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Post by Francesca~*Pura Vida*~ on Mar 25, 2007 16:30:55 GMT -5
It was very humid out, and nearly midnight. The kind of sickly weather that everyone complained about. It felt damp, but it was impossible to sweat more. It was very quiet, not even the sound of the cricket's chirp was audible that night. Or maybe it was just because she had too many things on her mind. Her mouth was dry, she could hear the thumping of her heart in her chest, it was so quiet.
Mandisa was twisting on her worn out mattress, trying to fall asleep. Her clothes were old, ripped, dirty and sweaty. She kept closing her eyes, but as soon she chose a position in which to sleep, she got uncomfortable and had to reposition herself again. The sheets were sticking to her skin and giving her great irritability. The air was flowing into the room smoothly, releasing some of the tension, though only for a few seconds. It was like a fan blowing in an overheated room; It was just spinning the heat around, making everyone even more hot and miserable. Maybe it was just the weather, but she could smell sweat in the air, which made everything so much more pleasant for her. Sarcasm. She kept her eyes shut tight, only letting herself see the blackness of her lids. Perhaps that would help her fall asleep faster, despite all the inconveniences that that night offered.
'Why was she so awake?' One may ask. The reason was, she knew they were being hunted. She, her two younger sisters, and her older brother. They were all wanted by the LRA. She heard her parents talking about it earlier that morning, with little hope in their voices of survival.
Her little sisters didn't know, but she and Otieno, her older brother by 2 years, were both scared. He was probably lying awake also. She looked to the floor, and there he was, lying awake. Their brown eyes met for the first time that day since they had heard the news that made each of their hearts tremble.
It had just been that morning that they'd found out. They were coming back from lessons in the village school when they stopped outside to listen to their parents talk. Their mother was cooking in the small stone stove in the corner while their father was quietly reading. He brought up the subject of the LRA, and slowly eased their mtoher into the fact that they were after Mandisa and her siblings. Her mother, naturally, immediately panicked. Their father calmed her and started to talk about ways they would be able to run away to Uganda. But with each new way came a new obstacle within it, causing them to contemplate another new idea. About 20 minutes had passed, and they still hadn't figured out a plan with which to escape. Mandisa and Otieno then walked in and they stopped talking. They obviously didn't suspect them of eavesdropping.
As she stared into his eyes, she knew they were both thinking the same exact things.
Why wouldn't their parents tell them directly? Had they thought of another plan in the time that had elapsed since they had listened in on the terribly grave conversation? Should they tell their younger sisters, or let them find out for theirselves once they're captured? How long would it be before they were taken? Would they have time to escape to Uganda?
With all of these questions spinning in her head, and many more, Mandisa layed her hand on her stomach, where the painful reminder of her 1 month old baby lived. That brought up another question. 2, actually: What would she tell her parents about the child if they weren't caught? And two, what would she do about the poor baby if they were caught? The 2nd of the two was more likely to happen.
She sighed and rolled over once more, trying to block out all of the pain that her life presented at the moment. She didn't understand why, but she had felt very cautious around everything and everyone that whole day, since after school.
One thing she couldn't quite understand was why her brother hadn't left already. It would be much easier for him to just walk out of the house. He was 15 now, so he was still young enough for the LRA, but old enough to take care of himself. Maybe he was too worried about his family, or was wondering where he would go. Maybe he just thought himself inept to take care of himself.
They were bound to get caught. Mandisa closed her eyes again, shutting out the world, as a tear grazed her cheek. Little did she know, that it would be one of her last....
The night went on.
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Post by Emily on Apr 4, 2007 11:38:47 GMT -5
Kenya opened her eyes, only to see that her dream of candy, and living in a mansion was not true. She wasn't even sure of what a mansion was but one of her friends had said it was a large hut that American's lived in. Kenya wanted so badly to live in a mansion, and eat candy, but she was only 8 of course, and these dreams were foolish her mother had told her once, when she had explained her dreams. But still, it was a nice dream.
