"Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir three bags full!" the tiny voices of joyful 4-year-olds filled the air.
"One for the master, one for the dame!" One voice sang ahead of the rest, disrupting the song.
"No,Rea, it's one for the master, one for madam. And you're singing faster than the rest of us. Slow down."
"One for madam?!" Four-year old Rea laughed. "It's one for the dame!"
Then the teacher intervened, "Rea, Joel, stop! Let's start the song again from the top everyone...1, 2, sing!"
Being kids was...effortless. Minds just flew on the wings of happiness and freedom and not a single worry lasted more than 3 minutes. Rea could not remember too many details from back then but she knew there had been much more light.
There was one day in 3rd grade, that'd stay engraved on the kids' cerebrums for a while; the first day Sister Benedicta became their teacher. She was a 34-year-old nun, very graceful and warm. And she brought sweets and neon-green rosaries on her first day, as gifts for the kids. She taught them new games and songs and made learning such a great joy.
Rea was convinced she wanted to spend her entire life being taught by Sister Benedicta. However, she wouldn't have known that in November of that same year, her life would make a drastic turn.
At 25 years old, she sat on the staircase of a solitary building somewhere in the outskirts of the city, and still struggled to keep her tears contained upon the memory of one dreaded day.
She could still hear Joel's voice from the restaurant asking, "what happened to you?"
Well, the answer to that could've filled hundreds of pages, in very small font. But the trigger to it all, she knew. She came back from school on one November afternoon, those many years ago, from another exciting class with Sister Benedicta. There was no electricity at home. She was hungry and alone; her mother had probably gone to get her baby-sister vaccinated at the nearby clinic like she said she would, and her father was still at work. So, Rea used the gas stove to boil an egg, and when she switched it off afterwards, she didn't turn the knob tight enough;
permitting small amounts of the gas to escape. When her parents came back home, electricity had been switched back on and her mum made dinner for the family on the electric stove. Then, when the whole neighbourhood was asleep, during the late hours of the night, Rea awoke to a house ablaze. She remembered running to her parents room and banging the door locked from the inside. How the fire started, well she didn't know; her father might, or might not have been smoking close to the gas tank that night. It remained sort of a mystery really.
The loud engine of a heavy truck startled her out of her thoughts. She stood up from the stairs and wiped her face. Her past had been like a purulent, painful wound covered by a thin scar tissue she was too scared to peel off. However, on that day, she had a different perspective of it all. When she fell on her knees in church, she had allowed the Holy Spirit to peel off the scar for her; and the wound was clean and dry.
'See,' she heard a voice say in her mind, 'you are a new creation now. Allow the light that surrounds you to shine within.'
....
Joel walked into the living room of his home, looking distraught. He tossed the car keys on the coffee table, threw himself on the sofa and started scrolling through different TV channels.
"Oh, you're back already? I thought you'd take a while," his mother, Pastor Maria said as she jotted down stuff in her notebook. And when she got no response, she said, "Did you get her the stuff she needed?"
"We only had lunch, and she left."
"What happened? You look sad." She said, coming to sit on a sofa opposite his.
"I know that girl, mum, from the time I lived in Gata. She was one of my childhood friends. But she had not recognised me, so when i told her i knew her she...just left."
"Oh. She told me she had a very difficult past but didn't give me the details; and she kept saying everything was her fault. Do you know what really happened?"
He shook his head. That's what he had been trying to figure out the whole time.
"What are we going to do about this, Joel? We could turn away, or we could be a reminder to her that God massively loves her. Come on, get up. Do you have an idea where we could find her?"
He thought for a while and then told her about Mr. T.
....
Rea was still on those stairs when Joel and his mum arrived. She silently shook her head, amused by their persistence.
Pastor Maria got out of the car and went to sit next to her. She told her she was going to do everything in her power to help her not be homeless again. And gave Rea some scriptures, assurring her that there really is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Joel stood by the car, watching, and praying in his heart.
"You didn't have to punish yourself for whatever happened in your past, my child," Pastor Maria said.
Rea broke down, and narrated what happenned on the horrifying night of the fire, amidst tears. "I had dreams to be working in a nice office by this point of my life! I wanted to be successful! My dreams were burnt to ashes with the rest of my family that day. Do you know how it is to have your childhood dreams crushed just like that?"
"Yes. Yes, I do."
Rea looked up at Pastor Maria.
"I wanted to be a pilot. But when I got gang-raped by strangers, in the street, at 14 and remained pregnant with a baby whose father I didn't know, all I wanted was to disappear."
A streak of disbelief flicked on Rea's face.
Then her gaze turned to Joel. It dawned on her that she had never known his parents while they were growing up. He lived with his grandparents, his mother's parents. Pastor Maria only took him when he was around 15, when she finally found her own healing and wholeness, in God. Joel still didn't know the man whose DNA he carried.
"Do you remember," he said, approaching the two women, "Do you remember when Sister Benedicta brought a bird with two broken wings to class?"
Rea nodded.
"She asked us if we thought there was still life in it and we all said yes. She asked again if we still think so even though it had lost its ability to fly. Birds are meant to fly arent they?"
She remembered the bird, not it's story.
"You know," Joel proceeded, " I never forgot because that day, I realised that's the most important thing; life within. Life's not over Rea, dreams are not over, as long as we're still here."
"And the great thing about this life in us, is it's given by a limitless God." said Pastor Maria with a smile. "You may not get all answers to your questions, but be assured, His love does endure forever."
Rea inhaled deeply. And then she abruptly lit up;
"I just remembered something about that bird!" she said, almost hysterically. "Its wings healed with time, and it got back its ability to fly!"
For the first time in a long time, she could 'see' a bright future.
Her eyes met Joel's. He realised that veil was gone. And now there was just light.
