Steemit Engagement Challenge (week 2): The Forest My Rescue Ground

Hello Friends

It's my privilege to join in this Engagement Challenge for this second week, As a steemian engagement is one of the core factors to help one grow. I consider this a good approach to settle that.

*Now, the story I am about to write is about a poor family who lost their future ambition due to war.

A young boy finds the forest to be the only safe place for him after losing all his family members and as such the forest became a Rescue Ground For him., find out why this was so

Source

Before this terribly hard time of violence and war had begun in my country Here in Africa, Mandy my Elder brother use to tell me that we would travel to Iceland and live a good life there. In a country devoid of corruption and other vices, his voice was high-pitched and full of hope, I wonder where his motivations were from, but I strongly believe and rely on him. After saying that, he had sung with so much glee in his heart, that it made me smile.

I jumped around the neighborhood, telling my friends that I would be traveling oversea very soon, silly me. They all gathered around me and I told them all I knew, every bit, even some fabricated ones too because I was so optimistic about traveling.

Preye, the bully had walked out in anger to confront his parents. He was the one who came back with the true story, he sneered at me and stuck his tongue out. Nevertheless, my friends consoled me.

It's been seven months since the war started, I want to go back to my other country. They say that the fight is for the new country so that we become free. But I often wonder, why fight to gain freedom? why the killing?

I have been hiding here for hours, in this Forest. The creatures I used to hunt a few months ago are now my companions. All for want of freedom, I have taken my place among the Creatures in the forest. I look around me, hoping to see anyone I know. No one is in sight yet, not even my elder brother, but the bombs are still dropping.

The bombs themselves are fascinating. It drops and takes many lives away, it took Brendan’s arms two months ago, and it took papa too. It comes with a loud noise that shakes the ground and leaves the entire community wailing. Why use tear gas, bombs, and guns when they know it destroys? what happened to dialogue and resolutions?

Mandy told me that the old country failed, they turned their backs on the agreements they had made. My brother now cries every day, He no longer plays his guitar and sings redemption songs by Bob Marley of Jamaica.

He had begun crying when his girlfriend, Nse was raped. She was brutally assaulted by four soldiers, that night, she cried and cursed aloud, unfortunately, she died. Her father was too ashamed, so he went out, he never came back, there was an air raid and the bombs took him.

Since this war had begun, we have not eaten two square meals. Before the war, My Elder brother who serves as my parent had been a Shoemaker, I do help him with some shoe-making services.

Now, we have no shops because our shops were destroyed by bombs, My parents were dead leaving only me and my brother.

A month into the war, I was always worried about my empty and rumbling stomach, I always cried myself to sleep. Once I had taken Preye's mother's roasted yam, I had been ashamed.

So ashamed that I couldn't talk to anyone. But now, I have taken so many things, I now wear that shame with pride, I have no other option.

The people and soldiers say we are in a new country, but, I doubt that. What new country cannot save herself from the destruction imposed on her? We have the flag and names, but we are still the old people. Maybe we are trying to run away from our scars and fears.

Once, I questioned Mandy about this country we are in right now, she replied that I was just a child. Being a child did not exempt me from the suffering, no it did not.

Even though I was just a child, the soldiers came to take me away. They said they needed men, but I was just a child. Mandy had covered me in our water drum, they had almost caught me.

They took my friends, I watched them cry as they were dragged away to be conscripted into the army. Preye would have been taken too, but he was without arms and so he sat there in his father's chair, crying bitterly as he watched the soldiers. After that incident, we had become close friends.

Maybe the war had benefits. The war had made me realize that Preye was a good person, he was only insecure and had to bully others to hide his fears. Preye's father had died too, during the war.

He and his mother were chased out of his late father's house by his uncles. This happened because Preye's mother refused to become a second wife to his oldest uncle, this is one sad tradition we have in my country.

My brother is now a living shadow, he barely talks, he just stares into the open and cries till he's tired. he never tries to ‘take cover, as the army men say, wonder why the army didn’t take him to join them, maybe the owner of the mother earth just knew that I needed to be taken care of and I had no one, apart from my brother.

The bombs don't even care about him, they never go in his direction. Once, there had been a rumor that he used charms to protect himself, so many came around him whenever the bombs were heard. I could not cope with him anymore, sometimes I was afraid of him.

I think today's air raid is over, I can hear the wailings that are building up. Tears begin to fall from my eyes, I let them flow freely. After crying, I decide to stay in the forest until it's dark, then I will go home when the bomb blasts have reduced, check on my Neighbors who were aged women, and also my elder brother. He likes me to stay in the forest because he never wanted the Soldiers to harm me.

As I step into my compound, I see a large crowd, everyone is crying. My heart begins to pound.
“Take heart, Idatesit, take heart. Your brother is gone", One of my Neighbors says to me.

My knees become weak and I give in. The old women try to hold me as I crash. My brother has gone, I cried out.

My brother committed suicide because he couldn’t get his mind off his girlfriend who was rapped and killed and he did nothing to save her.

As we were crying over my brother’s death, the soldiers began to drop bombs in this late hour, the women asked me to run to the forest again so as to remain alive.

That was the last time I saw our house because since then, the bomb didn’t stop dropping, it was the main war. And since then the forest became my rescue ground.

I came to appreciate nature and I say to myself that mother earth has a lot to offer than thinking about war. Dialogue would have solved these tough times more than war. But since the people don’t want to choose dialogue, let me remain in the Forest my rescue ground.

Ideally, the war would have been avoided if there was a dialogue between the main country and some sections of the country who claimed to fight for Revolution, dialogue can bring a lot of good things.

Why do people tends to forget this when two bodies are already warming up for a war?

why do people tends to forget the future of children when the initiate war?

why not Nogotiate instead of Using Force?

Just like the forest is peaceful, we all need peace!!!

---

It wouldn't be nice if i didn't invite few of my friends like @eliany, @patjewell, @olesia, @juichi, @strecoza and @janemorane to participate in this Contest. Let me know your thoughts about this.

About Me