A
New Dawn
Once upon a time in the land of Batoto
ba Mungu, there lived a frail old man by the name Mhela.He was a man of few
words who would make everyone turn away when they heard his footsteps. He had a
scar on his face that scared everyone who saw him. They said he was a known
gangster in his youth. However, he did not look the part. He looked like a very
bitter man whose life had taken a bad turn. You had to look at him straight in
the eyes to see all the bitterness. His walking posture betrayed him. It spoke
volumes about a man whose future was bleak. We were pretty scared of Mhela as
young children. My mother would use him to scare us to bed. She would scream at
us from the top of her voice. “I will let Mhela have you for supper, just wait
I hear him knocking”, she shouted. We did not have to wait to find out as my
brother and I scurried to our bed in fright.
It was several years later when I learnt
that my mother and father were in cohort with each other and it was he that
went through the back door to knock. It was he that became Mhela for us each
night when we tyrantly refused to sleep on time. Mhela the old man would not
speak a word without coughing. Sometimes he would bend so much while coughing
that we thought he would fall and die. I pitied him for what he was, I pitied
him for his weakness, and I pitied him for his awkwardness. I swore to be
better than him; today I choose to fight weakness by being bold
I
choose to avoid naysayers who made half truths and forced us to believe it. I
chose to look believe in the goodness and light in everyone. Mhela died a few
years back .He never got a chance to change his reputation. He never got a
chance to laugh again as the society condemned him. Mhela the frail man taught
me to stand strong amidst adversities, to believe in myself and hope for
something better.
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