RUNNING

Chapter One (Unedited)

"Every child is born with a disposition towards the natural religion(Islam-submissiveness to the Divine will). It is the parent who maketh it a jew, Christian or a Magian"

1996

"Fire on the mountain!

Run! Run!! Run!!"

"fire on the mountain!

Run! Run!! Run!!"

It was a beautiful afternoon yet the cloud was shadowed with dark cloud that makes it almost difficult to see.

The weather is not very pleasant but little Maraya and her friends run round the field saying the chorus as they try to catch their fun.

She knew it was getting dark and her mother will be worried about her, despite her mother's frequent warning she enjoyed playing till late with her friends because it gives her more freedom to be out of sight and opportunity to enjoy play among female peer as all her siblings are male.

having two elder brothers and two younger ones, she enjoyed so much attention as the only female child but despite the attention she still prefers to play with other girls in the neighborhood. Though her mother would prefer to have her indoor but she was lucky to have a father who always comes to her aid and believes she deserves to have a freedom to choose her friends.

Her father believe that too much restrictions and discipline can affect a child esteem making her to grow up with low self esteem and lack of self confidence. In her six years of life she had grown so fond of her father's company, most of her time was spend with her father either in their house or in the car whenever they travel out of town.

The rain started pouring heavily, Maraya and her friends were forced to enter nearby house for shelter. One beautiful thing about their village is that everybody is accommodating, every child is well cared for by the elders and there is no discrimination about who is who.

Emma's house is the closest so they all rushed inside to take a shade.

Emmanuel mother is her mothers best friend in the village and their house is like a second home to Maraya. She did not like the house because of her mothers' friend or the kids around but she liked going to the house because of Emmanuel grandmother that they usually referred to as "Mama mission" because of her constant presence in the village Church where she gives sermon, offer prayer to people and volunteer as a midwife for the women in the village.

Maraya was glad to meet a group of children sitting round Mama Mission listening to bible study. Yes, she is a muslim and they usually perform the spiritual act like prayer and fasting in their house but she knows nothing about the importance or purpose of prayer, also her mother always tell her that everybody worship the same God no matter which religion they belonged so to her it does not matter whether she follow her friends to pray in church occasionally especially during festive period or follow her brothers to Islamiyyah.

Mama mission is an elderly woman that is well respected in their village due to her voluntary services for the villagers and the children sometimes gather around her for stories in the bible which Maraya so much enjoy and she even know many among them.

She finds a place close to Rachael who tries to nudge her with elbow as she sits close, at a tender age Maraya has gained a number of enemies among her peer due to her outstanding performance in school and gathering place. People give her a lot of attention more than others because of her look and intelligence which usually make other kids to be jealous of her, Rachael is one of many children that usually see Maraya as an opponent because she always took first position in their class and Mama Mission who happens to be her own grandmother prefers Maraya's company.

She lost her balance and fell to the floor as she was caught off-guard by Rachael's nudge which cause the elderly woman to look towards her and when she looks over to Rachael she already knows what was going on.

"Why did you push your friend Rachael?" Mama mission enquires knowingly as she lifts Maraya up to sit her close to her own seat, she has always know of Rachael's ill manner towards the little girl and she usually tries to resolve their dispute. She is a woman who always encourages peace and unity among children and she always rebuke Rachael who is her grandchild about her ill-conduct towards Maraya. "The bible says that you should love your neighbor as you love yourself. You must learn to love people around you and share whatever you have been given by God, you are older than Maraya and you should be the one to take care of her." Mama mission continues to counsel Rachael not realizing that her main reason for developing hatred for Maraya was the fact that she is younger yet more brilliant than she is.

On one occasion, Rachael has been caught beating Maraya during school hours by her brothers who reciprocate and beat Rachael so much that she sustain injury before a teacher caught them and they were all sent home to bring their parents. The issue nearly results in dispute among the family if not for Mama mission intervention and since then Rachael was warned against beating Maraya but she never misses any opportunity to inflict minor pain on her due to her anger.

"Maraya! Maraya!!" her mother called from outside interrupting their story session.

It was then that she realized the rain has stopped falling and she ought to have returned home to calm her parent mind.

"Yes Mama." Maraya walks towards her mother who has already entered the room to greet Mama Mission. Her mother bend down to her level and assess her appearance, taken in the wetness of her cloth, she was angry but she knows she had to wait till she get home before showing her anger because she knows the old woman will not allow her to punish Maraya.

Mama mission is her best friends' mother and she had been like a mother to her ever since she lost her mother when she was young, she knows of her fondness to her only daughter which usually makes some of her grandchild to be jealous of Maraya and always try to scare her away from their house but Maraya being a cheerful child hardly worry about their threats and love spending time with the old woman who always read stories for them from the bible.

The old woman send the kids home with sweet when she finishes her story. Her mother spend some time talking to the elderly woman who later enter her room to bring a bottle filled with water(spiritual water) for her and give her some direction on how to use the water after which her mother greeted the woman and they both walk home.

On their way home, Maraya knows that her mother will most certainly punish her for her conduct and she silently pray that her father will be at home to come to her rescue. One of the lesson Maraya learn from her mother is that a girl should never ignore her look because the way she groom herself will determine the type of people she will have as a friend. And Maraya's parents being one of the most affluent family in the village does not appreciate their children associating with ordinary people or dressing like them therefore her parents always ensured that they are well kept especially Maraya being the only female in the family.

As they approach their beautiful house, Maraya sees her father coming out of his car and she quickly rushes to give him a tight hug.

"Thank God daddy is home." Maraya shouted without breaking her hug until her father get her massage when he looked towards his angry looking wife. He know the meaning of the hug is; "save me from Mum". So he gently lift Maraya up and walks towards his wife with a heart melting smile.

"I have a gift for you precious wife." he said still smiling.

"I hope you are not trying to play any trick with me because I am going to punish her for her I'll conduct." The wife answered suspiciously as her husband walk them into the house.

"Trust me, I would not stop you but you need to change her clothes first and come back for the gift without a tear on my baby's face." He handed back Maraya to her mother giving her a hopeful look before walking to his room to remove his dress.