Light powered by life within.
THE END.
Image from cleargreen.com
"One for the master, one for the dame!" One voice sang ahead of the rest, disrupting the song.
"No,Rea, it's one for the master, one for madam. And you're singing faster than the rest of us. Slow down."
"One for madam?!" Four-year old Rea laughed. "It's one for the dame!"
Then the teacher intervened, "Rea, Joel, stop! Let's start the song again from the top everyone...1, 2, sing!"
Being kids was...effortless. Minds just flew on the wings of happiness and freedom and not a single worry lasted more than 3 minutes. Rea could not remember too many details from back then but she knew there had been much more light.
There was one day in 3rd grade, that'd stay engraved on the kids' cerebrums for a while; the first day Sister Benedicta became their teacher. She was a 34-year-old nun, very graceful and warm. And she brought sweets and neon-green rosaries on her first day, as gifts for the kids. She taught them new games and songs and made learning such a great joy.
Rea was convinced she wanted to spend her entire life being taught by Sister Benedicta. However, she wouldn't have known that in November of that same year, her life would make a drastic turn.
At 25 years old, she sat on the staircase of a solitary building somewhere in the outskirts of the city, and still struggled to keep her tears contained upon the memory of one dreaded day.
She could still hear Joel's voice from the restaurant asking, "what happened to you?"
Well, the answer to that could've filled hundreds of pages, in very small font. But the trigger to it all, she knew. She came back from school on one November afternoon, those many years ago, from another exciting class with Sister Benedicta. There was no electricity at home. She was hungry and alone; her mother had probably gone to get her baby-sister vaccinated at the nearby clinic like she said she would, and her father was still at work. So, Rea used the gas stove to boil an egg, and when she switched it off afterwards, she didn't turn the knob tight enough;
permitting small amounts of the gas to escape. When her parents came back home, electricity had been switched back on and her mum made dinner for the family on the electric stove. Then, when the whole neighbourhood was asleep, during the late hours of the night, Rea awoke to a house ablaze. She remembered running to her parents room and banging the door locked from the inside. How the fire started, well she didn't know; her father might, or might not have been smoking close to the gas tank that night. It remained sort of a mystery really.
The loud engine of a heavy truck startled her out of her thoughts. She stood up from the stairs and wiped her face. Her past had been like a purulent, painful wound covered by a thin scar tissue she was too scared to peel off. However, on that day, she had a different perspective of it all. When she fell on her knees in church, she had allowed the Holy Spirit to peel off the scar for her; and the wound was clean and dry.
'See,' she heard a voice say in her mind, 'you are a new creation now. Allow the light that surrounds you to shine within.'
....
Joel walked into the living room of his home, looking distraught. He tossed the car keys on the coffee table, threw himself on the sofa and started scrolling through different TV channels.
"Oh, you're back already? I thought you'd take a while," his mother, Pastor Maria said as she jotted down stuff in her notebook. And when she got no response, she said, "Did you get her the stuff she needed?"
"We only had lunch, and she left."
"What happened? You look sad." She said, coming to sit on a sofa opposite his.
"I know that girl, mum, from the time I lived in Gata. She was one of my childhood friends. But she had not recognised me, so when i told her i knew her she...just left."
"Oh. She told me she had a very difficult past but didn't give me the details; and she kept saying everything was her fault. Do you know what really happened?"
He shook his head. That's what he had been trying to figure out the whole time.
"What are we going to do about this, Joel? We could turn away, or we could be a reminder to her that God massively loves her. Come on, get up. Do you have an idea where we could find her?"
He thought for a while and then told her about Mr. T.
....
Rea was still on those stairs when Joel and his mum arrived. She silently shook her head, amused by their persistence.
Pastor Maria got out of the car and went to sit next to her. She told her she was going to do everything in her power to help her not be homeless again. And gave Rea some scriptures, assurring her that there really is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Joel stood by the car, watching, and praying in his heart.
"You didn't have to punish yourself for whatever happened in your past, my child," Pastor Maria said.
Rea broke down, and narrated what happenned on the horrifying night of the fire, amidst tears. "I had dreams to be working in a nice office by this point of my life! I wanted to be successful! My dreams were burnt to ashes with the rest of my family that day. Do you know how it is to have your childhood dreams crushed just like that?"
"Yes. Yes, I do."
Rea looked up at Pastor Maria.
"I wanted to be a pilot. But when I got gang-raped by strangers, in the street, at 14 and remained pregnant with a baby whose father I didn't know, all I wanted was to disappear."
A streak of disbelief flicked on Rea's face.
Then her gaze turned to Joel. It dawned on her that she had never known his parents while they were growing up. He lived with his grandparents, his mother's parents. Pastor Maria only took him when he was around 15, when she finally found her own healing and wholeness, in God. Joel still didn't know the man whose DNA he carried.
"Do you remember," he said, approaching the two women, "Do you remember when Sister Benedicta brought a bird with two broken wings to class?"
Rea nodded.
"She asked us if we thought there was still life in it and we all said yes. She asked again if we still think so even though it had lost its ability to fly. Birds are meant to fly arent they?"
She remembered the bird, not it's story.
"You know," Joel proceeded, " I never forgot because that day, I realised that's the most important thing; life within. Life's not over Rea, dreams are not over, as long as we're still here."
"And the great thing about this life in us, is it's given by a limitless God." said Pastor Maria with a smile. "You may not get all answers to your questions, but be assured, His love does endure forever."
Rea inhaled deeply. And then she abruptly lit up;
"I just remembered something about that bird!" she said, almost hysterically. "Its wings healed with time, and it got back its ability to fly!"
For the first time in a long time, she could 'see' a bright future.
Her eyes met Joel's. He realised that veil was gone. And now there was just light.
Light powered by life within.
THE END.
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