WHEN TWO WORLDS MEET

                                       WHEN TWO WORLDS MEET

                                                     

           Carol entered her room and slowly closed the door behind her, it had been a long day and she felt exhausted.

She threw off her flat shoes and her feet felt soothed when she stepped on her velvet carpet.

Carol felt her phone vibrate in her pocket jeans as she fell on her huge luxurious bed. She pulled it out and before she could answer, it stopped calling.

She jeered when she saw that the number calling was unfamiliar. Leaning over, she pulled the telephone from her side table and dialed the number. It called for a long time and when it was picked, all she could hear was clicking bottles and noises in the background.

       ‘Hello…hello…’

No one spoke back. She banged back the receiver and placed the phone back on the table. This usually happened, so it did not bother her much.

Her bedroom door opened and an elderly woman peeped in.

      ‘Carol dear, have you taken supper yet?’

       ‘Yes mum’

       ‘You should have waited up for your dad and I’

       ‘Am sorry, am just really tired’

       ‘It’s ok. Did you go to church?’    

Carol sighed and shook her head.

       ‘Next time then, three Sundays in arrow, you should come for Bible study on Wednesday’    

‘Ya’

       ‘Goodnight dear’

       ‘Goodnight mum’

The door closed slowly behind Mrs.Mwambu. Carol leaned heavily on her pillow. She had intended to pray but well, as usual she had over slept .She woke up at eleven am and immediately received a phone call from Sheila to go out for swimming. She had accepted of course.

Carol felt empty all of a sudden. She grabbed her Bible that lay below her pillow and opened it.

*                                     *

      Mrs.Mwambu looked intently at her husband as they had supper. She felt a little anxious of to ask him but she knew she had to, although his reaction would be bad.

       ‘Has Carol taken supper?’ he asked all of a sudden, startling her from her thoughts.

       ‘Yes’ she answered, taking a sip on her juice and getting a hold of her fork again.

       ‘Is it true?’ she abruptly asked him.

       ‘What is true?’ Mr.Mwambu replied her with a question.

       ‘What they are saying in the news…and in the papers, that you took a huge sum of money and are about to evict poor settlers from some piece of land’

He leaned back as though he had expected this kind of questioning.

       ‘Do you really think I did it?’

       ‘Explain to me the building of the house in Munyonyo, the shares in Bank of Uganda…’

        ‘The company in Kenya made some very good profits’

        ‘I thought you had sold it.’

        ‘I sold half of it to a very hard working and creative man’

She shook her head.

        ‘Trust me my dear, I might be a minister in today’s government but am not a thief like the rest of the Ministers. I did not take any money and am not evicting anyone from any piece of land.’

He sighed again, completed the juice in his glass and excused himself from the table.

Mrs.Mwambu was worried. She knew her husband like the back of her palm. He was definitely lying. He had embezzled that money and he was evicting helpless people from land. She said a short desperate prayer. This time she knew they would get him and he would pay dearly. She had to get a private detective to handle this for her, quickly.

                                             *                    *

             She imagined it was the heat that had woken her from her sleep. As she turned uncomfortably in her bed, Carol realized she had had a terrible nightmare.

A faint noise made her open her eyes and look around her large bedroom. A cold breeze brushed against her skin and she turned towards her window.

Her heart pounded when she saw her curtain open and a dark figure come through it. She sat up in shock as she watched it jump on the floor and head for her.

Carol opened her mouth to scream but terror made her skip out of her bed to escape the stranger. The figure grabbed her and placed a wet cloth over her nose. Everything dazed and then there was darkness.

             *                        *

           Mayi dragged her self through the dark plantation. It was cold and dark but she did not care, she was simply filled with misery. A sudden rush of a harsh wind made her shudder from coldness.

Her mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts but one was persistent, she had lost her little girl Sera and it hurt her so bad. Why? Had God abandoned them or had he forgotten? She had prayed so hard, the whole church had prayed, but little Sera had died.

          The nurses in the small town had taken their time in examining her baby because Mayi did not have money. They said the child had a brain problem and that she had to travel to Kampala for more medical check ups. Mayi did not even have the money to travel. One morning little Sera cried continuously .Mayi rushed her to the hospital but the little girl had died while the nurses where checking her.

Mayi stopped as these thoughts rushed through her mind. She felt the pain in her heart would chock her. The thought of the first time she had seen little Sera’s dead body, a thin two year old pale body, drenched in pain and uncertainty haunted her. She imagined the little girl expressing her disappointment to God for giving her Mayi as her mother.

            Mayi walked off a little distance, the garden was so familiar, she had gone through it a dozen times. As she moved closer to her destination her heart beat faster, she was anxious of what she was going to do but felt it was her only solution. She approached a clear ground where two graves lay side by side. A child and a husband, all gone in one year, that was too big a thing for her to handle.

Tears of pain and hurt streamed down her face as she fell down beside them. She cried so hard as she had the previous nights. The pain was too much, she was so confused, how could she go on. Her husband was gone, her little angel died after and now…now they were taking the house from her. How could she survive, she had prayed and prayed but she saw no solution to the many problems she was facing.

            The plantations that seemed to have grown quiet broke into a buzz as the wind increased suddenly. Drizzles fell as if in awe of all the sadness. They watered her but she did not seem to notice. She looked up at the dull skies and in desperation whispered,

           ‘It has to end today, all of it, I can’t go on…if you are there…do something before I end my misery’

She sobbed as she unwrapped the cloth she had been holding and pulled out a long sharp knife.

