LIFE AS IT IS

SAVAGE.

Uhuru.
This is only thing you remember of your former life. What it mean, you don't know. You don't know who you were, you don't know who you are now.
.
You have dreams, deep dreams. In your dreams, you see three people in shadows. You can tell it's a woman, a man and a child. The woman and man look so much in love. It's not something you see but feel. It throbs, it growls at you. You know you are the little child, the couple with no face smile and laugh with you; you feel loved. You don't know them, you want to; but you do not see them. The couple are always in the shadows and the dream remain the same.
.
"Sold" you hear Moon Shine shout. He's your master. You have been with him for four years. He's the fourth master you have been with in this life.
"Bad Omen, sold to Mr. Ryan" Moon Shine shouts again.
The name shame you but you raise your head proudly. You feel the tears in you, you let your heart cry it out. Your face remain dry.
.
Bad Omen.
It's the name you have been called since you woke up twelve years ago with no recollection of the days before that.
Sun Walk, the man who named you Bad Omen said you are the devil's handmaiden and that your family must have known that, that's why they threw you away.
He said moments after he saw you, he lost his son to a bear.
.
One year after Sun Walk met you, he sold you to Tiger Head. You stood before them bare, your body hair chopped off like the day you were born.
Tiger Head sold you six year later saying you are responsible for his wife continuous miscarriage. He sold you cheaply with a broken finger and a body filled with scars.
You look at your new master "Mr. Ryan" Moon Shine called him.
.
You pray he treat you well. This isn't your first prayer. You have prayed and prayed. Unanswered.
****
Your new master words are kind but it doesn't relieve you. Nothing relieves you anymore. You feel worn out. Like a food that has been left to decay, you smell. You refused to take a bath. You feel if you let down your guard, he will take advantage of you. You have been travelling for weeks with Master Ryan. He told you his home is England. He stared at you as he said the word "England". You muttered the word at yourself as he turned away. It sound familiar, like you know this England.
.
"Finally" you hear him whisper. You turn forward. You see a big house. It's beautiful, different from the tipis you have lived in. It's painted in bright colours.
You follow your new master towards the house.
A woman burst outside from the big house. You watch her, mesmerized. She's beautiful, dressed in a exquisite gown. She looks familiar. She stops and stare at you for a second.
She smile at Master Ryan, he smiles back with a head nod. She comes for you. You step backward, you feel terrified. As she steps closer, you see tears fall like raindrops from her eyes.
"Uhuru" she whisper in front you "My Uhuru" she says again. The voice sound familiar.
"It's the woman in the shadow" your heart say. It can't be, you think. She stare at you, tears running down in downpour now.
She embrace you. You feel it, you know it. It's the woman in the shadow.
***
Uhuru; it's your name.
The woman; she's the woman in the shadow and your mother.
.
She tells you a story. She tells you how her mother had been a servant in her father house. How her father had raped her mother. How her mother had discovered she was pregnant, how she was thrown out. She tells you her story and you both cry out in tears. She tell you how she lost her mother. She tells you how she met your father and they had fallen in love. She tell you about your father's cousin, the man who killed your father. The man who also kidnapped you and threw you away. She tells how the said cousin had confessed on his death bed. She tell you this and more. She finally tells you about Mr. Ryan, her second love. How he found her when life meant nothing to her, how he made her feel loved again.
.
She embrace you as soon as she finished and you both cry out in anger, pain and relieve for finding one another again.
.
"Uhuru" you taste the name. It means freedom in her mother's father tongue she says. You feel loved.
You feel free!!!!

Instagram: @archer015 Facebook: Habdul Archer