It was hot in the room, so hot the heat must have melted away her very dream. She turned on her side, but found that even more uncomfortable and got out of bed, swaying and wiping sleep from her eye. "Otieno? Mandisa?" She called out quietly. Perhaps they knew of a way to get cool.
Kenya walked into her brother and sisters room on tip toes, and found that their room was the same. "Otieno? Mandisa? Are you away I had this dream again of mansion and candy..." She poked Mandisa softly, to try and wake her up, and then did the same to Otieno. She hoped they wouldn't get mad.
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Post by Francesca~*Pura Vida*~ on Apr 4, 2007 22:47:48 GMT -5
Mandisa felt a gentle poke on her upperarm, and rolled over once again to see one of her sisters. She couldn't tell which in this light; They were twins. The room was still bitterly hot, her skin still thouroughly soaked with sweat, and clinging to her dirt infested sheet.
"Who is that?" She whispered, her soft, feathery voice breaking the eerie silence that had once held itself above their home.
"It's Kenya." Her sister replied. Hearing her sister's voice made her heart beat, thunderously; Just thinking about what could happen to her sister if they were captured...Well, that was just it. She couldn't think about it, the situation would be so horrible.
"Oh, hey. What's wrong? Do you need anything? Are you scared?" She added on the 'Are you scared?', question, to her usual amount of questions. She must have been getting paranoid, now that she knew they were all being hunted. And Kenya and her twin still had absolutely no idea....
"I had that dream again." Kenya said, "About the mansion, and the house full of candy." She sat down on the edge of the bed, next to her sister, only making it hotter.
"Wouldn't you like to live in a mansion? Somewhere in America?" Mandisa asked, waking herself up to be able to take care of her little sister. She wrapped her arms around the girl, hugging her tightly. She didn't seem to mind the heat anymore; Her sister was too important. Since she couldn't say anything to the poor, little girl about what was happening (Because she would just go blabbing her mouth everywhere and get them into even more trouble), she just expressed her feelings with a bear hug.
Kenya, trying to pry her sister's soft hands from around her neck, responded, "Yeah! I wanna move to America. Can we go tomorrow?"
"Maybe. Ask mom and dad." Mandisa answered, smiling slightly. Her sister would always cheer her up in times like this. Even when she was scared out of her mind. She refused to stop hugging Kenya, also. "You need a bath, Kenya...." She said slowly, taking in the scent of her sister's hair, which was foul.
"No, I don't!"
"Oh, but, you do."
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do!"
"No, I don't!" Kenya yelled, lunging from her sister's arms back onto the floor. Mandisa could tell she was just playing around. And when she stepped on Otieno's hand, waking him up and causing him to yelp loudly, she couldn't help but to burst out laughing.
Otieno just grumbled and rolled back over to attempt sleeping again.
Mandisa's smiled faltered, as she started at Otieno. They were the only ones out of the 4 children with any knowledge of what was going on.
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Post by Emily on Apr 4, 2007 23:10:13 GMT -5
Scared? What was scared about this home. Kenya stared at her sister, and smiled. Maybe she was just asking about night terrors. But she never had them, so why start now? "Otieno, wake up!" Kenya jumped on her older brother, giggling. It was probably time to wake up anyway. "Do you want to go on a walk today, and give me a Elephant back ride?" That's what Kenya called it anyway. She had heard American called it a piggy, and since you normally didn't give piggys back rides, or elephants, it only seemed like the smart thing to do.
"Otieno!?" She poked him in the arm continuously, sitting on his back. "Elephant back ride? Please, today?" She looked at Mandisa. If her brother said no, she would ask her sister. Two chances.
"You need a bath Otieno!" She joked, pretending to smell him. "You make the flowers wilt!" She giggled.