                *                        *

               Carol awoke with difficulty, although she was not sure of what was going on, she some how knew it was not a good thing. As she struggled to open her drowsy eyes, Carol realized her whole body was in pain and her arm was firmly held. She looked beside her and saw a strange man, dark and thin with a clearly unshaven beard, he had a cigarette in his mouth.

The strange man held Carol with one arm and the other something that looked like a gun.

         ‘Jesus’ she cried out in fear, it dawned on her now that she had been kidnapped.

The strange man looked at her lazily and then away.

         ‘She’s awake boss’ he said to the man driving the car they were in.

Carol looked outside the window, it was dark, she had no idea were she was. Afraid, she said a quiet prayer and tried to think of what to do.

       ‘Take me back home’ she said out loud suddenly

       ‘Shut up’

       ‘You are going to be in trouble, my father …’

       ‘Your father is a thief!’ the boss had shouted

       ‘My father is no thief, you are the thieves, you will be charged with kidnap’

       ‘Shut that kid up Mwemba’

       ‘Keep quiet’ the strange man ordered Carol pushing her head with his huge arm.

She looked at the door next to him, it was open, she could actually push him out.

A phone rang, it was for the boss, he answered it. Carol quickly stretched out her free hand and with all her might pulled and pushed the door open. The strange man shouted and waved his gun at Carol. The boss who was on the phone out of surprise lost control and the car went on swaying from one side to another. Carol tried pushing the strange man out, he turned his gun and pointed it at her.

             *                        *

             As Mayi lifted the knife up and directed it to her belly, a heavy thud followed by a loud noise that almost sounded like an explosion shook her. The knife in her hand fell and she stood up looking around, she wondered what in the world that was.

The first sounded like a collision and the second a gun gone off. If there had been a collision of a vehicle on a tree, then it had to be on the left side of the garden that is where her husband had planted the avocado tree. She rushed there.

           In the increasing rain, the car looked shattered. Mayi hurried closer and peeped inside, She could see a girl and a man at the back seat, at the front she saw a man whose head lay helplessly an the steer wheel.

The girl moved, Mayi was confused but she still pulled the door open. The girl looked up at her, blood was oozing from her fore head.

           ‘Help…help me…I’ve been kidnapped…’the girl said almost in a murmur

           ‘What?’

           ‘Get me out of here …please…’

Mayi held her hand and tried pulling her out.

           ‘My leg is stuck’ the girl said looking to be in more pain.

           ‘Let me go get help’ Mayi said after realizing she could not do this on her own.

           ‘No …please don’t leave me, don’t you understand… I have been kidnapped…here, try pulling me out again’ the girl said giving Mayi her hand again. Mayi held the girl’s hand and pulled, finally she was able to come out of the car.

           ‘Are you alright?’ Mayi asked with concern.

           ‘We have to call the police…these men…’

           ‘Stop, where do you think you are going’ a brutal sound had interrupted the girl. The two Women turned towards the car, a strange man was crawling out of the shattered car with a gun in his hand, his face was covered with blood.

          ‘Let’s get out of here’ Mayi shouted. She grabbed the weak girls arm and they started running.

The flash of lightening and increasing thunder ushered in a heavy down pour and the two women ran as fast as they could with the sound of bullets that missed them narrowly going off in the air.

             *                        *

             Mrs.Mwambu sat with a police officer explaining to her what had happened. The house was full of police constables and Mr.Mwambu stood in the dining speaking on the phone.

           ‘Why would anyone want to harm my precious child’ Mr. Mwambu said, clearing the tears that continuously drenched her face.

           ‘We shall find her madam’ the police man assured her.

           ‘Please, please try your level best’

             *                        *

                     

   

            As Carol lay in the strange unfamiliar bed, her heart was heavy with worry. Worry of were she was, if her parents would find her and how. Her whole body especially the forehead hurt. She opened her eyes slightly and looked around the small room. It had chairs and saucepans in the corner, shoes, a basin… she wandered how this lady survived in this one roomed small house.

             Mayi who was outside came in and stood beside Carol. She bent over and felt her temperature by her forehead.

            ‘I should take you to the hospital’

Carol opened her mouth to tell her to call the police but she choked and the lady hurried to get her a cup of water. As Mayi hurried back, she saw two men coming towards her house. She knew them but with the circumstances she was in, she somehow knew they were up to no good.

She put the cup down and hurried to the girl.

           ‘Don’t make a single sound’ she whispered to her and covered her face.

There was a knock on the door and Mayi hurried to meet her visitors.

            ‘How are you Mayi’ one of the men greeted

            ‘Am fine Sam, Peter, how are you, to what do I owe this early visit?’

            ‘We are looking for some one…a girl’

            ‘A girl’ Mayi repeated, as if to make sure she heard well.

            ‘A young girl ‘Peter said again.

            ‘But for what?’

             ‘It’s a complicated issue; we have been given some information that you have a girl in this house.’

Mayi’s heart pounded.

             ‘What? The only girl I have in this house is Susan, my sister’s daughter. You know her don’t you?’

             ‘Of course…but…’

             ‘Why are you looking for this girl?’ Mayi asked quickly, to change the topic.

