Uma mi umndeni sithela, dwa yena mamathekela mina.
When my family disappeared, only he smiled for me.
*~*---♥--- *~*
My day started like any other:
Putting my brother on my back to take him
to the daycare center, while I packed up my bag
to walk to school, as always.
I made breakfast for my parents, leaving the
plates of eggs and bacon sitting on the table
as I walked out the door.
The day was clear and warm, the sun smiling down
on my face as if to say "Good morning to you, young child."
Ku-Ku laughed as I skipped down the road, our
walk taking its time as we wound our way through the streets
when we got towards town.
As usual the inspectors were there to see our passes,
and to make sure we were headed where we were supposed to.
Each of my people had a badge or pass to say what we
could and could not do.
We were instructed to show our badges to the
men at their stations when we were asked.
As we passed our passes through their machines,
I always marveled at the way the people went
about their business, looking down on us like animals.
We were no different than them, were we?
The only difference was skin deep,
yet these men saw us as if we were a totally different life form.
A very nonthreatening life form.
A worthless one.
As we made our way to the daycare,
Ku-Ku shouted in his normal toddler laugh,
kicking his legs in amusement.
It was then that I saw my friend Rulimau,
Walking with his younger sister.
This was a picture of his pass that I took during
one of our many boring class assignments.
Our passes weren't in the best condition,
as you can see, but we still go through the day.
Like any normal day, we went through our classes:
Math,
Science,
Sewing and Cooking for the girls,
Gym,
Reading,
and Foreign Language (We either learned English or Belgian)
I always found that class to be boring, useless.
The day ended, and I went to pick Kuli
up from his room, placing him on my back in his
sling once more, bringing him home along our normal
route, stopping every so often to smell the flowers
or have a drink at the fountain.
When I came home, I knew something was wrong.
As I walked up the driveway, my mother's precious garden was
trampled,
the glass window that I would sit in to paint was shattered,
a smell of burning fabric tainted the air.
I brought Kuli to the neighbors, who were too
terrified to tell me what had happened. Instead, the woman who lived there
took Kuli in her arms, placing him on her couch as she finally told me of men
that stormed the house, running back out with my mother
and father, their faces bloodied and broken, tears streaming
from my mother's eyes.
My Knees grew weak,
My ears began to ring,
my eyes watered and stung.
And still I ran.
I bolted out the door, nearly colliding with some onlooking people,
who had come to stare at the slowly burning home.
*~*~*--------------------------------------------------------*~*~*
Inside was a mess, a total wreck.
The carpet was stained with blood and dirt
from muddy boot tracks the ran through the room.
The plants were knocked over.
All the artwork and pictures of my family were strewn across the room.
My kitchen, my room, the basement.
All were the same.
As if a tornado had wiped out my home.
But all the possession were there.
These were not burglars.
The only thing missing were my mother and father.
The scrambled eggs I had taken time to make,
and the bacon that I had burnt 3 of my fingers cooking,
lay undisturbed in the center of the kitchen table.
It was the eye of the chaos that had unfolded,
and was completely unharmed.
I could not say the same for my mental stability,
or for my knees as I fell to the floor, slicing them open on broken
shards of glass as I screamed in pain.
I did not scream for the glass embedding itself in my flesh.
I screamed for the tearing of my heart in two,
for the loss of my parents, so near and dear.
I could have sworn my broken heart lay among those shards.
I walked silently back to my neighbors home,
to find Kuli standing,
for the first time on his own,
looking at me for the first time without a smile.
His face gradually warmed as he saw me,
a small grin creeping onto his lips.
Only he could smile for me,
and only he could make the beating of my broken heart begin once more.
*~*---♥--- *~*
My day started like any other:
Putting my brother on my back to take him
to the daycare center, while I packed up my bag
to walk to school, as always.
I made breakfast for my parents, leaving the
plates of eggs and bacon sitting on the table
as I walked out the door.
The day was clear and warm, the sun smiling down
on my face as if to say "Good morning to you, young child."
Ku-Ku laughed as I skipped down the road, our
walk taking its time as we wound our way through the streets
when we got towards town.
As usual the inspectors were there to see our passes,
and to make sure we were headed where we were supposed to.
Each of my people had a badge or pass to say what we
could and could not do.
We were instructed to show our badges to the
men at their stations when we were asked.
As we passed our passes through their machines,
I always marveled at the way the people went
about their business, looking down on us like animals.
We were no different than them, were we?
The only difference was skin deep,
yet these men saw us as if we were a totally different life form.
A very nonthreatening life form.
A worthless one.
As we made our way to the daycare,
Ku-Ku shouted in his normal toddler laugh,
kicking his legs in amusement.
It was then that I saw my friend Rulimau,
Walking with his younger sister.
This was a picture of his pass that I took during
one of our many boring class assignments.
Our passes weren't in the best condition,
as you can see, but we still go through the day.
Like any normal day, we went through our classes:
Math,
Science,
Sewing and Cooking for the girls,
Gym,
Reading,
and Foreign Language (We either learned English or Belgian)
I always found that class to be boring, useless.
The day ended, and I went to pick Kuli
up from his room, placing him on my back in his
sling once more, bringing him home along our normal
route, stopping every so often to smell the flowers
or have a drink at the fountain.
When I came home, I knew something was wrong.
As I walked up the driveway, my mother's precious garden was
trampled,
the glass window that I would sit in to paint was shattered,
a smell of burning fabric tainted the air.
I brought Kuli to the neighbors, who were too
terrified to tell me what had happened. Instead, the woman who lived there
took Kuli in her arms, placing him on her couch as she finally told me of men
that stormed the house, running back out with my mother
and father, their faces bloodied and broken, tears streaming
from my mother's eyes.
My Knees grew weak,
My ears began to ring,
my eyes watered and stung.
And still I ran.
I bolted out the door, nearly colliding with some onlooking people,
who had come to stare at the slowly burning home.
*~*~*--------------------------------------------------------*~*~*
Inside was a mess, a total wreck.
The carpet was stained with blood and dirt
from muddy boot tracks the ran through the room.
The plants were knocked over.
All the artwork and pictures of my family were strewn across the room.
My kitchen, my room, the basement.
All were the same.
As if a tornado had wiped out my home.
But all the possession were there.
These were not burglars.
The only thing missing were my mother and father.
The scrambled eggs I had taken time to make,
and the bacon that I had burnt 3 of my fingers cooking,
lay undisturbed in the center of the kitchen table.
It was the eye of the chaos that had unfolded,
and was completely unharmed.
I could not say the same for my mental stability,
or for my knees as I fell to the floor, slicing them open on broken
shards of glass as I screamed in pain.
I did not scream for the glass embedding itself in my flesh.
I screamed for the tearing of my heart in two,
for the loss of my parents, so near and dear.
I could have sworn my broken heart lay among those shards.
I walked silently back to my neighbors home,
to find Kuli standing,
for the first time on his own,
looking at me for the first time without a smile.
His face gradually warmed as he saw me,
a small grin creeping onto his lips.
Only he could smile for me,
and only he could make the beating of my broken heart begin once more.
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