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Post by Francesca~*Pura Vida*~ on Apr 6, 2007 21:56:04 GMT -5
Mandisa threw her small pillow at Otieno's head, and he woke up frowning, and grabbed Kenya, throwing her down to the floor. She screamed as he tickled her, but their fun soon ended as their father opened the door.
"What's going on? Stop carrying around, Kenya, go and wake up your little sister. Mandisa and Otieno, it's time for school. Come on, you'll be late."
That was the first time she'd heard his voice since the confession about the LRA searching them. It sounded...So cold from that instance, yet now so calm. Were they able to come up with a plan? She stared into his deep brown, bloodshot eyes. Why were they bloodshot? Because he had stayed up all night, perfecting his plan? Oh, why wouldn't he tell them what it was! At least to she and Otieno! Kenya and Kei (Which was Kayin for short), did not have to know. Ugh
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Post by Emily on Apr 7, 2007 15:23:59 GMT -5
Kenya stopped laughing as her dad walked in. "Papa.." She stood up, and smiled. Why did papa look so worn down? Like her doll when she left it outside for so long.
"What's going on? Stop carrying around, Kenya, go and wake up your little sister. Mandisa and Otieno, it's time for school. Come on, you'll be late."
Kenya nodded, and gave Mandisa and Otieno a hug first, then ran off to wake up her twin sister.
As she reached the bedroom, she found her sister had fallen off her bed. "Ah! Not again." She laughed, and ran forward, her bare feet padding on the worn and dried wood. "Wake up!" Kenya poked her sisters arm, but she only sturred as she kicked the covers off completely. "Oh no...MANDISA! She won't wake up again..."
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Post by Francesca~*Pura Vida*~ on Apr 9, 2007 10:12:32 GMT -5
Mandisa heard her sister's cry and ran in to wake up the girl's twin. She sighed as she rolled her over, "Come on, wake up. Daddy will be mad if you're not awake." The girl groaned in her sleepiness, keeping her eyes shut tight.
Mandisa sighed and picked the girl up, held her in her arms like an overgrown baby, and carried her to her chair in the kitchen. Once the girl was forced to sit up, she started to cry.
"Oh, shut up already."
"You don't tell Kei what to do. Leave her alone, and go to school. See, your brother's waiting for you again."
"What! It's not my fault Kenya has the inability to wake her own twin up! Yell at her!" Mandisa screamed, stomping over the threashold of the house, swinging her bag made of goat skin over her shoulder. She walked about 7 feet ahead of Otieno the entire time. He didn't seem that inclined to talk, in any case.
It was very windy today, leaves being blown right from their roots on the tall, green trees surrounding the village, Mandisa's dress being blown this way and that.
Their village was definately a small one, with only about 10 small abodes. The houses were all equally wobbly, with rooves made of straw, walls built of clay and a ground of dirt. Everyone there, however, was somehow always happy. Excluding the 10 houses, there was a small, outdoor store, with necklaces, small, ripped up, stuffed animals, sandals, cloth to sew clothes together, torn-up, out-of-date, but still good books, the daily newspaper of sudan, fruit, bread and some cheese. All of them were priced cheap, probably because the owner of the shop lived in the village, sleeping under the tent above the shop every night. he wouldn't want his own neighbors becoming mad at him, possibly killing him, or even worse, throwing him out of the village. There was then the school, and that was it.
The wind picked up, and now it started to pour.
"Dammit!" Mandisa whispered, running to the school.
"Wimp!" Otieno called after her through the waves of sky tears, taking his usual pace to the school.
Mandisa didn't respond, sloshing her sandals through the quickly formed mud on the ground. At least she had sandals; The shop was never able to receive from the governmeny any sandals in his size, and since he refused to wear women's sandals that would fit him, he was stuck, trudging through the mud in his bare feet. It never seemed to bother him, though.
As she ran, the wind whipped her long, smooth, thick pocahontas-like, black hair in front of her face. The rain was making it stick to her features, blocking her vision somewhat, but she did not care.
