"Titus!... Titus!!...Titus!!!"

Your name is chanted by the crowd as you stride majestically into the waiting limo which would then take you to the villa as you, all smiles, wave regally at the sea of people clamoring to catch a glimpse of you. They had all come to witness your inauguration as president of the federal republic of Nigeria, following a landslide victory at the polls. They had all come to see their leader, to see this man who had promised heaven and earth during his campaigns, to see you. "We're here sir", your chauffeur turns as he eases the engine to a stop. The door swings open and your aide, who for some weird reason looks exactly like your friend Abugu, stands at attention. Despite the beautiful perfection of that morning and the huge grin on your face, you can't shake the uneasy feeling in your gut. You step out of the vehicle in your newly-confident gait and your security detail, as if sensing the tension in you, edges closer, cocking their weapons.

Suddenly, there is a really loud noise and in the ensuing commotion, you are momentarily blinded. When you regain your sight, you cannot believe your eyes. The loud noise which has become the terribly familiar tune of your phone alarm, coupled with creaking from your ceiling fan has yanked you from your paradise and now helps you remember exactly where you are.

You reach your hands over soaked sheets, fumbling blindly for the wailing phone. You hear it fall and there is silence.

And your squeaky fan.

The phone refuses to come on so you plug it in. It still won't power on. Then you hear the creaking slow down to agonizing, grinding shrieks and you realize that 'Nepa' has 'taken the light'.

You hear the whining and you know your flatmates are around. They surface from whatever crevices the air from the fan had forced them into, weaving annoying patterns around you. Soon enough, the slapping begins as you futilely try to evade the stinging bites, scratching earnestly. These past nights have been like this; frantic, riotous and vain attempts to escape the tiny vampires. You can already feel the malaria growing in you and make a mental note to visit the pharmacist in the morning.

Since you almost died the last time malaria took you down, you decide to take preemptive action this time so you don't fall sick and miss your exams. You try to power your phone again and sighing in resignation, you shamble over to the table and flick on the lamp.

The table is cluttered, open books closing out its surface, with notes and scribbles and sketches from a wandering mind—distracted from the complexities of human anatomy, your next exam.

You've always had a knack for drawing stuff. You don't remember not knowing how to draw. From tracing figures in comics to sketching portraits, you wowed people with your skills. However, you also had big brains and so, you found yourself in sciences even though you were better in the arts subjects. You definitely wouldn't have been in this mosquito-infested room, slowly melting away in this sweltering heat if your parents hadn't obstinately insisted on having a doctor in the family. If only you'd fought harder to follow your dreams of getting that grant to study art, maybe you'd have been somewhere very different, certainly somewhere better tonight.

Medical school has been crazy. You quickly realized that you didn't have the biggest brains after all as you have encountered some absolute monsters in this place. You, who never really had to study to pass exams in secondary school, were now an avid reader, voraciously running through the bulky, intricate texts and yet, just barely keeping up. Just.

You can't shake the feeling that you're in the wrong place, the square peg in a round hole. You wonder what could have been, what you could have achieved and whether you could still do so. Whether you could still have your work displayed in all the great galleries, sold for outrageous prices, whether you could still live your dreams.

A particularly vicious bite jerks you out of your reverie and wincing, you slap your thigh. Incensed, you pick up the lamp to begin hunting the offending miscreants.