#PROMTS ENTRY ✔

a d i z a

#chicklit #wklyprompts

Adiza struggles with her only trunk, trying to make sure that she doesn't lose it because that's the only possession she has left.

The trunk weighs heavily on her head and she loses her footing. She tries to hold on to the wall but she falls on the ground, the trunk lands on her foot. She cries out as someone steps on her hand, then another, and another. No one seems to mind her screams as they all are trying to save their own lives.

She scrambles to her feet, swaying as she shifted her weight from the bad foot to the good one. She wouldn't give up. She can not afford to end up like the rest of her family.

A single tear drops at the thought of her family but she brush it off. This is not the time to be weak Adiza. She says to herself.

She squints and her eyes adjust to the light as they finally get out of the underground tunnel. She sighs as she sees the ship that is going to carry them.

Her leg begins to hurt and her arms muscles weak from carrying the heavy trunk. She feels it slipping through from her hands and she grips it tighter, only to touch a pair of hands. She turns and see a tall dark man carrying her trunk from her, she offers him a weak smile of gratitude and allows him to help her.

"Thank you" she says.

"No problem madam" he offers a small smile.

They began filing into the ship and the uniformed men are shouting "Matsa sauri" which means move faster as Adiza is slowing down the line because of her injured leg.

• • •

"You are not eating anything" The young man who she has known as Ibrahim says.

Adiza is not eating because she doesn't have anything to eat but she doesn't know how to say it.

"I'm not hungry" she says with quivering lips.

He offers her a part of his roasted yam and she accepts it and dig into it. She is aware of his gaze on her but all she cares about now is satiating her hunger.

She wipes her mouth with the back of her palm as she finish eating the delicious slice of yam. She smiles at Ibrahim and he just nods.

"Tell me about yourself and what happened to you" Ibrahim questions. She swallows, every one on the boat is a victim of the same crisis but of different story.

Their state was attacked by terrorists and she lost her home and her family. The place is no longer safe to live in that's why they are running away to another country. Illegally, but a beggar has no choice. The only option for them is smuggling.

She narrates her story and tears roll down her face, her 3 year old little sister whom she was older than by 18 years, also died. Her skin heat up as she feels Ibrahim's hand on her shoulder, comforting her.

She then asks him his own story. Ibrahim was a single father of a 4 year old boy but he lost his son and aged mother to the catastrophe.

A single tear slide down his face and her heart ache for him because she knows how it feels to lose one's family.

• • •

Being on water for two days is unbearable for them but Adiza is trying to be strong. She is thankful that Ibrahim brought enough roasted yams but she doesn't eat all the time he offers her food so as not to consume the food quickly.

The floor of the ship is a mess as the children who get sea sick usually vomit on it.

She just sit there and hug her knees to her chest and stares into the distance. What is my fate from here? Adiza questions herself.