving of a tender smile and a good laugh.

“Getting married this year… House Warming this year… Acura ZDX this year…”

It all seems like a dream now. 

Dammy stood up and walked towards the window. He parted the blinds with one hand and watched as the earth fades in the distance in an almost spherical manner. The trees whistled gently the songs of the wind and homecoming birds adorned the sunset like paint on a canvas. His mind is steady and set because in two days, he departs for 2015 a man loved and a man in love. This was just the beginning; A new Dawn Beckons…

The end.

* * * *

2014 was a glorious year in all ramifications. Like the literal art above described it, it had its ups, its downs, upside downs and many more that I cant possibly classify.
At some point, it hurt real bad, some other times my heart felt so light from joy that I feared it would burst. Still, I stand a better person than I was last year, an upgrade on the entity that is me.

One glaring aspect was my utmost dedication to work and school, inversely resulting in my haphazard and alarming blogging methods. I stand here ashamed at the numerous atrocities I committed all year long; ranging from incomplete series to disappearances for months on end.

Do I have an excuse for all of these? No, I choose not to.

A reason, perhaps? School

I can’t say I’m proud of my antics or how all these has turned out but if i had to go over everything again, it will probably run the same way. Such is the manner in which I prioritized my activities.
That hasn’t stopped me from having a wonderful and creative year however. I am not the best blogger around ( Definitely!), I’l leave that to the men; Sirs Walt Shakes, Newnaija, Topazo and Seun Odukoya and co, neither am I the best fiction, motivational or comedy writer around.. Lol… Even a new born baby knows that… One thing I do know is that I have some of the best readers and definitely the best writing colleagues and associates around and I’ll deeply grateful for that.

2015 arrives in but some days and we will soon be ushered into a new year and realm of possibilities amidst cheers and dancing. I can’t promise I will be more consistent but I can promise I will try my best.

I forever remain Mike Dammy and I gloriously march into the new year a man loved and a man in love.
Compliments of the season blessed people and a Happy New Year in advance!

* * * *

As is my tradition, I always post pictures of my studio work after each semester… Last semester was super hectic… Super super hectic! The results were endearing though and I dare say, Worth it… Its was a ‘Convention Center’ design incorporating a monumental tower ( yh, that Eiffel tower look-alike structure), an office tower, a residential tower, pavilion and many many things that probably won’t interest you.

Anyways, the pictures are below… I hope you like them! 😀

p.s…. Don’t ever let your child study Architecture… Its a trap!…Seriously 😐

Overview of the entire site

Residential Tower in the Foreground and the Mixed use complex and Monumental tower in the background.