An unexpected visit

Rowena had made peace with the fact that she was all alone in the world. The only thing that kept her going was her studies and the fact that she wanted to go to the college after school. But she had a long journey before her because she was still in lower grades and was barely a teenager. She was an intelligent child though. Everything she did, she did it with diligence. She was used to the kind of life where she had to work first before she got even a plate of food. And that was not guaranteed that she would get it either. She just worked for the unexpected favour. If luck passed her direction, then she would enjoy while it lasted, otherwise luck wasn't on her favour.

It was the start of the summer holidays and it was the December month when most of the villagers were expecting their loved ones from the cities. Every child was looking forward to receive gifts in the form of beautiful clothes and some nice delicacies that would make them feel good on the Christmas day. It was a tradition to celebrate a Christmas as Christmas is the ideal day for families to gather in one place to celebrate. Everyone was in high spirits and preparations were in order. Other children were happy because they had already tried on their new outfits that were bought for them to wear on the Christmas day. For them it felt like Christmas day was taking too long to arrive. They couldn't wait to show off their new look. Some were sure that they would out dress others and the competition was in another level, a good competition of course because Christmas is a holy day in the first place because it is dedicated to our Lord Jesus, although to some is just a holiday. To Rowena it was just another and nothing was special about it because she did not get any special treatment like other kids. The only thing that was special was that at least she would get her plate of food. Just a small portion of meat was enough to celebrate a Christmas. Another thing she appreciated about Christmas was that people were a little bit generous. She would get sweets from the neighbours. Other children would go in groups enjoying snacks they were given in the neighborhood as a token for Christmas celebration. She alone, would go by herself because she had no new clothes to show off as other children did. When she saw other children wearing new clothes, she would ask Jesus to give her too. Even her dreams of getting new school shoes became bigger on Christmas days. She would hope that father Chrit would come and give her a pair of shoes and a beautiful dress. She would imagine herself wearing new clothes and shoes and snacking on some good delicacies. She remembered when her grandmother used to buy sweets and cookies for them. She would enjoy herself and eat everything that was in the dinner table. Now even a small portion of good food was a luxury. All the insults that were thrown at her were starting to sink in her mind. Maybe she was a curse as people would call her. Everyone close to her died. Even people in her neighbourhood did not want anything to do with her because she was regarded as an angel of death.

Just when she was thinking about her family something unexpected happened. She was playing alone in front of the house when a young lady came closer to her. The lady was a beautiful young woman who seemed to be from the big cities. She was glowing and was smartly dressed. Her hair was neatly tied at the back. They were shining and beautiful. Rowena looked at her admiringly. She wished she had such beautiful hair and glowing skin. The lady was asking for directions. Apparently she was from Johannesburg and was looking for Themba's home. Rowena told her Themba had passed away. The lady was shocked and was nearly in tears. She asked if she knew a child by the name of Rowena. Rowena told her that she was actually the Rowena she was looking for. The lady's eyes widened as she looked at her. She told that she was her little aunt from Johannesburg. Rowena ushered her to the house where the elders were. The young woman introduced herself and was taken to the graves where Themba, her aunt and her little cousin were buried. She paid her respect and out the stone on each of their graves.

Rowena was happy again after a long time following Themba's death. She was scared to be happy due to the past events in her life. She would be happy for a little while, then a tragedy would follow. She was not sure whether she should be happy or sad. She was just hoping that her little aunt would take her to Johannesburg as Themba promised her before he died. That Christmas day ended up a happy one for her for a change. Her aunt brought her new clothes and shoes. Jesus had finally answered her prayer. He gave her shoes on a Christmas day. It turned out Christmas day was a day of blessings after all. She went to bed smiling. Her aunt stayed for another day before she returned to Johannesburg. She also was prepared to go with her. She was very excited like the say she was when Themba came to fetch her. Her aunt promised to buy her the school shoes she was dreaming of.

The following day when they were about to go, they heard from the radio that to he buses were on strike, so they had to wait for two days or so, until the strike calmed down. It was as if it was taking too long because the girl from to the cities was not used to the village life. To go and fetch water from the river that was about three kilometres away was in called for to her. As for Rowena, she enjoyed being with her relative. The treatment was not the same as before. She was treated like other children. She enjoyed every minute of it.