             ‘That girl ‘Sam said lowering his voice ‘is the key to ending our misery, they may not have to vacate us if we get a hold of her.’

Mayi nodded thinking through it quickly. If she handed the girl over, they would not evict her from her place. But the whole situation seemed hazy, like something was wrong some where.

           ‘Have you seen her anywhere, perhaps’ Peter asked Mayi.

            ‘No’ Mayi replied out loud.

She knew they would have budged in and searched her house but because they respected her, they left without insisting. Mayi hurried back to the girl as soon as the men where out of sight, she lifted the old blanket and looked intently at her. She should have guessed from the beginning, that familiar look, the look of Honorable Mwambu.

The girl looked up at the woman whose attitude seemed to have changed all of a sudden.

            ‘Are you a daughter of Mr.Mwambu?’ Mayi asked sternly.

            ‘…yes’ the girl replied in confusion.

            ‘I should have known this’ Mayi said standing and then pacing up and down.

            ‘Why, what’s wrong?’ Carol asked as she tried to sit up.

Mayi stood and looked at the girl as she struggled and sat up the wooden bed.

             ‘Your father is a thief!’ Mayi said with rage.

Carol leaned back on the wall, wondering whether she was going to survive this hostility.

             ‘My father is no thi…’

             ‘Your father has grabbed our land and is evicting all of us, this whole area’

              ‘My father can never do such a thief’

Mayi sat on a chair and then stood up.

              ‘All along, I thought I was helping a desperate person…’ Her voice choked as tears started rolling down her face.

              ‘Do you know what it means to be in a desperate situation young girl, do you?’

Carol was thrown in deeper confusion at the sight of the weeping woman. How dare she blame her father for bringing such pain and agony.

              ‘Being in a desperate situation is losing your husband in the mines as he’s trying to care for you and your child’

              ‘Am really sorry….’

              ‘Being in a desperate situation is…is losing your little daughter to a brain tumor’ Mayi interrupted as she cleared the tears that rushed from her eyes.

               ‘I am…’

               ‘In the same year…and to top it all up, losing your land with a tiny house and you have no where else to go’

Carol was felt hurt as she watched the woman crying helplessly.

                ‘But my father is a good man…he would never do such a thing ‘Carol said, as if trying to reassure herself and the woman. Mayi stood up and walked to a corner where she searched a small bag and got a piece of paper. She went and threw it on the girl’s laps.

                ‘Carol opened and read it. It was an eviction letter giving the lady as well as other tenants a month to leave the premises. Signed below as the legal owner was Honorable Mwambu Joseph, her father’s name.

                 ‘Minister of education and sports, Mr.Mwambu Joseph, is he not your father?’

                ‘He is ‘Carol said, obviously in shock. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her father was really a …thief.

                 ‘Am so sorry…’

Mayi now felt pity for the young girl who sat there weeping.

                  ‘Young girl, your father’s actions don’t make you the same with him’

                   ‘He’s my father, he’s like my identity, I never thought …’

                   ‘Don’t bother yourself about it, those men who were looking for you, they must be involved in the kidnap’

                   ‘they must be…look ,if you just call the police, am sure my father is looking for me…am sure if I talk to him…he will change his mind’

                    ‘I don’t blame you child, I will send Susan to call the police, I can’t leave you here alone’

                    ‘You have to go, Susan can stay here with me’                                     

  

.     

             *                        *

                  Mr. and Mrs.Mwambu sat in the sitting room. Questions had been asked and a search had been on since the night of Carol’s disappearance.

An enormous phone call was made, the kidnappers wanted Mr.Mwambu to withdraw his eviction order of the Tembabule land and a token of a million dollars for putting the tenants on tension, and then his daughter would be released. He had two days to do this or else he would never set his eyes on his daughter again.

                 Mrs.Mwambu was in panic, Mr.Mwambu was in rage. How dare they kidnap his daughter. If they dared to harm her, he would destroy every single person involved in the land, whether innocent or guilty.

Investigations were on going and the tension was high. Then came another phone call at midday. A lady calling from Tembabule claiming that she had Carol, that some men had tried to kidnap her but they had escaped together. She gave them the directions.

                ‘Let’s go now’ Mr. Mwambu said, impatient to get back his daughter. 

                           

             *                        *

              Mayi hurried back after she had made the call, she prayed hard that the girl was still there and safe. As she headed for the market, Mayi had seen Sam and Peter, they stood with a stranger. She had wondered were she had seen him.

Mayi only recalled when the shop attendant dialed the number the girl had given her, her steps fastened when she realized that the girl could actually be in danger. The stranger that stood with Peter and Sam was the strange man who had crawled out of the damaged car with a gun in his hand on the night of the accident.

Mayi now entered her compound and headed for her house, all of a sudden her door burst open, Sam and the stranger emerged holding the girl.

              ‘What do you think you are doing’ Mayi shouted.

               ‘You are a betrayer, you said you didn’t have the girl’ Sam said dragging Carol who was struggling.

                ‘Please…help me Mayi…don’t let them take me’

Susan ran from behind and got a hold of Carol’s waist, pulling her back. The strange man slapped her hard on the face, she fell back and started crying.

                  ‘How dare you!’ Mayi screamed at the strange man. People started gathering because of the loud noise.

                   ‘Mayi, just get out of our way this is for our own good’ Sam said almost pleading.

