In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “First Crush.”

Who was your first childhood crush? What would you say to that person if you saw him/her again?

My very first crush came in the figure of a poster. I adored him from thousands of miles away, through the small handkerchief sized screen of a black and white television.

He was Thomas Sankara;  Burkina Faso’s late revolutionary leader. His calendar post hung on the wall, where his imaginary words turned me into a renegade princess. Unfortunately, I was still too young when he died and I never got the chance to flutter my eyelashes at him.

Then came the second crush, who lived in the neighborhood. He was not quite as handsome but fairly manageable too.

He never knew I had a teen crush on him and when I ran into him several years ago, not a missed heartbeat or flutter did my heart suffer. For some reason, I kept staring at the balding shiny patch of his head, since I stood several good inches taller, trying to figure out what it was that had kept my young heart crushing. I couldn’t remember.

We exchanged pleasantries and went our merry ways. Me and my brood of kids and him with his bulging briefcase to do what it was that he did.

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha