It was pleasantly, a memorable day in the lives of Kevin Martins and FELITSA Daniels. A two-day national public holiday had been mapped out following their National team’s remarkable milestone in a just concluded World cup tournament. Everyone— relatives, friends and well-wishers of the bride and groom all gathered. A dazzling array of flashy cars laced the stunning outlook of the wedding venue. The weather was perfectly clement. An invigorating air of happiness filled the NOVEMBER SKY. The wedding proper had already kicked-off and the congregation staunchly, took part in all the activities, expectant of the star activity of the day— the exchange of marriage vows. Series of religious activities took their turns and eventually, it was time for the crux of the day’s gathering— time for the intending couple to make THE PROMISE.The pastor called the bride, the groom and their sponsors up and with elegant steps, they marched out. A resounding ovation erupted from the congregation. The pastor read to the hearing of everyone, marriage vows and the bride and
groom repeated in turns. The process continued UNTIL THE LAST MOMENT of vow making was observed. The pastor then gave a concrete seal to the marriage vows with the statement, “Today, Kevin and FELITSA have exchanged marriage vows and are hereby declared husband and wife. Therefore, what God has joined, let no man put asunder”. An overwhelming applause by the congregation filled the atmosphere. Kevin and FELITSA exchanged pleasant stares and beamed synchronous smiles at each other. The pastor watched both of them with analytical interest for a while a said to Kevin, “You may kiss the bride”. Kevin quickly grabbed FELITSA and both indulged in a passionate kiss before the cheering congregation. Immediately, loud songs of thanksgiving and praise erupted from the band group and everyone was ushered into an atmosphere of great jubilation. Friends and relatives of the bride and groom rushed out in solidarity to the altar to embrace the newly wed. A frenzy excitement charged
the air.
Just behind the jubilant crowd, the pastor emerged and mounted the pulpit. The loud songs of thanksgiving and praise gradually fizzled out and maximum silence ensued once again. As a matter of necessity, he called the newly wed to stand up and in a clear and mild tone, he admonished; “Remember, the vows both of you have made to each other before the children of God are for a lifetime. Apart from being spiritually binding, they are equally sacred. The sanctity of these vows should be upheld at all times and nurtured FOR ALL SEASONS of life. Nothing, I repeat, nothing should be a barrier to the upkeep of these vows. Be it silver, GOLD, TRIBAL DREAM, ETHNICITY, riches, poverty, sense of NOSTALGIA, scarcity or plenty. No amount of reasons will also be considered worthy for any infringement upon these sacred vows. And for all of us here, let us still remember that we have a role to play in providing mutual support to one another for our collective spiritual growth. Growth in the spirit should not be a ONE MAN'S DREAM , rather, the dream of everyone. Kevin and Felitsa we are WISHING WELL today, tomorrow, another set of couple would be on the same track Kevin and Felitsa are today. That implies growth. So brothers and sisters, it is always NICE TO MEET YOU and to witness our fellow brothers’ and sisters’ union in marriage. Shall we now rise for our closing prayer..”
As the closing prayer came to an end, the atmosphere of jubilation resurfaced. The couple, in the company of relatives, friends and well-wishers embarked on a MARCHING SEASON to the "Liberty Hall"— venue for the grand reception of the couple.
The reception was a spectacularly coordinated effort. Mountains of gifts from relatives, friends and well-wishers colonized every vacant space inside the "Liberty Hall" with tactfully selected symphony music tracks ranging from:
NIKI NANA (WE'RE ONE), , TRIBUTE, SOUTHERN EXPOSURE, BEFORE I GO, SANTORINI, ARIA, ACROYALLI, A WORD IN PRIVATE, WITHIN ATTRACTION, ONCE UPON A TIME, FLIGHT OF FANTASY to NIGHTBIRD, adorned everyone with unprecedented ecstasy. The reception ended at exactly 7:45pm.
With burning quest, the couple took a smooth ride to their high-class two-storey building located about three kilometres from their capital city.
Without much comments and time wasting, they inched their way to the bathroom for a detailed bath, took their supper in quick succession and retired into their room.