                   ‘This is not right, you can’t make a young girl pay for her fathers faults’

                   ‘Do you want to be thrown out in the streets the streets?’ Sam shouted back at Mayi.

The impatient strange man pulled out a gun from his pocket and pointed it at Mayi.

                    ‘Get out of the woman or else I will shoot.’ He ordered.

Mayi knew he was capable of shooting, she could still not bare the two men taking the girl, she would rather die, what was there to live for anyway.

                     ‘Go ahead and shoot, over my dead body are you taking this girl anywhere!’ She dared the stranger, moving closer to the gun.

The sound of a distant siren startled the strange man, Sam looked at him in shock. He let go of Carols hand and dashed into the crowd. A group of young men grabbed him and tied him up with ropes waiting for the police to arrive.

The strange man got a hold of Carol’s neck and put the gun at the side of her head.

                  ‘Let that girl go, its too late for you, its all over’ Mayi said to the panicked man. The now energized crowd moved closer while the man kept shouting,

                  ‘Not any closer, I’ll shoot!’

They over powered him in the end and freed the girl. The police arrived at the scene and arrested the two men. Carol stood with Mayi , thanking her for all she had done.

Mr.Mwambu came out of the police cars that had just packed and hurried to meet his daughter.

                 ‘My child Carol …are you fine’ he said hugging her and then looked at her.

                  ‘Am fine daddy, this woman saved my life’ Carol said turning to Mayi

                   ‘Thank you lady, you do not know…’

                   ‘Withdraw your eviction order, for all these peoples sake’ Mayi interrupted him.

                   ‘Dad, I know what you have done, its totally unfair…and disappointing that you would choose to attain for yourself  land illegally at the expense of poor people who  have no where else to go.’

                   ‘There’s nothing illegal in it’ Mr.Mwambu exclaimed.

                   ‘How about the fact that Mayi could have chosen to hand me over to those criminals but she decided to do the right thing’ Carol added.

Mr.Mwambu looked at his daughter, at the woman and then at the crowd of spectators. His daughter he had come to realize was far more precious to him than any piece of land.

                    ‘Fine’ he muttered.

A car packed beside them, Mrs.Mwambu came out and hurried to hug his daughter, tears hung in her eyes.

                   ‘You do not know how much I prayed for you.’

                   ‘Thank you mum, thank God for this lady, Mayi, this is my mother’

Mrs.Mwambu looked up at her and shook her hand.

                     ‘Thank you so much’

                     ‘I thank God, all this excitement has opened my eyes, there’s more to live for than I had ever imagined’ Mayi replied with a faint smile on her face.

                      ‘You are the kind of woman the Ministers wives association has been looking for, we can work with you to put this place back in order’

                       ‘That would be interesting Mayi said, quite excited about the idea.

Mrs. Mwambu held her daughters arm.

                        ‘Your father has to account for what he did’

                        ‘I know mother …he has to account…everyone at one point will have to account.’

Mr.Mwambu stood at a distance speaking on the phone. Two police men approached him.

                         ‘Mr. Joseph Mwambu’

                         ‘Yes’

                         You have to come with us to the police station to answer a few questions about the transfer of the Tembabule land’

Mr.Mwambu was speechless, of course he had expected this. Finally, they had caught up with his game.

                        

    

                           END

MOMO'S PUPPY

                                 MOMO’S PUPPY.

                Once there was a little girl called Maurine. Everyone called her Momo because it made her sound like a princess. She was a pretty little girl with long black hair that either fell neatly on her back or was held firmly in two pony tails.

Her parents were well of so she always had on pretty dresses with cute Cinderella shoes.

               One afternoon after school, little Momo run to her mother who was in the kitchen preparing lunch.

             ‘Mummy mummy, I need a pet for pet’s day at school’

Her mother smiled and bent to pat her daughter on the shoulder.

            ‘Your teacher already called and told me about it. What would you like for a pet?’ her mother asked.

             ‘I want a puppy, the most beautiful puppy in the whole wide world’

Her mother laughed lightly, she sure had a proud daughter.

             ‘You will go with your father after lunch to get one then’

             ‘Yeah!’ Momo had exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement.

              

                                  * ………………………*

          When Momo returned home that evening with her father, she held proudly in her arms a beautiful white puppy, small in size with a gold ring around its neck. She was so proud of her new pet.

         ‘What will you call him’ her father asked.

         ‘I will name him…Moz’

         ‘Moz!’ her mother had said it again, laughing.

         ‘Yes mummy, my puppy is called Moz…Mozzy, Mozzy, Mozzy’ little Momo had said, petting her little puppy.

                                          * ………………………*

        The following morning as Momo walked to the bus with her new puppy, she saw a girl she had not seen before. She must have been among the new neighbors her mother had been talking about. The girl was a little taller than her. She had on a dress Momo thought was prettier than hers, shoes that glittered more than hers and long blond hair with lots of curls glittered beautifully on her head.

In her hands the girl held the most beautiful puppy Momo had ever seen. It was twice the size of her little Mozzy and it had black and white stripes with a silver ring around its neck.

         Momo was upset. She had thought her little Mozzy was the cutest of them all. The new girl approached as Momo stared on.

         ‘Hello’ the girl said with a smile on her face.

Momo looked up at her, held her Mozzy closer, pushed her small nose in the air and matched into the bus without saying a word back.

