HUSH

I heard a whisper, "all this and more..."

I didn't get the complete sentence, I was woken up by a splash of water on my face by my mother.

She said, "wake up lazy bones, we have a lot to do today."

I greeted her as I normally do every morning "morning Mami." Her response to me was "we sure do have a lot to talk about too, especially you talking and acting wildly in your sleep." I felt really happy because I was glad Mami was willing to talk with me.

We are a family of five, Papi, Mami, my two brothers (Blaise and Jerry) and my lovable self (Kendra). We lived in a beautiful cottage built by Papi, near the lake in our community. We were from Shiza, a community that thrived well in cocoa farming and mining diamonds. Our community was indeed blessed with such resources for exportation which helped improve our community financially but we were never seen publicly. I often refer to my tribe as "hush" because we made a lot of noise globally and are still asked to hush.

_{Image by Annie Spratt from Unsplash.com}

Our community men were the harvesters of the farm produce and the miners. A large number of the men were educated. The women on the other hand were the cultivators, the weeders, the processors of the farm produce, the cooks, the cleaning ladies and most unfortunately the uneducated ones. "The life of a woman is in the kitchen and the other room, she is her husband's steady support," says my mother.
Very few of our girls were educated, well just families that had only daughters as their children and those who want a higher bride price in their daughters name. Unfortunately, I wasn't part of the lucky few. I can read and write a little because I always peeped when my siblings had classes. I knew this wasn't fair even if everybody thought it was normal. I was shown the bright tomorrow and all the wonders which could only be unlocked if I was given the key.

My family starts the day with prayers. We then go to our various workplaces. My Mami and I cooked. Everyone ate, my brothers were off to school.Papi stayed home. Mami and I set out to the farm, it was time for weeding.
While we were at work, my mother reminded me of the discussion we were to have. I then narrated everything to her," It was a cold evening, I set off to fetch water from the stream as usual. I followed the path but something seemed off but I couldn't place my hands on what it was. I finally got to the stream but there was no water. The stream was white, it looked like paper mache. I was shocked because I never heard of something like that. I turned to run back home in case it was a curse, to avoid getting inflicted. As I turned, a short fair woman dressed in white and adorned with gold appeared right in front of me. She told me to jump in the white stream. I was so scared because I knew something was definitely wrong. I tried running away but then she pulled me back and said "a new world awaits you".

I didn't know what to do, I really wanted to solve this mystery, so I closed my eyes and dived into the stream.

_{Image by Mauricio Chavez from unsplash.com}

It was a whole new world, I couldn't believe my eyes. Humans feet touched the ground no more, they were conveyed in a four wheeled metal box. I saw tall buildings not made with thatched roof or mud but with bricks and woods of different colours. I saw light everywhere, I rightly thought that I was in the great beyond. As I looked on in amazement, one of the four wheeled metal boxes stopped in front of me and seated inside was the mysterious woman I met at the river bank. And she said "hop in and experience the best time of your life". I did as she said and hopped in.

We drove round town and I saw more tiny humans made with metals that could run any errand, she called them "robots" and yes she told me that the four wheeled metal boxes were called "zooms".

As we moved further into this magnificent city, I asked why she didn't take me on a proper tour and she said there was only one place she ever wished to show me.

We went to a building and all I saw was green, lots of money in this vault they speak of. I was amazed and I asked her why her land was so blessed. My people worked hard but we never got so much. She then took me to a classroom where boys and girls were seated, smartly dressed and paying attention to their teacher.

She said "the difference between here and where you come from is that your people have decided to be slaves to ignorance" pointing towards the vault, she said "all these and more could be yours if you could just find the key within you."

My mother had heard my narration and she told me "my girl, I was once like you, I had big dreams of a place like heaven, where my hands could reach the stars but they were silenced". I can only promise you this she said " your dreams will be yours to live, so help me God".

Shhhhhhh.......