Extract from a story in 'Happy Nest'.

Happy Nest

It was possibly the most stupid thing I had done in my life. My father had shrugged his shoulders and said that Ebou was poor but honest and would look after me. It wasn't Ebou I was worried about. I walked through the warm black dark, guided by a little light from a crescent moon, and found my way to the door of the small house.

No problem; I still had time to turn round and go home. Nothing would be said, there would be no significant glances, I would wake up tomorrow morning and life would be just the same. I didn't want it to be the same: I wanted a chance to change. I knocked in the corrugated iron door and called a greeting. Ebou returned the greeting as he opened the door. The room was dark. Not even the flicker of a candle helped me.

'Fatou, come sit. We are waiting to greet you.' I cursed my stupidity. I could have brought a candle, half a candle even, with me. I was thinking only of my needs, forgetting the Ebou must be the poorest man in the village. The mother of his son had left, returning to her father's compound, because Ebou could not afford to feed them. And I had not thought to bring even a candle.

'Fatou Cham, I am happy to greet you. Come, sit, we will talk.' He spoke English, of course he did, this man I had come to see and could not see. He switched on his phone and the light guided me to a place opposite. I knew the house well: a single small room, a door at either end, two broken plastic chairs to balance on, a box for a table, a hole in the wall for a window. And a hope in my heart for a different future.

Hope is a dangerous thing; it can wreck lives and bring great unhappiness. There was a life waiting for me. I was sixteen years old, I had received some schooling, and I could read and write and figure. My father would soon find me a husband, I was healthy, I could conceive and give life, God willing, to a dozen children. I could already cook and haggle in the market, I could sell, I could clean and I already cared for my mother when she was sick. Life was waiting for me. But. But I was here, in the dark, looking for a different future. 

'Happy Nest' is one of the books in the Malinding Village series, obtainable fro Amazon as an ebook or a paperback. All money from the sale of these books is used by the charity GOES to finance education and health care for real people in real Gambian villages.