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13 Courage My Love Gary Vundhla I now believe that everything comes to an end. I wept day and night wondering what the next day would bring forth and how I would defend myself from the beast, but my answer was always the tears that streamed down my cheeks. Naturally Courage did not remember anything that happened that day, as it was her first day to take a breath in this cruel world, but, later, she was told everything that occurred. Her mother always told her that the day she was born happiness poured into the family. Courage remembered her saying, ‘Before I gave birth to you, your father and I were expecting a baby girl and, guess what, our expectations were fulfilled.’ Courage loved it when her father shared with her how he felt before she was born. He told her he had waited for hours outside the labour room. He even imitated the actions he made, walking back and forth. All her father could hear were the agonizing screams of his beloved wife. Courage had finally arrived in the early morning of June at about 6.30 am. Her mother told her that when she held Courage in her arms there was an immediate bond between them. Courage did not have many memories of her childhood but what few she had were fond memories, memories that made her smile. She remembered when her mother and father would throw her into the air and catch her again. This was such fun and she almost believed she could fly, she even remembered singing the R. Kelly song, I believe I can fly. Sometimes her parents would watch her playing on the lawn following the tiny insects that roamed on the surface with her eyes. Playing hide and seek was her favourite game. She was fond of hiding in the wardrobe until one day she fell asleep inside. Her parents were both sick with worry and after a long search they reported her missing to the police. Her father thought they should go out and search for her while they waited for the police. He opened the wardrobe to collect a jacket and saw her sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face. She seemed in a world of her own, calmly sleeping while her parents were frantic with worry. All these 14 events of her childhood happened without her being aware that a dark cloud was following her. Her world would soon change. Long after it happened Courage could still hear the shrieking. The brakes screamed on the hot road and without warning, BOOM! The horrendous accident claimed her mother’s life. Courage was left severely disabled. If she revisited the scene of the accident in her mind and concentrated very hard, she could see the tyre marks imprinted on the ground and her mother lying lifeless beside the car. Sometimes everything came flooding back to her and it was as if it was happening all over again. At times like this it was like she was watching a movie right there on the street, a movie she had seen too many times and knew by heart. It was as if the sun had set for the Courage she had been and had risen on a cloudy day for a completely different Courage. She was now a girl who depended on others for everything. All she could do for herself was to inhale and exhale. As she could no longer speak, she used a tablet for communication. The death of her mother left a huge gap in the family that no one could fill. Her father was worried that his daughter was lonely and he thought it would be best to find a new wife so that his daughter would grow up surrounded by a mother’s love. Little did he know that the black cloud that was hanging over them would grow yet darker. When Courage heard that her father was getting married again she was sad and thought that her father had never loved her mother or how could he forget her so soon. She didn’t realise that her father was doing it out of love for her. The truth was that, since the terrible day of the accident, her father loved her more than ever and treated her like a princess because she brought back memories of his dead wife. When Mr Sibanda got married again he did not know the kind of woman he was...

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