Moments to remember

Cleo always dreamt about life in college,her whole smile has been wrapped around the reminder of getting into college,she is excited about her expectations, meeting new people and making new friends, she always wanted to meet people outside her neighborhood. All her life she's spent in Nairobi,now she was going far away from home,far away from family,high school friends,church and neighbours,she's entirely going to start a new life in Vietnam.

Cleo wanted to be a reporter, and there it is,boom!!! Her dreams turning into realities as she watched herself in the full mirror that hung in her pinky room thinking of how time flies and how grown she's become,speedily turning into a beautiful woman,at sixteen she was already going to get into college,her thoughts surrounded her again,telling her that she couldn't do it,"come on Cleo,are you sure you're ready to do this",she began to have mixed feelings of joy and sadness.

Cleo was awoken from her deep thoughts by her younger brother Sam, please come help me fix my toys,he said,looking confused at the set of toys in his hands,Cleo was very good in fixing toys,so she snapped out of her thoughts and got into the moment with Sam and his toys. Here you go, as she handed the fixed toys back to Sam, she saw the smile on his face,the glowing and excitement he felt,this made her feel some kind emptiness in her,she was already missing Sam. They both went downstairs to join mom and dad in the sitting room watching a movie.

Cleo and her friends had fixed some days to hang out together, since it's going to be their last holiday before they go to college. She had Amazing friends here in Nairobi,she feels sad leaving them ,the thought of flora and her glowing smile, Stephanie and her funny cheerful looks,Benny and her unusual dress codes,she missed them already, she thought about Fred,he's been crushing on her since kindergarten, they were best of friends now going to be apart ,Fred was going to attend one of the college in Texas to study Astronomy ,they're going to be worlds apart very soon.

Cleo was also going to be spending the remaining days of her weekend in Church, the church was organizing a college farewell party for her and the fellow teens,so they had some presentations to do and It seems like the final days of her stay at home has been entirely scheduled and mapped out with exciting events and plans. Her mom was going to bake some short bread biscuits for her college travel.

Dad would be taking them out for swimming on Saturday afternoon, oh what a plan,she thought.

Cleo decided to live in the moment and appreciate what she's got,she prayed to God every night committing her college years and life into His hands, this was an habit Cleo could never stop, praying has become part of her general way of live.

Fred had asked her out the day after their final exams in Solemn High School,she was confused about her feelings for Fred, Cleo kept the offer pending until she had talked with her mom about it,Mrs Steve encouraged her to go out with Fred since it was her last days with him till they meet again, Fred had called in earlier on to know if Cleo has an answer for him,he was so joyous when Cleo finally accepted to go out on a dinner with him,it was a friendly dinner,nothing more or less,Cleo saw the emptiness in his eyes when he said goodbye,she knew they won't be seeing each other for long,their departing moment that night was so sad,she hugged him and finally told him that she was crushing on him too,Fred felt chilled wind run down his spine,they both felt butterflies in their stomachs, but that was it,they had to face their future and move on.

It was Saturday afternoon, swimming time,hurray!!! Sam was excited, swimming was his hobby,dad never had time to take him swimming, but because Cleo was leaving for college, he had to make out time for them,they hopped into daddy's old Mercedes Benz and off they went.

I had a great time dad,thanks a lot, said Cleo,she had met some other teens at the swimming pool and they talked about college life and the guys too.

Mom went shopping and got her daughter some nice stuffs she'll be needing for college, Cleo felt special and precious, She promised not to disappoint her parent ,the church and herself, she was going to make the best out of her life and study hard to keep good grades,her dream of being a reporter was gradually coming to a reality.

The service on Sunday was awesome, parents,friends and relatives came to pray and wish them well as they prepared for their college life ,some brought well wishes card,gifts ,hugs and kisses,Cleo and other church teens gave a wonderful presentation, the church was left in amazement and mixed moments of joy,laughter,happiness and goodbye tears,it was a great Sunday.

Cleo spent the remaining few days with her family and friends, flora,Stephanie and Benny,they went out ,watched movies and talked for hours until they'll fall asleep,going out with the girls was always fun,they had lots of games and tricks to play on each other,Benny was going to study in the university in Nairobi,her parents couldn't afford any other school and she wasn't genius enough to win pass any scholarship exams,but she felt happy anyways, Flora was going to Texas with Fred, they both applied for the same school,Cleo felt quite strange about it for sometime but decided to let it go,Stephanie was the better genius amongst ,she was going to study medicine in Florida and on a scholarship based tuition. Everyone seemed satisfied and happy over their recent achievements,they prayed together,danced and sang happily.

These girls just couldn't stop talking about the hot guys in college, Cleo wasn't so much interested in that theme because she was into Fred, even though she couldn't do anything about it,she sometimes wished they were more than best friends, Dad kept reminding her that she isn't allowed to have a boyfriend until she's eighteen, that reminder sunk into her brain and she continued to lay low of her feelings and allow fate lead the way.

Mom,dad and Sam were very supportive and encouraging... The best moment of her last days at home was in the dinning table,she was going to miss dinner prayers ,Sam gobbling foods into his mouth ,mom's cooking and baking too.

Mom had helped her with her packing making sure that she had everything she needed for college work,snacks,biscuit, study materials, clothes,shoes,just everything that she needed. Cleo had clutched to her pillow that night and dreamt of her journey to a new life and environment.