Once she arrived at the one roomed school, looking all out of breath with her hair glued to her face, she received a lot of looks from the boys, which she tried her best to ignore. As soon as her brother got there, however, the looks subsided; He was the only one in her family that knew of her pregnancy, and ever since he found out, he had become extremely protective of her. And of couse he would know about it. She told him everything. They were practically best friends.
The first class of the day was English. Mandisa felt her mind wandering as she stared at the pictures of Americans and the British in their cars and mansions, the book teaching them words of things that would never posess. She couldn't drift her mind into American and British bliss for too long, however, as she was sharing her book with 4 other girls, most of whom would probably tell the teacher that she wasn't paying attention.
She sighed and finally turned away from the fantasies of living in one of those rich, English speaking countries. Perhaps New York, or London. She always wanted to go to LA, too. Maybe she would one day, if they could stay away from the LRA. Yup. That would be her wish, her biggest dream come true; To finally get to America. It didn't even matter if she was in LA or not. She would take the poorest city in America over the best city in Sudan, which were probably not that different anyway. It was hard for her to believe there was anyone poor in America, but her teacher said so, so why shouldn't she believe him? He added, however, that none of them, no matter how poor they are by American standards, were as poor as their village or country. Mandisa still didn't care. She just wanted to get there, away from this exhausting, 20 year old war.
As she gazed mindlessly about the room for the next hour or so, her eyes met the boy who had been the cause of the thing growing in her stomach at the moment. His eyes softened as he looked into hers, nudging the boys at his table to share his view. She shook her head and turned away, doing her best to ignore them completely.
As school trickled to a close at noon, Mandisa and her brother were the last out of there. Otieno had to stay after and talk to his teacher about his future prospects of somehow becoming a lawyer in England.
As they walked out the door, Mandisa heard something she never heard before, except for in the movie the village had been so grateful to receive a few months ago from America, along with many other gratefully-taken donations. The sound was quickly followed by many more of its kind. What was the sound?
The heart-wrenching noise of a bullet being released from the barrel of an AK 47.
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Post by Emily on Apr 15, 2007 3:25:57 GMT -5
Kenya scratched the back of her head as her father yelled at Mandisa. Yeah it was her fault, but it was Kei's fault she cried all the time. She sat down in a chair as Mandisa stormed out of the house. What would she do today? Maybe leave the house when no one was looking and sneak into the school Mandisa and Otieno were at. Yes, in fact that seemed like the perfect thing to do.
She stared at her sister, who was looking back at her. But what would she do with Kei? If she went and her sister found out she would surely tell mother or worse....her father.
"Kei...do you want to help mother pick berries? I have to go work...very hard and boring work but i'll let you have fun." She carefully chose her words, tricking her sister was hard. "Okay." Kei continued to stare at her, it had actually worked. Kenya thought it would have been more challening but to her suprise it was too easy. Yes, too easy...
Kenya stood from her seat and waved goodbye to Kei, and was off quickly running towards the school, her feet hitting every mud puddle that was possible leaving her dress a tan color.
As she got to the school, she tipped toed in, small droplets breaking the silence. She peered into the classroom her siblings were in, and smiled, wanting to scream out their names and wave, but remembered she wasn't suppose to be here. Instead, she sat down, listening carefully to what the teacher said, after all this is how she learned about Americans in the first place.
Kenya woke up as a loud sound filled the air and soon thousands of screams followed as well. "Otieno?" She yawned, looking around lazily. What was going on? "Mandisa?" She said, louder this time.
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Post by Francesca~*Pura Vida*~ on Jun 4, 2007 12:13:14 GMT -5
Mandisa had been peeking outside at what was going on, where people were running and screaming. She saw about 12 men running in, all with large, heavy guns.
