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My heart in flames
My heart in flames
Author: Prudence Otieno

Chapter one

The morning was bright and cool. The sun was struggling to make its presence felt in the atmosphere. Its rays pierced the ground with yellow colors as it ascended across the slopes of Yasia town. A cool breeze slapped the aura with excruciating beauty while the sun with its yellow colors added another layer of gorgeous view to the surface. 

A cock still entertained my ears with noise as though it was paid to continue with its disturbance. It's high pitched sound reverberated the atmosphere in the same breath it was a few minutes ago, when it drew me from my pleasant sleep. I felt annoyed that just a mere bird could interrupt my cordial sleep. I wished that the cock was near me, I could have taught it some discipline. But that was a farfetched wish. It was a neighbor's hen.

The time was about 7.30 am in the morning, and l overslept. It was only now that it occurred to me that l had a board meeting that l was to attend. I woke from my bed, heart racing as l knew that time was soon slipping beyond my control.

      

 My room was a rented three bedroomed house situated at the Keplet town about twenty kilometers from Yasia town. It had spacious siting room and a kitchen. 

 I jumped out of the bed, wrapped my body with a towel and matched to the bathroom to give my body facelift before l moved out of the house. The water was cold as the tap shower was not working due to the absence of electricity.  Of late there had been on and off of power problem in the area which had made it almost impossible to plan any activity with it. It was as if someone was sleeping on his job at the power offices.   

However, I was constrained to use the cold water that was so biting in the morning. The moment the chilly shower touched my body, I panicked as if to faint. But I put up a braved face.  The shower was so cold that I had to hurry up with my bathing lest I got frozen in the process. I quickly got out of the bathroom and rushed to my bedroom to dress up. 

 I put up the best clothes for the meeting and in the process something struck my mind that since it was going to be my first day to attend the meeting which I had been selected recently, I knew that image was everything. My first appearance would give me the momentum I required to move forward with my new colleagues whom I was yet to know. 

The board had been recently constituted by the department of social welfare under the ministry of gender and social services to look for the welfare of the less privileged in the district. Since my name was floated unexpectedly, I knew that this was a great honor that I could not ignore. 

I stood next to my mirror after I had dressed to get a complete review of my image. My head cocked, I glanced my hair in details, touching my lips and applying another layer of lipstick because I felt that some were needed. I touched my weaved hair until I was sure that it was perfect for the trip I was looking forward to. I then made abrupt screening at my clothes as they appeared on the mirror, and I felt warm satisfaction swelled inside my head. Then I touched my extended belly a little. It seemed that it had kicked my blouse outwards. I admired my little extended tummy before I dropped my gaze from the clothes to view some aspects of my body.   

After I was through with my body frame, I went to the living room and l was pleased to find that my house assistant had set my breakfast on the table. I sat down to take my tea absentmindedly. Occasionally, I was mindful of time. I had noticed that the time was wearing out very fast, so I had to speed up. Once the tea was over, I picked my bag to leave the house. 

Suddenly I heard an outcry of my young boy out of his sleep. Through instinct I turned back and I walked towards his bed. I knelt down on his bed side to give him my last kiss on his cheeks before I rushed out of the house.

 I was moved by the way the kid cried. I picked him up, soothed him a little before I handed him over to my house assistant to take care of him until I was back from my engagement. Once the kid was settled, I embraced him briefly and I became happy with the way he responded to my soothing.

 

My boy had just clocked five years but he behaved as a boy under three years. It was now more than five years since he was born but he had not got the opportunity to get birthday flowers from either me or his father. Perhaps, this could be the reason why he behaved like a new born baby. But despite my inner thoughts, I loved him as my only child, which was why I could go to any length to please him. 

At this moment it seemed as if I was a single mother with only one kid and a helper. Though I always called myself a single mother but in real sense, I am a married woman.  I had been married for about eight years to an absent husband that was engaged in pursuits of life at the town of Mangal.  

The child hardly knew his father due to the fact that the father rarely visit home and if at all he managed to come, it was always prompt and brief. This had made me to raise my boy alone despite his father being a caring and supportive of his wellbeing. 

 Soon I called my house assistant and instructed her of what to do in case the boy might need something to drink, and after that I made my final glance at him then murmured, 'You are copy right of your father,' and suddenly I kicked the ground running towards the stage where I had to catch a bus to Yasia town to attend the board meeting. I crashed my way to the bus stage at a breakneck speed.  At some time, I was pressed to look at my wrist watch to be sure that I was in the right time. Soon I was at the bus stage which was not very far from my home. 

