Don't mid some grammatical blunders.... that's called pidgin. The story is set in Nigeria. some places are completely made up... some are not. Enjoy..
Behind the clouds where the trees sway and the people dance to the scotching tunes of the sun, was a village called Umunze in Anambra state. Settled upon the lands was a hut owned by an old woman, grandmother to a girl called Uchechi Okoro. Uchechi was fair in complexion, tall, had dark hair and brown eyes. She was the belle of beauty and best dancer in her village. All the girls were jealous and didn't want to associate with her.
Though, she was quick witted in all dance aspect, but she barely knew anything about life. Her mother never taught her about the changes a girl goes through as she gets older, as she was very busy and more concerned about working hard so as to put food on the table than raising her daughter. Her father was a farmer and palm wine tapper. Though they were not rich, but he was able to earn enough money to take care of his family and himself.
Uchechi was the first and only child of her parents and was their crown jewel. She enjoyed every moment she spent with her father, mother and grandma. She attended a catholic school in her village, St. Patrick primary and secondary school. Her father died when she was 7 years old after falling 6 feet from a palm tree and breaking his spine in the process. After the burial, her mother realized she was pregnant. Unfortunately, when the time for delivery came, it was a still child. She was traumatized for eight months and died 2 years after the incident. Uchechi had no other option but to live with her grandma. Before her mother died, she could not further her secondary education; her mother couldn't afford her fees after contributing a lot to her husband's funeral and her hospital bills. Uchechi ran to her aunties, uncles and no one wanted to help, sadly, she had to drop out of school.
After the death of both parents, she was hopeless and did not want to hear what anybody had to say, including her grandmother. Her best friend Martha gave it a try. She offered her some advice on life's journey, and this gladdened Uchechi, and she took heed to her advice. One faithful day, Martha pushed her to further her education no matter what happened. She intended sitting for the entrance exam at Prime-age college, the school of her dreams, to gain admission but was denied of her request as she did not have enough money for the fees which was over a hundred thousand naira, therefore she could not pick up the entrance examination form and uniform. She rushed back home to ask her grandmother for money but unfortunately, she did not have enough. The next day, Uchechi went to the farm with her grandma around 6am in the morning. Around twelve noon, she had dug up seven tubers of yam, nine mushrooms and eleven onions, that is to show she was a hard-working girl. After that, she went to the market to sell what she had dug up. Doing the same thing for five years, she had saved up to two hundred thousand naira.
One unfaithful day Uchechi's grandma fell very ill. She rushed her to the hospital with the three thousand five hundred she happened to have on her at that time. On arrival, she asked to see the doctor and she was allowed. The doctor examined her and said, "we need three hundred and fifty thousand naira to treat your grandmother".
She had little money on her and had to run back home to complete the money. Uchechi deposited the two hundred thousand naira she had been saving up for school, herself and her grandmother's welfare while the hospital commenced treatments on her grandmother.
Uchechi went home thinking about the shocking calamity that struck her grandma, she went to bed weeping. The next morning, she woke up feeling dull and had a headache. A villager sent by the doctor, came with a piece of information and it needed Uchechi's' urgent attention. She left for the hospital anxiously.
At the hospital, the doctor said told her that one of her grandmothers' kidneys was terribly going bad which means her grandmother would need to be flown abroad for a proper kidney transplant which would call for a lot of millions. She broke down in tears immediately she heard this news. On one hand she wanted her grandmother fine, on the other, millions of thoughts rushed through her mind on how she would get the money needed. Deep down she knew her dreams of going back to school would be at a standstill until her grandmother was better. She had made a promise to herself to work harder than she had ever worked before. Market wasn't profiting her any longer, she had no other option but to search for job opportunities which she was fortunate enough to get but the pay wasn't enough.