 

                                            * ………………………*

That afternoon Momo did not come home as excited as her mother had expected her to.

              ‘How was your day my dear?’

              ‘It was horrible mummy’

              ‘But why, did you not have pet’s day today?’

              ‘Yes we did but that new girl next door came to my class and messed up everything’                        

              ‘But how?’

              ‘She had the most beautiful puppy, better than mine, yet mine was the best…and her presentation was better than mine too’

Momos mother looked seriously at her daughter.

             ‘Momo, if the trick you taught Mozzy was good enough and you put in a lot of effort , then you don’t need to be afraid of this new girls puppy. You do not have to be jealous.’

            ‘I want another puppy, one bigger than Mozzy’ Momo had shouted holding her tiny lips tightly together.

             ‘I do not want you to act in such a bad way Momo. Simply because someone else’s thing looks bigger and more beautiful does not necessarily mean it is better than yours. Now get up stairs and change your clothes for lunch’       

Momo matched up stairs to her room still upset. Her mother sounded right but she still did not like the idea of someone having something better than hers.

                                         * ………………………*

           The next evening as Momo walked to the back yard with Mozzy, she saw the new girl seated at their stairs and she looked like she was crying. Momo was tempted to pass right by her but she remembered what her mother always told her, never to pass a person who looked hurt and needed help.

          ‘Are you ok’ little Momo asked the girl.

The girl whose head was bent looked up at Momo with tears in her eyes.

          ‘My puppy is lost’ she replied and tears welled up in her eyes again.

          ‘But how, were did you last leave him?’ Momo asked with care because of the pity she felt for the girl.                             

          ‘I left Popi outside to get a ball in the house, when I came out again, she was gone’

Momo looked around, she wondered were the Popi had wondered off.

          ‘I wish I had a puppy like yours, it’s so easy to control, and besides, it’s prettier than mine’

Momo was very surprised, how could this girl think her big beautiful puppy was no better than her tiny little Mozzy.

          ‘Can you help me find her’ the girl asked

          ‘Of course I will help you’

Momo sat next to the girl and placed her little hand on her chin thinking.

          ‘Where would you go if you were a puppy’ Momo asked the girl.

The girl sighed and rolled her small eyes thoughtfully.

         ‘…I would go to a place …where there are lots of puppies and other kids to play…where would that be’

Momo thought seriously.

       ‘That would be the …ooh, I know…I think Popi went to the park, that’s where lots of kids play with their  pets, she must have followed  some kids with their pets to the park down the street!’

       ‘Lets go find her then’ the girl said with excitement.

The two little girls ran very fast to the park down the street. It was not a long distance so they got there fast and started looking for Popi.

        ‘Look, there she is’ the girl had shouted after a short while.

Popi was playing with some kids. The two girls ran to her and the new girl carried Popi in her arms

           ‘I was so worried’ she exclaimed with gladness in her voice.

           ‘Am glad you have got your Popi’ Momo said to the excited girl.

          ‘Thank you for helping me, you are very kind.’

Momo smiled

          ‘What’s your name?’ the girl asked.

          ‘Maureen, but every one calls me Momo…and you?’

          ‘Am Sheila, just call me that’

The two girls giggled.

          ‘Hey, lets play with our puppies for sometime before we go back home’ Sheila suggested.

          ‘Ok, but for a little while because our parents might start looking for us, and get worried.’

The two girls excited, played together with their puppies and after a while hurried back home.

 

               

                                               * ………………………*

       When she reached home, Momo told her mother the whole story of how she and her new friend were able to get Popi back. Her mother smiled as she bent to put Momo’s collar right.

           ‘So you and Sheila are now friends?’ her mother asked continuing with her washing.

           ‘Yes, she likes Mozzy a lot!’

           ‘And you don’t want a new puppy?’

           ‘No, I love my little Mozzy, and besides, he’s as beautiful as Popi, they are all nice puppies’

            ‘Am glad you learnt that lesson. Now go up stairs and change for dinner, your father will be here soon.’

            ‘Ok mummy’ Momo replied. She hurried up the stairs excited with Mozzy close behind her.

                                                         -THE END-

                                 DON’T BE ANXIOUS, GOD KNOWS!

      A famous story is told of how a man went to heaven and met with Jesus. As the Lord showed him his life journey, the man saw that each path he had walked, two pairs of feet were moving.

         ‘Whose other feet were those?’ the man asked.

         ‘They were mine; I walked with you all your life.’

When they came to a point in the man’s life when he had lost his wife and confusion had taken over his life, there was only one pair of feet moving.

          ‘But Lord’ the man exclaimed ‘At my lowest moment in life, you abandoned me, I walked alone!’

           ‘No my son, those were my feet, I carried you all the way, you were too weak to walk’

           There is no moment in our lives that we shall not be faced with some fear or anxiety, the only difference is how you react or choose to handle it. Fear is often described as False Evidence Appearing Real. So yes, when you are anxious about something, it is a lie of the devil appearing real. The only real truth is that God is in control of everything that goes on in our lives and He’s able to move in every situation that is bothering you.

         The opposite of fear is faith. Don’t do the opposite of what God is telling you to do. The Bible says that without faith we cannot please God. In every bad situation you face, don’t cry out in fear, cry out in faith to God because that will move him. The Bible says that those who come to him must trust that he exists and rewards those who diligently seek him.

