‘Go to bed son, we've got a great journey ahead of us tomorrow, I don't want you waking up cranky.’ I whisper to my son, we’re both lying on the floor, our eyes facing the moon. He replies, 'Dad, I am scared.’ I was tired, the day’s journey was already having a toll on my bones, I shrugged and grabbed him to me, his head resting on my chest, soon he began to snore lightly. My poor brave son, he must’ve been really tired. I didn’t want to put him through the horrors of this journey, but in a journey to a better life one must make sacrifices, I needed him to have a better life, one which I can’t give him.
I rose with the sun the next morning, my son still sleeping, I watched him sleep and he looked so beautiful. He must’ve inherited the beauty from his mother, thinking about her suddenly left a bitter taste in my mouth. I gathered spit and spat it out. Then I woke him up, gathered our things and we continued our journey. It was noon, by the time we reached the gate of the big marbled house with the large gates, I banged the door and a plump bald man, opened the gate, I slipped him the note and he read it while squeezing his face, he disappeared into the compound bolting the gate behind him. My son looked at me and I grabbed his hands, 'one last time I whispered to myself, ‘one last time’ I whispered again. A young teenage girl accompanied the bald man she was courteous, and I gave her my son, my son resisting asking why I wasn't coming with him, I shamefully kept mute, my eyes filled with tears, my son began kicking and screaming, the lady dragging him, inside the compound, with help from the man. I turned my back and heard the gate bang shut, I began walking away again. This time without my son. The only consolation I had was, my son was in a better place, at least he would be well taken care of. He was with his mother, she had married a rich man since I couldn’t afford her dowry. The dowry wasn’t the only thing I couldn’t afford, I couldn’t afford a happy life. Poor men are cursed with sadness, I couldn’t dare infect my son with such plague. I hope someday he understands.
This story leaves one with mixed feelings. But I love the story!! Nice one