Initially,it was a moment of REFLECTIONS OF PASSION they shared during their days as singles. Part of their joy was that the mutual SECRET VOWS they made to each other in private have finally gained public ovation and admiration with an eventful FAREWELL to bachelorhood and spinsterhood. FELITSA, now a bit uneasy, chipped in with a comment, “anyway, LOVE IS ALL”. Their conversation suffered some periods of silence. At this one, Kevin glanced at the wall clock. “It’s already 10pm”, he said in a surprise. It was barely ten hours left for them to take-off to the NORT SHORE OF MATSUSHIMA for their actual honeymoon. Anyway, for a married couple, ten hours before daybreak is NEVER TOO LATE for them to showcase their matrimonial rights. FELITSA whose uneasy state appeared to have left her with ONLY A MEMORY of a newspaper’s description of the FIRST TOUCH of a man’s “creative licence”, stared Kevin in the eyes. Her right hand softly landed on Kevin’s chest and travelled towards the lower part of his abdomen with a mild expedition. Kevin smartly recognizes love signals AT FIRST SIGHT and obviously knew that A LOVE FOR LIFE was on the way, in fact in the making and responded accordingly. PLAY TIME signals filled the room and after a few moments of passionate fiddling with each other’s garments, both emerged in their TRUE NATURE, formidably ready to dance to the tune of the "MIDNIGHT HYMN".
On sighting FELITSA’s buoyant feminine charms, an inferno of emotions clouded him and this time, his potent masculine desires became diametrically unquenchable. FELITSA knew little more than a novice in this kind of game and could not get the footwork right initially. She practically did not know what to do, even with her “destiny” in her hands. TO TAKE----TO HOLD or what? After moments of not-too-impressive efforts, she submitted completely to
the one who knows better— Kevin.
With the game he has been playing by heart all day long now at his doorstep, Kevin did not waste much time CHASING SHADOWS but headed straight to the “POINT OF ORIGIN”. Realizing FELITSA had never for once danced to the tone of an imaginary song, an aura of lordship engulfed him and slowly but softly, he continued his expedition to the Treasure Island.
FELITSA became confused at how the Kevin she knew as a QUIET MAN had suddenly turned a total stranger with inordinate ambition to explore his world. She was also not at peace with what appeared like a DANCE WITH A STRANGER which Kevin was about luring her into. Despite all these, she still needed a full dose of the whole action. Therefore, it became difficult for her to say “Yes” but completely impossible to say “No” to Kevin’s appetizing demands.
Kevin’s treasure hunt took an upper hand. His arrival was greeted with a scream typical of a NIGHTINGALE but neither daylight screams nor WHISPERS IN THE DARK nor anything at the moment could stop Kevin’s mild pounding ON SACRED GROUND. Occasionally, FELITSA appealed to Kevin in ALMOST A WHISPER to tread softly and Kevin’s strict obedience to her appeals plunged them into a boundless ocean of goodness. Finally, the eagle landed and Kevin deposited a precious gift that would emerge in its full splendour before THE END OF AUGUST, the following year. Both could not express their overwhelming joy with mere words but cuddled each other and dozed off.
For the first time they felt the taste of matrimonial ENCHANTMENT, it was unmistakably for them, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER.
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The hustle and bustle of the previous day weakened both Kevin and FELITSA. About 6:35am, they woke up from sleep. With less than one hour thirty minutes left for them to get to the airport, they hurried their morning exigencies, had a quick bath and dashed into the room for the daunting task of split-second dressing. Kevin was the first to get dressed while FELITSA maintained a meticulous approach to her dressing. With a final LOOK IN THE MIRROR, she
turned to Kevin and with that gracious tone, she said, “sweetheart, I must thank you immensely for an unforgettable night of bliss. The pleasure was completely outside the range of my imagination”. “A million thanks to you gentle giant”, replied Kevin.
“You just saw a PRELUDE to the great pleasures that have queued up for us in the future. We’re just at the threshold of our matrimonial bliss”. With those remarkable statements from Kevin, FELITSA hugged him unreservedly and both engaged in an invigorating matrimonial kiss after which they loaded their luggage in the car and took off to the airport for a flight to the NORTH SHORE OF MATSUSHIMA for their actual honeymoon.
©Chinedu Ray Eke
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