As she heard someone calling her name, she was startled and spun around to see her sister sitting on the floor, huddled up in a ball. "KENYA! WHAT are you doing here?!" Before Kenya could answer, Mandisa looked in the classroom to see that Otieno was no longer there. But, there was a door open directly across from where Mandisa was standing. Otieno must've left through there. "Shit, shit, SHIT!" Mandisa yelled, picking up Kenya and storming out the door that Otieno had just exited.
As Kenya started to whine, Mandisa screamed at her, only making things worse. She ran through the forest, stepping on twigs and broken peices of glass, making the soles of her feet nice and bloody. She was taking this route to the back entrance of her house, where she peeked in with wide eyes. 2 of the men with guns were ripping up everything in the house, banging open every door, searching for people to kill and kidnap. As the men weren't looking, Mandisa saw Otieno run out the front door with Kei in his arms. The men didn't notice anything. She did have to keep a hand closed tight over Kenya's mouth, to prevent her from screeching out Otieno's or Kei's name.
The next thing she saw made her heart nearly stop beating. Her father ran out with a vase and hit one of the men over the head with it, knocking him out. His wife was peeking out from the hallway from which he had just run out with the vase. Apparently, they hadn't noticed that there were 2 men there. The one who was still awake poised his gun, and Mandisa ran back, holding Kenya's eyes closed, aware of what was about to happen. She heard a woman's scream, and quickly looked back to see blood splattering the window of their home.
She ran with Kenya, who was screaming now and still crying. She heard footsteps behind her, following her, and gun shots, which they somehow, miraculously dodged. The men were following Mandisa and her sister.
She ran on blindly through the forest, not paying attention to where she was going, just hoping to make the men stop following her. Twigs on tree branches tore through her plum-colored, once smooth skin, she trampled bugs and berries, tore through bushes and clumps of spider webs, almost tripping a couple of times but always, continuously running. She felt a hand grasp her arm and was stopped immediately, but the force of the stop caused her to fling forward and land on her face, Kenya buried underneath her. She quickly turned over, and kicked whoever was standing above her, until she noticed that she was attacking her own brother. She stopped kicking him, and he was able to help her and Kenya up before the men reached them, but barely. Mandisa scooped Kenya back up in her arms, and they were running once again.
Mandisa's side was aching by now, and so was the rest of her body. The men were still relentlessly chasing after them. She and Otieno kept whipping their heads around to see how far away the men were. Kei, in Otieno's arms, starting screaming indistinct words, and then Kenya started up, as well. Mandisa and Otieno didn't think anything of it, and just continuously running and turned their heads around to watch their followers. Kei started to whack Otieno in the head, and he screamed at her to shut up. She didn't.
5 seconds later, they regretted ignoring their little sisters. While they were busy viewing their followers' progress toward them, they hadn't noticed the cliff coming up, and jumped right off it, landing 20 feet below. They were both smart enough, however, to turn on their backs so that Kenya and Kei would not be crushed by the force of the fall.
As she landed, she felt all of the air pushed out of her body, and sat up, choking. Otieno rolled back over onto his stomach, and let Kei stand up. Mandisa felt tears in her eyes from the force of the fall. Kenya was shaking, and ran over to stand with Kei. Kei started to scream again, pointing up above, to the cliff's landing.
The men were standing there, too nervous to jump off and follow, but they both raised their guns and started to shoot again. They had no choice but to get up and run, following the path of the river which they had just landed next to.
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Post by Emily on Jun 5, 2007 21:34:24 GMT -5
Kenya had seen the cliff ahead, just as Kei had, and as she screamed and pointed randomly, her older siblings had only ignored. How stupid. As they slowly started to understand what they had been screaming about, it was far too late, and they were thrown off the cliff like rag dolls. Mandisa had turned so that her back was facing the ever closer ground that they headed toward, she was looking up, as they left the cliffs edge, and as the men peered over it.
