IMAGINE!!!

It happened that I came across a big guy wearing a black sweater with a big hood which was almost covering his entire face while I was browsing through lecture rooms in search of a quiet place where I could study, one Monday. He was the only guy in this particular room and it was the only calm room at the moment. I, at first, thought he was a bad guy because of the hood of his sweater. But after scrutinizing carefully, I came up with the conclusion that he might not be bad after all. His head was bowed, his shoulders were sagging, he looked depressed. After much contemplation, I decided to walk up to him.
“Hi” I tried to put up a friendly smile. He didn’t reply, he didn’t even raise his head. As I tried to look more closely at his face, he adjusted his hood with style and shook his head in a way that obstructed my view.
“Is it well?” I asked and a ball of tear dropped on the desk. I was sure then, that this man was really downhearted. He removed his hood and behold, the most irritating face I have ever seen. His face was burned badly: it looked like it was burned by hot water. His entire face was peeled, goose pimples instantly popped out of my skin. Really, it wasn’t a good sight, it looked terrible. It looked like it had not been long since whatever happened to his face happened. My eyes became misty with tears when I saw this man sobbing.
“Is it that bad?” he asked, and I couldn’t hold back the tears.
Life and it’s offerings, sometimes good and sometimes bad. Sometimes the bad things are unfortunately offered to the good ones, and they can’t be avoided. I guessed this guy was just one of the victims of this fate.
“My fiance broke up with me. She said my face scared her… I didn’t meet her this way…” his voice shook as he explained like a child, he seemed to be so frustrated.
“I am nothing like myself.. Oh God..” he said between sniffs. The tears in his eyes were freely cascading down his cheeks.
“I’m so sorry” I didn’t know what else to tell him. He was sobbing like a little child.

He told me his story.

He had travelled home to pay a visit to his mother and younger sister. On his arrival, they decided to prepare him a meal he always enjoyed, boiled yam and well spiced palm oil. After cooking. Evelyn, his younger sister, had gone to the backyard to throw away the very hot water that was used to boil the yams. Unfortunately, she didn’t look to see her brother who had just finished urinating and was going back into the house coming, and she threw it all on his cute face. He had fainted instantly, the water was too hot and his face got really fried. He was rushed to a nearby clinic.
When he came back to the city two months later, his fiance could not believe he was the same person. Really his face was badly disfigured. She got really irritated when he tried to smile. She couldn’t stop wrinkling her face anytime she saw him, talkless of when he touched her. She couldn’t bear it, she broke up.

I heaved a deep sigh. My heart was heavy.
“She told me I was the man of her dreams, she told me nothing could break us apart, she told me she could never love anyone more…” he sniffed
It was a pathetic story.
“I’m so sorry” I said, my eyes were dull and I felt really weak..

But then, can you bear it? Can you take it? Would you wholeheartedly still accept your boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancee or fiance if his or her face suddenly becomes so terrifying and horrible and screwed up? If something really terrible and scary happens to his appearance? Will you still stay? How many can do it? How many really love?