As a recovering hoarder, Sarah fought the urge to keep that dress. ‘It won’t hurt anyone’, she thought, after all, it was just one item. But she remembered what her coach had said the rule was ‘any item not worn in six months’.
The last time she wore it was over two years before, when she had attended the send-forth party of one of her bosses. She had heard one of her colleagues’ snide remarks about the dress being her uniform and it had stung her. She had been able to give a humorous riposte to that remark, reminding the cheeky colleague and her listeners that the dress had ‘pockets for goodness’ sake! And you know what we women are like with pockets! Why would I not like it and rock it repeatedly? Also it was all the rage when I bought it and it cost top dollar!’
Everyone had laughed and it had appeared that Sarah had taken the verbal jab well, but she had afterwards slid away quietly and hoped that no one would notice, as she had suddenly felt insecure about the attire.
She had really liked that dress but she couldn’t deny that that remark made her uncomfortable about wearing it again and so she was going to dryclean it and fold it away for now…let it breathe for a while until people forgot about it.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
It was crazy how the exchange rate kept shooting up! The subscription to her professional body was due and she had been sent a reminder. The timing was far from convenient as she had just paid off the month’s installment of her mortgage loan and there were a million and one other bills clawing at her account balance.
She was mulling her options when another text came from the charity organisation. ‘Used clothes in good condition’, the text had requested.
She tried to eeny-meeny-miny-moe her way out of taking a decision on the dress headlong, but knew that she would not be convinced by either outcome. Keep the dress ensconced in her wardrobe where it had been for two years, or give it out?
Eventually, she decided it was time to let it go. It was a tough decision for a dress she loved so much, but she knew it was time for someone else to own it. Sarah remembered the sad story of the hoarder in whose house they had found endless yards of unused fabric when she had passed on and she decided to add her unmade lace fabrics and ankaras to the huge suitcase she was packing for the charity drive.
Then she picked the dress and held it up on the hanger by her shoulders. It was still so beautiful. Still so glamorous. And it still fit, she thought, as she slid into it and pulled the zip up.
After one final battle she overcame the nagging voice that wouldn’t let the dress go and she dipped her hands into her pockets to strike a pose in front of the mirror one last time in the dress.
Her initial thought was that the crunch she felt were forgotten post-it notes from two years before but as she pulled out the pieces of paper, she saw two crisp one hundred dollar bills! She could not even remember keeping them there.
She folded the dress like a professional seamstress would and gave thanks under her breath. Had she not decided to give it out, she would not have seen those notes.
-Yetunde Adepeju Abatan ©️ 2024
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