Mathew 10:28 says that, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the soul. Are you afraid of things or people who look like they have power and authority over you? Don’t! Because it’s actually God who controls the world, everything happens only when he lets it.

           Hebrews 13:5, 6 says that be content because God has said that He will never leave us or forsake us, no man can do anything to you. Some times fears come because you compare yourself with other people and wanting what they have yet God has made you different. He will provide all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

When you find your self afraid, pray. Psalm 34:4 says that when we seek the Lord, He hears us, He hears you too.

          Philippians 4:6 tells us not to be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanks giving present your requests to God. Are you praying about what is making you anxious or are you running to other people for help? Cry out to God, He will fill your heart with peace and sound wisdom to go through it all.

Recognize your true nature. 2Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. Don’t meditate on your fears, meditate on the kind of spirit God has given you which is power over every obstacle of the enemy, love which covers a multitude of sins and a sound mind to think straight and walk in line with His word.

        I love what my favorite speaker Joyce Meyer always says, God has given us power to do what He tells us to do. A mother of a three year old can not send her to carry a table and bring it to her, she will send her for a spoon or a cup because she or he will be able to carry it. The same with God, when He tells you not to be afraid and to do a particular thing, step out in boldness because the power to do it has been instilled in you.

       1Peter 5:7 says cast all your fears on Him because He cares for you. God still cares and loves you even when you go through fears that you imagine came about because of your carelessness. He will love you through your situation, so don’t fret.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, ‘for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future’

It fills me with hope, that no matter what I go through, however terrifying, God knows, and He has this master plan for me. He has a plan for you too.

        God loves us and he has promised never to leave us. We are not of this world, that is why sometimes things work against us, but praise the Lord for we are more than conquerors; greater is he that is in us than that that is in the world.

The Bible also says that many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord will save us from them all. Be encouraged and let his love guide you in every situation.       

DEAR DIARY

A short but wonderful story of a lonely orphan girl battered and mistreated by her stepmother. In her sea of misery, she pours out her heart filled with fear and hope to the only friend she knows, her diary. She struggles on her journey for a better life with her Aunt and completely has to trust God for everything to work out.

*       *      *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

                      DEAR DIARY.

Dear diary,

                                                                                                                    12/ October/2002

          The thought of waking up this cold morning made my body shiver from resentment. The thin old blanket had barely kept me warm throughout the stormy night. The sudden buzz of a vibrating phone shook me from my sleepy thoughts, I pulled the phone from under a pile of clothes I used as a pillow and intently looked at it. The light hurt my drowsy eyes; it was six thirty am, if I did not wake up, mama would not be happy. I got out of bed, not because I wanted, but because I was afraid of what mama would do to me. I light a candle and dressed up for the day. As I sleepily dragged my self out of the room, I knocked my injured foot, the pain was unbearable. I had injured it when mama slapped me hard and I had slipped, knocking the source pan of porridge from the charcoal stove all over my foot. The burn was serious but she did not take me to the village clinic until the LC chairman had threatened to take the matter to the police.

That had been three weeks ago. You can wonder how your own mother can do that, any how, she is not my real mother. My real mother died three years ago, by then I was in senior two. Her death really shook me. It was sudden and that made my aunt Sylvia suspect the use of witchcraft. My father married mama a year later. She was nice to me at first, bought me sweets and took me and her young son to school in her old Toyota car. Then papa started falling sick. Mama was very angry and bitter with him and I did not know why. Well, papa died last year and mama became very cruel to me. Whenever she is angry mama says papa killed my mother and is trying to kill her too. I had never understood the whole thing until Aunt Sylvia had clearly explained to me that both my mother and father had died of Aids. Mama stopped buying me sweets and taking me to school in her old Toyota car. She only takes her son who is now in primary six. I do all the work but I don’t go to school

 

I feel terrible diary, all my friends are excelling and am here, rotting away at the hands of my mama. The only place she lets me go is church. She believes there is no harm in it. I always look forward to it now diary. Church has now become my consolation, my strength, my hope, my reason for living. When the old Reverend says God knows me by name, has counted the hairs on my head and has a plan for me, a twinkle of hope  rushes through my heart and that gives me the strength to live another day. It’s now ten pm, I must get some sleep. By nine pm we had already taken supper. Mama says Paul should sleep early in order to wake up early. Am drowsy, so much work! Good night diary.     

                                                                                                                                  Moxie

Dear diary,                                                                                                    17/October/2002

                   Today has been amazing, that’s why I chose to speak to you. its been long hasn’t it?. Anyway, today is Sunday, and I had to wake up early to attend the first service which is in English. By six am I had to be in the poultry, then to the cows and later to get firewood. Its hard work but my little stiff body is used to it now. Church was marvelous. Reverend spoke of Jesus second coming, I wished He would come a little sooner. After service, Reverend called me aside and gave me the best news of my life. I don’t think I ever told you of my Aunt Melissa, she is the sister to my mother who died. Well, after my parents died, Aunt Melissa had come to take me to live with her. Guess where diary, not in the village town, not even in the big city, but in the “states” as they called it. My aunt was willing to pay for everything, but mama had refused. She had lied to Aunt Melissa that she would take care of me and that I was the only reminder of my father to her, she had made such a big scene! . If only Aunt Melissa had known that she only wanted to keep me as her maid! A few months ago I wrote a letter to Aunt Melissa about my sad life. She had spoken to the LC chairman and begged him to “get me out of that house”. Somehow mama had won the battle as my rightful guardian. Reverend had assured me that they were processing some papers for me and soon, I would be with my Aunt. That was three months back.

