Theresa! Theresa! Theresa! My brother Theo kept calling my name like his life depended on it and it was getting on my nerves. He knew how hard it was to get our mother to eat and I specifically requested not to be disturbed during those times but today, he must be having a brain seizure to be calling out for me right in the middle of it all. As if I was not tense enough, Mum had to just vomit everything I had successfully fed her for the past 30 mins. What a sad life I'm trapped in. I can't wait to get my hands on the Red Crystal of Gath with its healing powers, so I can have a life like most teenage girls my age do! You must be confused, so let's start at the beginning!
My brother Theo and I grew up with just our mother. We never got to know our dad and it was very hard surviving in Tama village with just our mum. It was a time when women were only allowed to do household chores like cleaning and washing and no one was willing to even pay for the service when you did find payment, it was barely enough to get a morsel of bread. Mum had to carry out several cleaning jobs around other people's homes for our survival. Sometimes, some families were kind enough to let her weed grass around the house even though it was a Man's job. They were the ones who benefited more because mum would do it for a lower amount than they would have to pay a man. She was more than happy to accept because it meant extra income for food on the table. We were the perfect definition of a family living in abject poverty and kids never hesitated to mock us whenever we showed our faces in public.
It was from the windows of our thatched roofed house that we learned kids our age were supposed to go to school. We were never able to afford the luxury of education, even at the poorest of schools because food and clothing were all my mother with all of her struggling could provide. All Theo and I knew how to do was clean perfectly, so we assisted Mum as soon as we were old enough. Old enough was Theo being 7 while I was 15. The whole town nicknamed us cleaner girls and boys and our beautiful names became history.
A hard life was ours to live and we got used to it until the worst happened. It was a lovely afternoon that fateful day and Theo and I had a cleaning job for the UK man. Mum had told us she would make us our favourite porridge soup when we got back so we were happy to leave and eager to return home. Cleaning went well and we were handed our 10 silver pieces for cleaning the whole Dukeman empire. The only thing we virtually didn't do was bathe the kids and the adults as well. I'm pretty sure if we had asked, they would have been more than happy to have obliged us.
Theo and I could barely stand after the work and as if that wasn't enough there was a heavy downpour and we were stuck there on the balcony of the Dukeman's till it was dark. Theo kept whining about his porridge getting cold and Mum getting worried but I kept assuring him that we'd be fine and get home safe. Truthfully, the only thing he cared about was the porridge so much that if we had been kidnapped, he would have only regretted not having tasted Mum's lovely porridge soup the last time before death.
We finally got home and the first thing Theo went for was the porridge. I couldn't blame him cos I was worn out and tired and above all hungry. While Theo ate, I went in search of our mum and shockingly found her sprawled on the floor almost lifeless.
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My screams echoed through the streets of Tama village like an earthquake so much so that Theo came barging in. We both sat there holding on to our mother who could neither talk nor move, with tears streaming down our little faces and no one coming to our rescue. Till today, we do not know what happened, only that our once healthy mother was dumb and disabled.
Now you can imagine how frustrated I was that I had to cater to both Theo and Mumm and they were both not helping at the moment. The presence of Theo at the door after calling my name at this moment only meant two things, that he was either dying of some mysterious illness as well or food the excess food he consumes daily or that it was a dead important issue, and it was!
A letter had just arrived saying I had been accepted to join a group of other people to go on the search for the Red Crystall of Gath. The healing powers of this crystal were so legendary that only 20 persons, chosen each year, go into the cave of Horus at Gath in search of the Crystal. I had tried just a year after Mum's mysterious illness struck and every year after, I was rejected. It's been 15 years now and I've been chosen finally. My excitement knew no bounds!
The thought of having my mother back on her feet strong and healthy was one that I could not wait to actualize. I knew the hunt would not be easy and all 20 people would be desperate for the Crystal but I wasn't going to give up easily and I knew my dad wherever he was would shine his light on me and support me with Ghost super strength. My faith was strong and I believed it was our time for the universe to smile down on us!
