Happy Earth Day
She wakes up early in the morning, still tired and sleepy after an uncomfortable night's rest. the room is dark, as if shrouded in a giant's perpetual shadow, yet outside the sky is a bold and beautiful blue, and the sun smiles brightly, beaming a warm morning welcome. She tosses and turns in search of a comfortable position to sleep in, she is not yet ready to get up. She tries lying on her back, but the unsettling weight in her stomach forces her to find another position. She tries lying on her left side, but her husband's noxious morning breath nauseates her. Abandoning all hope of ever falling asleep again, she rises from the bed and stumbles noiselessly across the linoneum floor of her bachelor flat to the kitchen. She smiles to herself in amusement as she realises that it only took her three steps.
Outside, life has begun and the busy streets of the city centre are bustling with hawkers and workers all rushing around trying to make a living. From her flat she can hear the persuasive calls of the street vendors, shouting their wares and trying to catch people's attention. She can hear the stop-start movements of the taxis drivers as they take sho't lefts and stop after robots. The irate protests from other drivers. The chaos that ensues. She listens intently to the sounds of the city as she stands silently in the kitchen. No longer thirsty for the glass of water that brought her there in the first place. She is captivated.
She is captivated by the sounds of the city as she envisions the world she is living in. The poverty, loneliness and emptiness that surrounds her. The violence and anger and brutality that she witnesses on a daily basis. The struggle and perpetual rat race her people are destined to live in until the day of their death. She envisions all these things as she wraps her hands around her taut, drum belly. It is round and full and teeming with life. She says to herself: "This is the world that my child will come into. But it will not be the world that she lives in. To you, child, I promise life and love. A world where you will always be protected, and always feel loved. To you child, I promise safety, protection, wisdom and growth. May you learn from me and those that surround you. May you grow to be a woman of substance and power. May you grow to be a better woman than me."
Her prayer complete, she makes her way slowly back to bed. She now feels radiant and fresh, like she has unlocked something that lay deep within her. Something powerful and rare. As she reaches her bed and struggles to lay down, she feels a violent kick in her belly. It is followed by another one, and another, and another. Her water breaks. The infinite universe of her womb is rearranging itself, making way to release to the earth a queen. The time has come. She wakes her husband up in a panic. "It's time," she says, "It is time!"
The time is 10:15am. The date, 9 October 1990.
It is the beginning of another story. My Story. Only time will tell how it ends.
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Gugu Kheswa
She wakes up early in the morning, still tired and sleepy after an uncomfortable night's rest. the room is dark, as if shrouded in a giant's perpetual shadow, yet outside the sky is a bold and beautiful blue, and the sun smiles brightly, beaming a warm morning welcome. She tosses and turns in search of a comfortable position to sleep in, she is not yet ready to get up.
My Story