Kenya closed her eyes, awaiting the probably faitful landing, but as she felt Mandisa meet with the ground, she could still breath. "Mandisa!" Kenya screamed as she rolled off to look at her sisters and brother. Kei had rolled off as well, and Otieno seemed fine. "Mandisa!?" Kenya screamed again as she put her two small hands around her sisters face. "She's dead!" She screamed, and kissed her sisters forhead. "I killed her!" Kenya screamed crying, and looking up at the men at the top of the cliff, and then at Otieno. "I'll kill you!" She screamed at the men who now had their guns out and was shooting again, but as she did, she noticed Mandisa was looking up as well. Mandisa had gotten up, as well as Otieno who had Kei in his arms once more. Mandisa scooped Kenya up, and they ran along the trail along side the river.
"What's happening!?" Kenya screamed, and scrammbled around trying to get down, but Mandisa wouldn't dare let her out of her arms. Kenya looked back, and saw that a few of the men had climbed down, and were now making their way quickly towards them. "Mandisa!" Kenya screamed and pointed, hoping that this time they would pay attention.
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Post by Francesca~*Pura Vida*~ on Jun 5, 2007 21:44:40 GMT -5
Mandisa, remembering what had happened the last time Kenya was screaming, turned around to see some of the men following them, yet again. She gasped and ran faster, her feet killing her, her whole body just wanting to stop and rest.
She noticed that there was a turn into a dead end, with a small pond at the end of it, and she went down the turn. It took Otieno not long to follow, but it took him even longer to figure out where Mandisa and Kenya had disappeared. But he'd better figure out soon, before the men found them again.
He then noticed the lake, and took a chance, jumping in and holding his hand over Kei's mouth. And there was Mandisa and Kenya, waiting behind the darkness of a rock under the pond, trying not to be caught. He hid there with her, and they waited.
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Post by Emily on Jun 5, 2007 22:15:49 GMT -5
Kenya was silent, she understood what was going on-sorta. She knew she had to be quiet because these men were bad. She waiting in the dark water behind the rock with her siblings, as she looked around, trying not to make a sound, she saw a slimey black thing on her arm, and soon there were dozens more. "L-Lee-Leeches" She whispered, trying not to scream as the large black things crawled over, sucking her blood. "M-Mandisa" She whispered, whimpering. She really didn't like leeches, in fact she would take on a lion before she had to deal with leeches.
She could no longer hear the men, and so she peeked beyond the rock.
No one was there.
She quickly scrambled for the shore, so she could rid her body of the leeches, but before she was able to get to shore, a bullet was fired somewhere, and hit the water right in front of her, sending splashes into her face.
They had only been hiding, waiting for them to come out.
"OTIENO! MANDISA!" She screamed, and tried to swim back-but this was proved difficult because she really didn't know how to swim, she could only do the doggy paddle. "MOM! DAD!" She screamed again as another shot was fired, once again missing.
She stopped, if Mandisa or Otieno came out, then the others hiding place would be ruined, and that didn't seem fair.
Kenya swam away from the hiding place, as more bullets hit the water, one hitting her shoulder, which sent her under water as she screamed a silent scream under the dark water.
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Post by xmyrnax on Apr 11, 2008 16:42:04 GMT -5
Mandisa saw the shots being fired at her sister, and nudged Otieno, who appeared to be in a terrified trance. He swam very quickly over to Kenya and pulled her under the water.
Otieno saw a boulder sitting above the tiny pond, and threw Kenya out of the water behind it, quick enough so that the men didn't see. He beckoned Mandisa and Kei to swim over. Soon, all 4 of them had climbed up behind the rock. The men, getting tired of waiting, started shooting every inch of the water with their machine guns. Otieno, recklessly thinking, took the dagger he had in his back pocket and cut near his shoulder, and a lot of blood poured into a small cup he procured from nowhere. He did the same to his other shoulder, then held Mandisa d own, cutting near her shoulders as well. He tossed the blood into the pond so the soldiers would see the floating red liquid, thinking that they had killed Kenya and whoever else was down there. The men left.
