The Second Face

My name is Mira. I am an orphan. When I was seven years old, my mother died in a terrible car accident. I still remember that night. The rain was heavy, the hospital smelled like medicine, and my mother was holding my hand tightly. She was bleeding, but she was looking at her best friend, Rose. "Rose, please", my mother whispered, her voice was shaking. "Please take my daughter. Raise her as your own. Do not let her go to an orphanage." Mama Rose was crying loudly. She nodded. "I swear, I will raise her like my own daughter. I swear on my life." My mother smiled at me one last time and closed her eyes. That was the last time I saw her. Mama Rose kept her promise. She took me to her house. She had a small house the, not a mansion, but it was warm. She had a daughter, Natasha, who was just eight years old , one year older than me. At first I thought I had found heaven again. Mama Rose bought me the same clothes as Natasha. She took me to the same school. She cooked the same food for both of us. She would brush my hair every morning and say, "my two beautiful daughters." But Natasha hated me from day one. "Why did you bring this beggar into our house?" She screamed on my first day. "She is not my sister! She is a stranger! Take her back to where she came from!" I was only seven years. I did not understand. I cried and hide behind Mama Rose's dress. Mama Rose shouted at her, "Natasha! She is your sister now! Your mother is dead too if I die! How would you feel?" As we grew up, it got worse. Natasha had very bad behavior. She was drinking alcohol at sixteen, failing in school, fighting with teachers. I was the opposite, I was a top student, I was kind to everyone, I was helped Mama Rose in the kitchen, I washed dishes, I fetched water. Everyone in our area loved me. "Rose, you are blessed to have Mira," the neighbors would say. This made Natasha even more jealous. And then there was Jordan. Jordan Blackwood. The only son of the richest family in our city. His family owned the biggest company,many houses,many cars. Every girl in school him. He was tall, handsome, and very quiet. But he chose me. He first saw me when I was in senior six, selling mandaz after school to support Mama Rose. He stopped his expensive car and bought all my mandaz. "Why are you selling?"hed asked. "For Mama Rose,"I said shyly. From that day,he came everyday. He would help me with my books. He would walk me home. He never looked at Natasha, even though Natasha tried everything. She wore short dresses, she put on heavy make up, she sent him love letters. One evening, under the mango tree behind our school, Jordan held my hands and said, "Mira, even though you are an orphan, you have the richest heart I have ever seen. I will make you my queen. Will you be my wife one day?" I cried. I said yes. Natasha was burning with Jealous. But she pretended to be happy. When Jordan paid my school fees and took me to university, Mama Rose was so happy. She hugged me and said, "my daughter, you deserve happiness. You have suffered so much". On our wedding day, I wore a white dress that Jordan bought for me. It was the most beautiful day in my life. Mama Rose was happy, Natasha was there too, smiling, hugging me. But her eyes... her eyes were poisonous. I ignored it. I thought she had finally accepted me. "My sister, you look beautiful,"she said, hugging me tightly."I am so happy for you". Six months after my wedding, my phone rang. It was Natasha. "Mira, sister, let's go hiking on our childhood hill. Just us two, to celebrate. I want to apologize for how I treated you for all these years. I was a bad sister. Let me make it up to you". I was so happy. I thought finally, I would have a real sister. I Jordan, "my sister wants to make peace with me". Jordan kissed my forehead. "Go, my love. But come back early" I met Natasha at 6am at the top of the hill. The hill where we used to play as children. The wind was strong that morning, the sky was grey. We climbed. We talked. She was acting so sweet, so kind. At the top of the cliff,we stopped. Below us was a deep,deep river with big rocks. Natasha hugged me. Her hug was tight,too tight. Then she whispered in my ear, her voice no longer sweet, but cold like ice. "You took my mother. You took my life. You took all the love. And you took Jordan. The man who was supposed to be mine. But today, it ends". My blood froze. "Natasha? What are saying?" She looked into my eyes and smiled. "Goodbye, sister." Then she pushed me with both hands. I screamed. I screamed so loudly that birds flew away. My body hit rocks, branches cut my face my dress tore. I fell and fell and fell, and then I hit the deep, black river below. The water entered my mouth, my nose. The last thing I heard before darkness took me was Natasha laughing from the top of the cliff, shouting, "finally, Jordan will be mine!" I should have died that day. Any normal person would have died. But God had another plan for me. An old fisherman was fishing three days later,far downstream. He saw a white dress stuck in the reeds. He pulled it. It was me. Barely breathing, my face completely destroyed by rocks and branches. He carried me to his hut and called his wife,Amara. They saved my life. That was the end of Mira. The an orphan girl who forgave too much died on the cliff. What would come back would not be Mira. It would be some one else with second face. To Be Continued.