      

                 Today Reverend told me that the papers were done! He handed them to me and made me promise to hide them far, because if mama saw them she would shred them to pieces. I was so excited diary. For the first time I could see light at the end of the tunnel, God was finally heeding to my cries. The Bible does say that He is the defender of widows and orphans. I had fixed them tight in my waist skirt when I entered the house after church. Mama was sitted with Paul taking breakfast; they never go to church on Sundays. Mama looked very upset, she asked me why I was late.

  

‘Am sorry am late mama, its just that … Reverend wanted some help with putting the chairs back in order, I … ‘

‘You know I told you that you should come straight home after church ‘. Mama had shouted

‘Yes … it will never happen again’

She did what I had expected without fail, she rushed up and slapped me twice as hard as I had expected. I staggered, holding a chair and then fell back. The papers fell but I hurriedly covered them and looked up at her, she had not seen them. Tears streamed down my face, but I didn’t make a sound. Why had she slapped me so hard? , was it because I had put many tea leaves in the tea, come home late, or was it the light in my eyes that mysteriously annoyed her?

Paul looked at me, almost uncaringly and shook his head. I knew he didn’t like the way mama treated me, but I also knew that he did not bother himself about it. Mama locked me in my bed room, up to now. It’s nine pm , they must be taking supper. Am very hungry diary, but I don’t care, in a week I will be out of here.    

Within the papers there was a letter from Aunt Melissa. She put money and instructions on how to get to the city and then to the airport, I was to leave on 27 October very early in the morning and reach the airport before five pm for checking. Diary, am so excited, am so happy, I can’t stop thanking God. I have prayed over all the papers, passports and the money. I must be strong for this one week, and then I will be out of here. Am so happy I don’t think I will be able to get any sleep today. Today is the happiest day of my life. Good night.  

                                                                                                                        Moxie

Dear diary,                                                                                            21/October/2002        

It’s been four days since I last spoke with you yet so much has happened. Mama searched my room and found out that I had a phone, thank God she didn’t find the papers. She had been so suspicious of my recent bravery and attitude. It seemed like my going away was evident to her. I had gone to the market when she searched my room. I returned very tired. She pulled me by my ears and pointed at the phone on the table.  

‘Where did you get this?’ She had hissed.

I was terrified diary, terrified at what she was going to do to me

‘It, it …it’s my fathers’ I had stammered 

‘Of course I know it was your fathers’, but how did you get it, didn’t I ask you about it when your father had just died and you said you didn’t know?’

‘…am sorry mama … am so sorry’

I got the worst beating of my life. If the neighbors had not heeded to my frantic cries, mama would have killed me. She left me with a swollen eye, bleeding nose and broken tooth. In all misery diary, I just couldn’t help but thank God that she had not got those papers. I was very afraid. Before I closed up the house for the night I spoke to Stella, she’s my best friend. She whispered that she had seen mama go to the village clinic thrice this week.

         

‘I think she’s very sick Moxie, she’s dieing and she wants to go down with you’.

My heart shuddered. Mama must be having Aids, poor woman, and she blamed everything on my deceased father and me. I have to be extra careful diary, if mama gets the papers, it will be the end of me going to stay with Aunt Melissa in the United States, the end of my hope for happiness. I feel pain all over my body, I must get some sleep. I know tomorrow mama might give me another beating if I don’t wake up early. Now that I don’t have my father’s phone, I must be careful to wake up on time. Good night diary.   

                                                                                                                             Moxie

Dear diary,                                                                                          23/October/2002

Today was simply … terrible. I passed out early in the morning when I reached the compound after walking two miles with a chunk of firewood on my heard. I awoke on the veranda were mama had pulled me to rest a little. She asked me if I was pregnant. I almost laughed but held back and told her no. It was hunger.   

‘Good, because I don’t want you to spoil the arrangements I’ve made for you’

‘Arrangements? ‘

‘Marriage arrangements’ she had replied casually

‘But mama, I don’t want to get married, am too young!’

‘You will see your future husband today in the evening. The introduction ceremony will be very early in the morning on Monday, and then you will leave with him.’

‘You can’t be serious!’ I had gasped in shock.

‘Don’t be silly my dear, you are old enough’

‘Am not marrying anyone’

A hot and sound slap tainted my delicate cheeks, tears streamed down my face and I sobbed silently. Monday was the day I was to leave this miserable wretched home. If I didn’t leave, then I wouldn’t get another chance to escape. If only I would get to Reverend, he would help me out, he would even be able to stop the introduction ceremony. But mama had clearly told me that I was not to leave the house under any circumstances, church had even been cancelled! As she sat there and hurled orders and insults, the little hope I had slowly started slipping away. I could never be able to escape from this house. I did meet my future husband. He was a short chubby man, very dark with a port belly, I felt so disgusted. Mama made me kneel before him and accept him. Paul stood and watched for some time, and then he rode off on his bicycle to go and play with his friends. I felt so hopeless. I don’t know how am going to get out of this mess diary.      

It seems like everything is going against me. I wonder if God’s plan has changed, or He’s forgotten. I don’t know diary, I feel so miserable. Let’s just wait and see, may be God will remember me, a poor helpless orphan … He is my defender, isn’t He?     