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Post by Emily on Apr 11, 2008 18:20:29 GMT -5
Kenya sobbed quietly but didn't dare make too much noise. She saw what her brother had done, and was now even more terrified. "Why?" She cried, sobbing into her sisters shoulder that was bleeding. "Who are they? Americans?" She whimpered. "Where's ama y papa?"
Kei looked terrified, but she was more clueless than Kenya. She just continued sobbing endlessly into Otieno's shoulder.-5 months later- Otieno sat on the moldy wooden floor of the tree house. He carved something out of bark with his knife like weapon. The tree house was large enough for them to stretch out and lay down....as long as two people were on top of each other. Kei and Kenya sat in a corner, now 9 years of age and playing with stick figures that had faces on them-probably the work of Otieno.
Mandisa lied in the corner farthest from her siblings, sweat trickling down her forehead as she layed her hand over her swollen stomach. It was now 8 and a half months later from their watery escapr, and Mandisa was in great pain.
"Mandisa?" Otieno called out as he crawled to his sisters side. He placed a cloth woven from soft weed over her head, and put a hand on her stomach. "Is Mandisa sick?" Kei asked, looking over, and Kenya shook her head. "You idiot, she's going to give birth to Jesus" "Stupid! She can't do that!" Kei shoved Kenya. "Girls!" Otieno scolded, and all at once the twins were quiet, silently staring at Mandisa. If your older brother gave you an order, you followed it, because these days he was as good as your father.
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Post by Francesca~*Pura Vida*~ on Apr 11, 2008 22:03:54 GMT -5
10 hours later, when Kenya and Kei were both sleeping like rocks, even through the loud screams let out by Mandisa from premature labor.
Mandisa was holding the tiny baby boy in her arms, concentrating on choosing a name. She only wished her parents could've been there to see their grandson...Telling them about the pregnancy didn't seem so difficult to do now as it had seemed back then.
The baby had a very small amount of black hair with a set of the most beautiful eyes. They were brown but had a twinkle in them no other brown eyes had obtained before. The twinkle brought a revived smile upon Mandisa's face.
The happiness was broken up somewhat as Otieno climbed back into the tree house with a violet colored blanket. He handed it to the new mother, who wrapped the baby in his new blanket, kissing him on the forehead.
"What should I name him?" asked Mandisa.
Otieno thought for a while, but nothing.
Suddenly, Kei, who had apparently been listening in, sat up in bed and said "Bakari! It means one who will succeed! He will help us get out of this trouble! He will take us to America one day and make us happy!"
Mandisa smiled gently at Kei, then kissed her baby on the forehead again. "Bakari it is."
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Post by Emily on Apr 11, 2008 22:33:08 GMT -5
Kenya pushed Kei out of the tree house. She watched as Kei screamed to her death. I don’t know what happened to her. Kenya insisted on telling Mandisa and Otieno who seemed more worried out whether or not Kei had scratched the tree as she fell.
Kenya woke up in a cold sweat, and looked over to see Kei sleeping, it had only been a dream. But why had she pushed her sister out of the tree? And why didn’t her older brother or sister care?
She sat up and noticed someone else was now in the tree house. A small baby. “Ooooh! Mandisa, can I carry it?” She put out her hands, and gave Mandisa the lip.
Otieno grabbed Kenya in his arms and gave her a crushing hug. “Let Bakari sleep and his mommy sleep” he whispered into her ears. “You can play with him when he is awake.”
Kenya sighed and nodded. “I get to hold him first though.”
A yell pierced the silence, and Otieno quickly crawled to the side, looking over onto the ground. Another yell issued, this time saying something though it was inaudible.
“Who is it!?” Kenya cried, and Otieno hit the back of her head, cursing quietly. It was silent for minutes before there came and answer.
