Remote-Controlled Weather

Why is the world never on my side? I dread everything the world has to offer for me. Everyone around me seems to hate me and I can’t seem to do anything right. I just want to be left alone, to have no worries whatsoever. I want to be free and happy, and I don’t want anyone to interfere with my happiness.

I can’t do it, I can't go to school today. I will just get beaten up if I go anyway. But mama and baba would be disappointed if I skip school. I looked at the time to see that it’s still early, so I decided to go to our living room and watch my favourite morning cartoon. When I was on my way to the living room, I could hear the sound of the news reporter blaring from the television. I picked up a remote and pressed the button, but it became cloudy outside. I swear it was scorching hot just before. I kept pressing the other buttons but the channel would not change, instead, a huge storm appeared. Could this be a coincidence? Or is it because of this remote? Shocked by the sudden change of weather, I instinctively hid the remote and decided to keep it a secret from everyone.

Figuring out that the remote I had found could change the weather, I exploited it to the best of my desires. I changed the “channel” to rain every morning for the past week, leading to most kids in Ethiopia to miss school, myself included. The constant downpour I had been creating was too much for the country to handle, since this part of Ethiopia isn’t very equipped to deal with rain, much less by this amount. 

By the end of the second week, I had made it rain cats and dogs every day, excluding the weekends. The two weeks of escape from school had temporarily suppressed my dread. In that two weeks, no one was able to make fun of me, I wasn’t the outcast of the class. The peace of mind I felt temporarily nourished me of the memories from school.

The sun had just begun to set when the skies were clearing up. Peculiarly, my phone was ringing. On the caller info was my childhood friend, Chukwuemeka, the only person who has treated me fairly.

“Really unusual weather we’ve been having, huh?” Her voice kindled through the phone. “It’s like God’s playing with us right now.”

I wasn’t sure whether or not it was alright to tell her that the one who’d been playing God had been me all this time. Trusting in our friendship, I decided to come clean and tell her everything. From finding the remote to selfishly using it throughout the past weeks, I laid everything bare to her. “No one bothered me for once, I didn’t have to go to school and endure the pain.”

“Are you stupid? Escaping like this is not going to do anything, both for you nor for them.” Her yelling bursted through the earpiece. It was the first time that I had ever heard Chukwuemeka yell that loud. “Can’t you see what you’re doing is costing lots of other people as well?! My parents hadn’t been able to go to work since you caused this!”

Her words shook me more than when I was bullied in school. I couldn’t accept that I felt that she was right about everything. “But if I didn’t do this, I’d have to meet them again. I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore.” My voice broke down in the middle of the last sentence. Having all of my insecurities shown clearly hurt. 

“You have me don’t you? Why are you acting like you have to suffer alone?” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Is me being by your side just not enough for you?”
I closed the line before she could continue any further. I threw my phone away somewhere and locked the door. I wasn’t able to face myself head on. Covering my ears, I cowered my head between the pillows and let the darkness take over.

I knew that she was right. She’s always right. I’ve always been selfish ever since I was a kid, trapped in my own world of black and white. But Chukwumeka, despite being the polar opposite of me, stayed beside me nonetheless. She stood by my side even when I acted selfishly, and I admire that about her. However, her words were too straightforward today, and I hate it. I hate the fact that her words kept on ringing in my mind, and I hate the way I yelled out every insecurities I have to her. Just thinking about this pisses me off to the point where I cried. I wasn’t crying because I was sad, but it was because I was angry. The anger I felt from her telling the cold, hard truth, and the anger I felt because I was mad at myself for a huge wimp. I clenched my fist and threw my pillow to the wall, causing a loud crash. 

“Simba?! What’s that noise? Are you okay? Please, open the door!” Outside of my room, I could hear my parents frantically trying to open my door. I could tell that they were genuinely worried about me, but I couldn’t be bothered to open my door. 

“Shut up! Just leave me alone!” I cried, kicking the door. I think my parents were taken aback by my sudden outburst, and they went silent for a while. After a few minutes, I could hear their sigh and retreat from my room.

“Simba sweetie, whatever happens, remember that Mom and Dad are here for you okay? Please don’t endure it all alone. We will go for now, but we will check in on you again later. I love you.” My mom’s voice was soothing. It was very soothing, but it wasn’t enough to calm me down. I took a quick glance at the spot where I threw my book, and that’s when it caught my eye.

Right. The remote. I can just use this to let out my anger. I’ll just use this. I pressed the button of the remote, convincing myself that a little rain wouldn’t hurt. After pressing the button, I jumped back to my bed and continued wallowing in self-pity until I fell asleep.

It was a few more days before his parents could get into his room. They found out about it after his best friend told them about it out of worry. After a while of counselling, the boy finally sees his wrongdoings. He finally turned off the remote and went outside.

When he wanted to apologize to his best friend, he got word that she got dragged away by the flood that he caused. The news shocked him so much that he dropped the weather remote and broke it, causing the town to perpetually be in rain. 

He was shocked to hear the news that his friend was gone, he broke the remote, the remote which caused his friend to die. But when the remote broke down, the rain in the city got heavier and didn't stop.

When he got the news about it, he started to be confused and it made him a little emotional, he couldn't do anything because his friend was gone. He felt very guilty about that. The mother and father of his friend were also very sad, but no one could change what had happened.