Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie)The weather was sunny today. One wouldn't want to walk under the scorching heat of the sun but Cookie had no choice. Her father had sent her on an errand to buy him dried fish from his fish customer. Cookie had no problem with running errands for him yet, it was such an undesirable task to do especially since it felt like the sun was burning her skin.Mr. Oyin's fish seller was two streets away from their house so Cookie took to running. She wanted to get there on time, buy her father's fish and then head back home quickly.When she got there, she greeted the fish seller, "Aunty Rose, good afternoon."Aunty R
England (Deadre)In a medium sized room with pink walls, a queen sized bed, a large plasma TV, a wardrobe and other furnitures too numerous to mention, there stood Deardre in the middle of the room pacing back and forth.She had her hair styled into two loose ponytails. Her lips were chap and her face was pale from worrying and thinking too much. Ever since she was a little girl, she'd been attached to her parents. They'd never let her out of their sight except she was to go to vacation camps, prom night, holidays at a family members place, sleep overs at Martina's house and so on. So much changed after she turned twenty and since then the only thing that changed much was the fact that she got pregnant and her parents weren't by her side. It made her feel sick and sad that sh
Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie)"Ouch.""Sorry, my child.""It hurts, ouch.""I know, you just have to endure." Mrs. Oyin advices her, using the warm towel to gently wipe the welts on Cookie's arm. She dipped the towel into the lukewarm bowl of water, squeezed and then wiped. Cookie groaned as she felt the stinging sensation of the impart on her wounded skin."I'm sorry," Her kept repeating the words."Why do you keep saying sorry wh
Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie)"Have you come here to insult me?!" Mr. Oyin queried with rage. He wasn't willing to listen to anyone speak to him about his decisions."No. We are only saying that the girl is too young to get married now." Mrs. Ken, Louisa's mother said. Her hands were placed on Mrs. Oyin's shoulder. Every now and then she would give Mrs. Oyin a consoling pat, who would just nod her head but still did not stop to cry. The way she cries easily is what Cookie took after her."The Hausa's gives out their kids for marriage, including those who are just ten years old, so why can't an eighteen year old get married? How is she too young for marriage?" Cookie's father asked, "Rubbish!" He cursed.
Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie)The day got dark and it's was prettily cold outside. Cookie sat on her mother's lap with her head on her shoulder as her mother rocked her back and forth slowly to the sound of the flute played by Alex.They were sitting close to a fire arranged with fire woods, and watched as the day passed by slowly, wishing tommorow not to come.Each one of them were drowned in their own thoughts that no one spoke to the other in a long time. Cookie was thinking and searching for answers as to why her life turned out this way. She also wished there was a route of escape for her from all this.Cookie felt too weak to shed tears, she'd been doing so
Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie) Musa's had three large bungalow in his compound. One was occupied by his wives, the other by his kids and the third belonged to him. Since he had just gotten married to Cookie, he took her to the third bungalow as he was getting ready for their honey moon.Cookie was kept in a room after bring introduced to Musa's family. She didn't care to know their names or count how many children he had, she kept her head hung low for all the time but she was sure they didn't like the fact that their father and husband had brought in another wife. She didn't blame them, if Mr. Oyin had done the same, she knew she'd been unhappy with him.The room door she was currently occupying flew open and in came Musa. He had on a cunning smile as he approached her."My new wife," He called out as he reac
Delta state, NigeriaCookie continued to hide in Louisa's house. She was lucky enough that Louisa's parents were away and the men who constantly came in search of her couldn't find her.Louisa treated her like a sister. She had with her the little money her parents gave her before they travelled and she didn't mind spending it on her best friend. The only thing that bothered her a few times was long were they going to continue this? How long was Cookie going to keep hiding? Louisa kept asking herself but got no answer. She took some money and decided to go to the market and buy some groceries.Whe
Delta state, Nigeria (Cookie)Cookie's eyes flicked open the next day. She jolted when she became aware of her surroundings. She was sitting on a medium sized bed. She didn't know how she got there but she was sure the person who had carried her there was nice because they covered her with a thick blanket.Looking around, she saw that she was in a small room with cream walls and titled floor. There was a brown wardrobe at one end, a chair and a table that looked like it was used for study at the corner of the room. There was also a flat screen television pinned to the wall, a white bulb stood in the middle of the ceiling shinning brightly almost blinding her vision at first when she looked at it. She squinted her eyes then heard the room door open