“I’m Kasim! Please help me! They’re coming!”
Before Otieno made a move, Kenya was already making her way down the ladder. When she got to the bottom, she could already hear Otieno stumbling down after her.
There before her, a boy of 11 years stood. He smiled awkwardly at her, and she smiled sheepishly back. She hardly noticed as Otieno shoved her behind him.
“What do you want?” Otieno snapped at Kasim. “Refuge. Help.” Kasim said, frowning. “Find it elsewear.” “You can’t do that!” Kenya kicked her brother. “If Mandisa gets to have someone new, so do I!” She grabbed Kasim’s hand and pulled him up the ladder.
Otieno would kill her.
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Post by Francesca~*Pura Vida*~ on Apr 11, 2008 23:07:26 GMT -5
Otieno sighed and tried to assign room space. Mandisa and her baby got one whole side of the tree house. The other side was split into quarters; Otieno and Kasim sharing the second half and Kenya and Kei sharing the first.
Kei watched her older sister holding her baby all night and talking to him. She cuddled closer to her sister and touched the baby's head like she was almost petting him. He was drooling a little bit but Mandisa wiped it away. Just like Kei's mother used to do to her....
"Mandisa, when are we going to go home?" She asked with teary eyes.
"I don't know, Kei. But your brother and I are here for you and we love you, so don't worry, okay?" She pushed Kei's hair out of her eyes and then closed her own, causing Kei to fall asleep a couple minutes after also.
The next morning at breakfast (grapes and one banana), Otieno told the small family that they would have to escape to Chad, where most everyone was going. They were very scared at first, but realized that they couldn't live up in a tree forever. So, they agreed.
"How do we get there then?" asked Kei, so seriously it was cute.
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Post by Emily on Apr 11, 2008 23:17:45 GMT -5
Kenya and Kasim talked briefly, but Otieno kept an eye on him a little too much.
“He’s not going to hurt us.” Kenya shook her head, but Otieno ignored her. “Let him, he’s just taking care of you guys.” Kasim nodded, smiling. “He’ll be okay with in a few days.”
Kenya laughed and shrugged. “I don’t know, Otieno is….well Otieno.”
She watched Kasim, he had shaggy hair that stopped at his ears, and dark brown eyes. For a boy of his age, he had muscles, perhaps he was a farmer before he had to escape.
“Mandisa, how was Bakaris born?” Kenya blurted, suddenly putting two and two together that there had to be a girl AND boy.
Kasim looked away and began cleaning a space up, he knew what something might be personal.
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Post by Francesca~*Pura Vida*~ on Apr 12, 2008 11:08:04 GMT -5
"Um...His daddy brought him home from work."
"But who's the daddy?"
"The LRA got him." Mandias said, secretely hoping this was true.
"Aww!"
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Post by Emily on Apr 12, 2008 11:50:03 GMT -5
Kenya climbed down the tree house and sat at the base of the tree, staring into the dead woods. How long had it been since they had escaped from the LRA? It seemed like years had passed since that fatal day. Where had her parents gone?
The trees rustled as hot wind surged past her. Where was Chad located? Were her parents there, and everyone else?
Kasim sat next to the 9 year old girl who stared off into space. She hadn’t noticed him, or didn’t think she did. He watched her as her troubling eyes shifted, as though viewing different thoughts in her head.
“You’re lucky to have your siblings.” Kasim quietly said, and Kenya’s eyes shifted to him. “My sisters were killed by the LRA, my parents committed suicide thinking there was no escape, and didn’t want to be taken down by the LRA.”
“What is the LRA?” Kenya asked, confused.
And Kasim told her, told her everything that had happened and what might happen. He told her of the kids who had been captured and trained to kill others, or to be killed.
Kenya’s eyes were wide open in terror as pieces of the puzzle were put together. She had been so ignorant, had put all of her siblings in danger at one point because she didn’t understand.
And now she did.
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