At the stage I found a vehicle that was about to get full. I had to wait as I had no any other means to use. But at this moment of waiting my mind was racing because of time. I had taken a bit of time to prepare for the meeting and it would be silly mistake to be late for the first appearance. Despite the odds working against me, I held my breath and waited. 

At one point I became nervous as I saw a few people trickle in the vehicle like a drop of rainfall. Some passengers came to the vehicle and my heart leapt with joy as I thought that they would make the vehicle full and soon we would set off. But I was disappointed to see that the passengers failed to struck a deal on the fare price with the conductor of the vehicle.

 I was almost shedding tears when I saw that they were leaving the vehicle after mounting a spirited bargain for the fare. Within seconds of their departure, another shock followed me. The few people who had occupied seats inside the vehicle rose one by one as passengers dropped in. 

 My curiosity grew to gloominess when I saw that time was not on my side. It was also apparent that I had been deceived to believe that the vehicle was about to get full only to find that the people who had packed the vehicle were touts that were warming the seats. 

Out of frustration, I flipped as I picked my phone to just look at it with the hope that I could get somebody to chat with to kill boredom. The moment I opened my phone, a flood of messages squeezed in the phone at a terrific speed. At this moment, I was excited with the number of messages that jammed my phone at one ago. My excitement carried my soul away from my locomotion problem for the time being.

I started to screen the messages one by one and a smile popped into my face.  However, one message caught my attention. “Hey member, please ensure that you keep time so that we start early to brainstorm the agenda in good time. Be reminded that the time for our meeting will be at 10.00 am at the dot.” 

My heart skipped a little as I imagined that I may not be able to comply with the demand of the message as I was still stuck inside a vehicle which was not even moving. I heaved heavily as if to let out a frustration cough. I soon flapped my face with my right hand as if to remove stress that was boiling within me.  I curtseyed in my seat and just stared at my phone without any actual concentration. When my mind was still glued on the phone, a message clicked in. I opened it and read it silently and my face beamed with blessedness. 

 “Darling I hope you are pushing on with life.  I wish I could have been near you; I would have whispered something into your ears. But it is not yet too late. Iet me just whisper it close to your ears assuming that I am beside you.  I love you with my life.  Receive my great love my sweetheart."

I was almost kissing the massage were it not for the roaring of the engine of the vehicle which was all set to start the journey. Yasia town was not very far from my house and it might take us about fifteen minutes to reach our destination. The time by my watch was about 10.00 o’clock exactly, and for sure I knew that I was already late. But going by African time, I may still not be late at all. Here in Africa they always said that there was no hurry. I prayed that the saying would work to my advantage in this scenario.

There was a big shockwave as the vehicle left the stage. The driver was a bit careless and over looked a bump a head and the vehicle which was full to its car boot, and its weight was almost more than the vehicle’s capacity, moved at a very high speed. As the vehicle move further with speed, we kept on knocking gently onto each other as there was no space left between passengers' seats. I sat between a man and a woman and as the vehicle sped off, so as the vigorous shaking and knocking of our bodies.

 I was forced to behave as if in a dancing competition between the man and the woman, knocking each by our sides rhythmically. Though the woman complained about the vehicle and its rough speed, but the man seemed to enjoy it. The fact that our sides touched each other frequently heightened his genial mood.

 The vehicle kept shaking with booming sound throughout the journey and that was the delight of the man who kept beaming his eyes as if to penetrate my body. I realized where the man was drawing his pleasure however, I cared the least about it. Moreover, I was annoyed inwardly for being late for the meeting.

A moment too soon, the vehicle came to abrupt halt at the bus stage of Yasia town. The passengers jumped out in a hurry and when my feet touched the ground, the man who had sat beside me boomed. 

“Madam you are so beautiful. I wish I can be with you for some moments,”  

I was shocked as I turned to have a fixed gaze at the man. But instead of expressing my dismayed face. I managed to say, “Thank you,” and paced out.

 As I moved away from the vehicle, I watched with disbelief the woman who had sat next to me saying everything with her mouth about the dusty vehicle that had soiled her clothes.  Behind the tail of my eyes, I could still enjoy the woman while I cut my way to the meeting place.

Comments (1)
goodnovel comment avatar
Ana rita Coelho do Nascimento
Não tem versão português não ??
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