It took me quite some time to understand what they really meant when they said “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. It’s not the colour, nor the pictures that make up the story. Because it is a treasure buried beneath countable stacks of paper, the original story remains hidden. It is moulded and held together by the irresistible look of a cover, and it is a mystery awaiting to be revealed by a man on a quest as he curiously begins unfolding the pages.
Dora Madida is my wife, and it is quite a story how we met. I met her down at the village square seven years back. I was on my way to the examination centre, where I was going to write my grade 12 final exams, and our meeting was under bad circumstances.
It was early in the morning and everything just happened so fast. At the time, I was in a rush because I only had an hour left before I could actually sit for my exam. That terrified me because I had planned to use that little time to revise. The centre was five blocks away from where I stayed, and because I was a little late, I just picked up my textbook and all the necessities for the exam and began running like a mad horse.
While I was on my way, I wasn’t paying much attention to the road. My aim at that time was to hit the tar and arrive on time. I was too busy running and trying to remember what I had studied to notice anything, and it was only when we collided into each other, that I noticed her. She looked like she was also in a hurry. She had her headphones on, and she didn’t bother looking at where she was going.
The moment I looked at her face, everything just went red and voices started ringing in my head. It was as if I had entered the gates of heaven and came into contact with an angel’s face. The world stopped just for a second, and it was only then that I realised I had fallen in love. But there was one problem: my tongue. My tongue had no words to utter. Not even a “hi” or “hello”. All I could think about was her and me together. Then I remembered that I was running late.
After a while, I looked down to pick up my textbook and the rest of the stuff which had fallen when we collided into each other. To my surprise, it was all covered in mud. She then looked me straight in the eye and I looked straight into hers. Her eyes were so beautiful and sparkling you’d swear they we made out of stars. It was a heart-warming moment and she ruined it with just two words.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
After her apology, I looked her straight in the eye and said: “it’s okay dear, it’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
Even though I knew it was her fault, I just said that because I was being the perfect gentleman, like always. I then grabbed my text book and continued with my trip. I couldn’t stop looking back, though, because it’s not every day that you get to meet an angel like that, and I’m lucky to have gotten one as a wife.
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