                                                                                                                      Moxie

                                                                                                                 27/October/2002

Dear diary,

I awoke very early today, I don’t know what time it was but I could not get any sleep the whole night. I packed some few clothes, you, and a couple of photos of my father and mother in a small bag that I had hanging across my shoulder. Then I went and checked the clock in the sitting room, it was five thirty am. When I went to get my papers, I couldn’t find them. I fell into a panic. Had I placed them some were else? I checked everywhere but I couldn’t find them. Then all of a sudden, my bedroom door opened and I heard a familiar voice say,   

‘Looking for something … perhaps…this’

I stood and turned, there stood my evil mama, grinning from ear to ear, holding my precious papers, everything I needed to leave. I tried saying something but the words could not come out.

‘You traitor, you want to leave now, eeh, you want to leave’ She had shouted. 

‘Mama, please, let me go … please’ I had pleaded. She dragged me to the sitting room and pushed me to the ground. I wondered what she was going to do to me. She paced up and down the room. 

‘Mama, please …’

‘You just shut up’ She had shouted, ‘thank God I got these earlier’ she had said and continued with her pacing.

‘You can’t force me to marry any one’ I had shouted out loud, all of a sudden in anger and desperation.

She stopped, surprised, and looked at me horridly.

‘So now you have the courage to shout at me girl?’  

‘Let me … ‘

‘You are not going anywhere, I will destroy these papers in your face so you know you are going no were’ Mama shouted waving her arms in the air.

She got the papers to rip them apart, I rushed to stop her but I met her strong arm that hit me hard on the heard and I fell back. She got the papers again and I watched helplessly as she emptied them from the envelope to the table and got them in a pile.

Then, there was a sudden loud thud, mama’s large face turned pale and she fell face down at my feet. I looked down at her, shocked, and then up.   

Paul stood looking down uncaringly at his mother with an old frying pan in his hand.

‘Well’, he had said ‘what are you waiting for, won’t you be late?’

I stood up dazed, and then fumbled quickly with the papers.

‘Here’ he said handing me a small piece of paper ‘just a list of things you can get me incase you ever come back’

I nodded as I received it.

‘Mama has her issues, but I think you are a good person’ he had said quietly.

That was the most sensible thing I had ever heard him say. Who would think that Paul was so … sensitive? I was about to pat him on the shoulder when mama’s groans of pain shrieked me.

‘Go, hurry’ Paul motioned for me to leave quickly.

I ran diary, as fast as my little feet could carry me, with my papers in my hand and my small bag hanging on my shoulder.

 By the time I reached the village town, there was some light that was overriding the dark clouds. I bought some slippers since I had run barefooted. God did come through for me diary. I was over joyed when I entered the bus to the city. I asked the driver how long it would take, he told me four hours before we reached the city. By then it was almost seven am. We have not yet reached the city but I sure pray we make it on time.

                                                                                                               Moxie

Dear diary,                                                                                              28/octoer/2002        

You will not believe how hard everything turned out to be. We reached the city at midday because of the heavy rain and traffic, I had never seen one but it was really long. In the city I bought something to eat and then started to look for a car to take me to Entebbe town. I must have spent an hour looking until I had to ask for help. A man directed me and I got a taxi. There was heavy traffic again before I reached Entebbe town and just before that, the taxi was stopped by the police. It was a faulty taxi and they had no insurance. By then it was four pm. By the time I reached Entebbe town, it was fifteen past four.    

I had to get motorcycle man to take me straight to the air port. Thank God Aunt Melissa had sent me enough money. At the airport every one looked at me like a lost sheep. The woman critically examined my papers, she looked at me from head to toe, I definitely did not look like a first class traveler. I was one anyway and I didn’t care diary. I should have spoken to you in the plane but I was so excited, and there was a shifting to another plane that made it hard too. The journey was long and when the plane finally landed, I was overjoyed. I stood in the bustle of white and black sophiscated people moving so fast. I got a little scared wondering if Aunt Melissa had forgotten about me.      

I looked frantically around, and then I saw Aunt Melissa. She looked so much like my mother. When Aunt Melissa saw me, she had that worried expression my mother used to have whenever she saw me tired from school. For a moment I didn’t know what to do, either to run and hug her or to wait for her to come to me. She hurried to me and hugged me. It felt so good, it had been forever since I had received a genuine hug. She looked at me and her eyes were almost darkened with sadness.  

‘What has that woman been doing to you?’

I shook my head and opened my mouth to say something but tears swelled up in my eyes. 

‘No one will ever hurt you again, ok?’

I nodded and cleared the warm tears that slowly slid down my cheeks. She held my hand and we walked off to her car.

Everyone here is kind to me. I have my own room, my own phone, and soon I will start school. I can’t stop thanking God. I would never have imagined in all my distress that He would bring me this far. Aunt Melissa says tomorrow we shall speak to Reverend on phone, to let him know I reached safely. Well diary, am tired now, Aunt Melissa says I should go to bed early because I need to get some sleep.  

I pray for Paul, for God to bless him. I read his list diary and it had a camera, a motorbike and a computer! That boy is crazy. I told Aunt how I managed to escape and she said she would do something for him. His mother is dieing and he will need the help after her death.

You diary have been such a good friend, you are really special to me, next to God of course. Good night my good friend.                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                Moxie