Fortune’s Illussion
285 Words
The next day, he acted as if nothing had happened. The kind of silence that spoke louder than words—like the storm had passed and we were supposed to forget the chaos it left behind. My mother, as strong as ever, didn’t let the weight of yesterday’s darkness keep her from working. She kept going, kept fighting.
Then, out of nowhere, luck found us. My father won 500,000 naira in an MTN recharge card promo
Suddenly, things changed. He built two rooms, left the rest of the house unfinished, and for the first time, we felt hope. We went back to school. My father returned to work.
I thought the storm was over.
I was wrong.
One morning, he woke up with a new claim: we were not his children.
Our mother had been cheating all along, he said. We were nothing to him.
He beat her to the point of unconsciousness.
We screamed. We cried. We begged. But he didn't stop.
Then he did the unthinkable—threw us all out. My mother's clothes landed in the dirt. He gave her five minutes to take them, or he'd burn them. She hesitated, terrified to go near him. And then, he did it himself—poured petrol, lit a match, and burned everything she owned.
She collapsed, wailing, but there was no saving what was already lost.
When the fire turned to ashes, she dusted herself off, wiped her tears, and turned to us. She pulled us close, holding our trembling bodies against hers.
"We're leaving."
She dragged the youngest ones into her arms, pulled me and my sister by the hands, and we walked away from the only home we had ever known.
- Writer
