Ori ori o. Olajumoke nlo.
Ori ko l’apa Ola jumoke nlo
Ori ko l’ese Olajumoke nlo…

****

It was the second time he was hearing the song in his head. It was from the folklore that Baba Agba had told them as a child, of a beautiful young woman who rejected all suitors, in search of a perfect man.

Adeolu had more pressing issues on his mind. His creditors have been on his neck for a while now and he was now lost about what to do. It was no longer a secret that Adeolu was one of those people who borrowed to live. From car loans to high end apartments, Adeolu borrowed everything. He’d borrow for one thing and borrow to repay it. It was a cycle of debt he couldn’t get out of no matter how much he tried and all his many jobs didn’t seem to cut it.

Borrowing was not such a bad thing. At least when he first started it wasn’t. Until he realized he didn’t have the discipline required to build a good credit score; and paying back a loan requires huge discipline.

From his bad choice of friends who only cared about popping drinks at expensive bars to funding a lifestyle that was far beyond his pay grade, Adeolu was far gone. He keeps getting calls from various banks asking him when to expect the next payment.

***

Until one day, a perfect man came from far away to ask Olajumoke’s hand in marriage. He was the prettiest man he had ever seen. Everything was perfect. From his hands, to his feet, to his perfect way of speech, what more could a young beautiful woman ask for?

Ori takes Olajumoke’s hands and together they began the sojourn far away to his beautiful land.

A long distance from the journey, Ori made a stop. He got to the land of Hands and returned the beautiful hands he had borrowed. He left his beautiful feet at the land of Feet too. By this time, Olajumoke began to realize. This beautiful man who she had fallen in love with for his great beauty was nothing but a perfect piece of just Brain. He was not perfect. And she decided to run away when Ori was not home.

Ori ori o. Olajumoke nlo.
Ori ko l’apa Ola jumoke nlo
Ori ko l’ese Olajumoke nlo…

***

Adeolu knew what he had to do and there was only one thing to do – become Ori and return all that was not his.

***

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