The Man Who Was Always Leaving.

By the time the people in the neighborhood could say "Jack," this man was already leaving. And nobody could really pinpoint why; no one was really close enough to him to even ask. He just got there less than a year ago, and he's already leaving.

He just picked up his small bag, with another smaller one, locked his door, and disappeared; he's making his way to another town again. Well, it isn't new; he had done it several times already. He's always leaving, and he always has his own reasons, even though it is always somehow.

He got his first job at twenty-two years of age and left the job the week he turned twenty-three years of age. His reason was that his job shouts at him too much and he does not feel comfortable working with him. At twenty-five years of age, he broke up with the lady he was dating with one of his regular excuses. At twenty six, he left another job he was doing for a very dumb reason, and guess what? He left where he was staying at age thirty-one all because his neighbors were trying to know him and get close to him.

And that was how he had been living his life; the first time someone got close enough to ask him why, his response was that "there's nothing wrong with leaving a place or someone when you know you no longer belong there."

And for a very long time, he lived his life that way, always leaving a job, switching towns, changing homes, and all of that. You can imagine an adult who lived his life moving from city to city, room to room, person to person, and job to job, and all of that. And guess what? He's very good at it. He's left before you even notice; he's arrived before you even know, and he's gone before you could even get too close to him.

On a particular night, it was raining. He had returned to where he grew up, the house and town his parents lived in. This is somewhere he had left years ago; he left his parents and younger siblings back then. As he got to the entrance, he hesitated before knocking. There was light, so he took a few minutes to study the environment, the house in particular. He noticed how old the house had become, the paints had faded, the fence had fallen to one side, and some of the ceilings in the balcony had been removed.

He knocked on the door, and he got a response from inside, it was a female voice.

Then a woman about 45 years of age opened the door.

"You?" The woman said.

He studied the person and looked at her carefully before responding. It was his younger sister, Lade.

He couldn't even respond; it has been over twenty years since he last saw her.

"Femi, you finally came back." Lade said again, this time calling him by name.

He just stood there, mute and glued to the spot. After about what looked like forever, he muttered something, and they made their way in.

That night, they discussed extensively on so many things. Her sister was so happy to see her that she forgot her anger towards him. She sat him down, gave him water, and began to tell him about her failed marriage, her two kids in boarding school, the small business she's running to make ends with and all of that. She even told him about people he barely knew or remembered.

Then suddenly, she remembered she was angry at him, but it was too late to start showing it, so she looked at him and asked, "Why did you leave? Various times have I heard people saying they'd see you in different places, why don't you always stay at a place?"

He looked down and responded, "I thought staying at a place would trap me."

"Trap you? How?" Lade asked.

He just nodded; for the first time he couldn't find the best words to describe it. He always has something to say, but not today.

They made their way to bed that night; the following morning he woke up very early, took his bath and took a walk around the town. He saw a lot of people he knew, like the Barber, the woman who sells food back then, and a lot more, some as well recognized him, while he saw a lot more people he didn't know.

Everyone had moved on with their lives; some have died, some are doing business, and some are now married and have given birth. Somehow, everyone had stayed connected to something, but had not. There's nothing he could point at.

He returned home and met his sister's absence...she had gone to her stall. So, he packed his bag and made his way out. On getting to the door, he dropped it, stood for a while, and made his way to one of the chairs. He sat down and was lost in thought.

It was a sound on the door that brought him back to reality; time's gone already. It was sister.

Immediately after she stepped in, she noticed the bag on the floor, just right beside the door.

"Don't tell me you're leaving?"

He smiled and responded, "Nope, not this time, not anymore."

And for the first time he wasn't afraid of staying. He had thought things through.

Maybe a stone that keeps on rolling never gathers moss, or perhaps moss isn't always a burden. It might just be proof that something or someone stayed long enough to become a part of a thing.

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Images are AI generated.

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