By Adeoluwa Deborah Iseoluwa

SAFACS 2023 ENTRY 3

"Out with you old, in with the new!" I shouted.

"No." He growled. "Don't you dare!"

We encircled each other. My opponent was furious. Enraged like a madman, he charged at me. I sidestepped. He fell into a pool of blood. He gave a loud shriek.

"Why did you bring the blood?" He wailed.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize what was going on. My opponent's skin melted away like wax exposed to the fire. Then it dawned on me. I burst into laughter. Someone must have brought my secret weapon while I fought.

"Bunmi!" I lurched back into reality.

"Sorry, I must have…"

"Must have what? You frightened me! You zoned out on me for the past thirty minutes, looking like a zombie."

"I'm so sorry." How do I explain to Dorcas that I found myself in the heat of a battle?

"You are doing all of this because you don't want to be friends with me anymore. That's why you are acting weird." She pouted.

"That's not true."

"Well, you left all your old friends, especially me, your best friend." I said nothing. I didn't know what to say.

"You've changed." Dorcas peered at me in concern.

I smiled. "If any man is in Christ he is a new being, old things have passed away…"

"...all things are now new." She took the statement right out of my mouth and rolled her eyes at me.

I grinned.

"swear we are still friends?" She smiled at me.

"Always."

"Meet me at Club247 tonight. George misses you." She left.

I shook my head. The offer was tempting. A part of me misses George too. I looked in front of me, lost in the memories of George and I. Far away, I saw a garment dipped in blood.

"The blood," I muttered. Then, it dawned on me.

"The blood has set me free from the old, from the struggle.

"Glory!" I shouted. I walked away in triumph. The old will not see me, for it is out, and the new has triumphed.