THE LIGHT

"Run Portia run!!!!" baby please don't let anyone deem your light, believe in it and do with it as you are required to do. But for now baby please run please my love run!'. "Portia!!" I jolt up from bed dripping with sweat and tears. God! i can never forget that day. It was Thursday, me and my friend Candice were coming back from school, we were doing grade 7 at the time excited about the junior prom that was coming up, also known as a farewell celebration for the primary school children about to start high school the following year, this is a tradition in South African schools. The farewell celebration was to take place in two weeks, we were discussing what to wear and when we will be doing shopping. We were laughing and talking just being silly like we usually do, when  suddenly i saw something that left me rooted on  the spot, my feet couldn't carry my body any longer, they were heavy and the light was shining straight into my eyes like i was watching some old black and white movie. I saw my friend's mother digesting muffins then a few minutes later she fell off the chair she was sitting on. Then suddenly her older brother comes into the house and saw her laying on the floor, he shook her while crying for her to wake up. His cries and tears were killing me. with each tear drop my heart bleeds, Candice shook me and i snapped out of it. She wiped tears that had fell from my eyes which i didn't even notice were falling, the more she wiped them the more they came. i hugged her and told her that i was sorry about her mothers death and that she can count on me for anything. She looked at me like i was crazy then hooked her arm on mine and we walked home. She left me at the gate and i went in, my mother was looking at me through the kitchen window and came out when  she saw me. She knew that something was wrong because i usually ran through the gate into the kitchen and demand food from her before i can even take off my school uniform, she always scolds me for this but i never listen. So when i didn't do the usual my mother come and met me halfway, she saw the tears in my eyes and engulfed me into a hug and i cried some more. She took me into the house and gave me water, after i had calm down she asked me what the problem was and i told her that my friend's mother had died. She asked how i knew and i told her that i saw it, She said and i remember her exact words " oh my baby, why did it have to come so soon" she said that with sadness in her voice. I went and laid down without eating and when i woke up it was almost dinner time. I took off my school uniform and wore my regular clothes and went down for dinner. My father was back from work by then, when he saw me he smiled and took me into his arms squeezing me into a hug, telling me that it was going to be okay. We had our dinner but halfway through there was a commotion outside, people singing loudly a song that was well known in these parts of the world "kill the witch" i stood up and went outside to see what was happening and from the gate i could see a mob of people coming towards our house. i ran back in to call my parents and when they came out the mob was already at the gate. When they saw my parents the song got louder, my father went to them and asked what was going on and they told him that my mother is a witch and has killed Candice's mother. They told him that she was now introducing me to her witchcraft, i thought my father was going to stand up for my mother when he went to her and hugged her then pulled her towards the gate. he kept cursing and saying he wont stay with a witch, said he knew there was a reason his mother hated her and now he knew what the reason was. He took her to them while she was crying and begging him to stop and protect her but her pleas fell on deaf ears. The mob took hold of my mother with my father in the mist of it all, in fact he was leading them to the park that was not far from our house. i was following behind crying for my mother but my cries went unheard as the song was loud and no one paid attention to anything else but the matter at hand. i was scared for her but i was so small against these people, there was nothing i could do, i kept looking at my father thanking that he would save her but he never did. When we got to the park the people made her kneel , then put a car tire around her neck and pushed it down to her shoulders, then pour paraffin on her. through it all she spotted me and cried some more "run Portia run!!!" I stood rooted, i couldn't leave her behind "my baby don't ever let anyone deem your light, do with it as you should but now i need you to run my love run!!!' she yelled through the crowd but i couldn't move, my father took out a lighter from his pocket and gave it to the man who was next to him and he set my mother alight. When she started burning she yelled once again "rub Portia run or they will burn you too please baby run!!" I snapped out of it when the people started tuning around to look my direction, when their eyes met mine i knew i had to run so i took off running. i ran like my life depended on it, well it did so i ran, i could hear them behind me busy calling my name and for others to catch me, but i didn't look back i ran, into the forest that was about 100km away from my home and i stopped to catch my breath holding onto my knees. The smell of burning tire mixed with burnt flesh was still fresh in the air and i knew that my mother was no more. From then my heart turned to stone as hate for my father and those people consumed me. I wiped my tears and told myself that my mothers death will not be in vain and that my tears will not fall on dry ground. When my eyes were dry i started walking, i didn't know where i was going but i walked, at 13 years of age i had already lost both my parent and had no one and nowhere to go, no place to call home or family to call my own.