Opinion was the name of a boy that everyone knew, but would not be friends with.

And so the story begins, he was a ten-year-old boy who lived with his stepdad and had a normal life. At least until he turned sixteen-years old. He had been raised by people who he thought were his parents, only to find out that he was adopted. When he turned sixteen, his adoptive parents sent him back to foster care. The people who had raised him had turned against him and believed that he was a failure waiting to happen; that he had no future.

As the years went by he kept in contact with his stepfather. He would tell him about how he would rise above all his problems and fly someday. For some odd reason, his step dad would give him a look of shame, sympathy and sometimes empathy. Maybe, just maybe these feelings that grew in his father’s heart were of the fact that he was ashamed of what the past of his wife was, or what Opinion’s future was going to bring to the world. One summer when Opinion was about to turn ten he was told the real story behind the way he is being treated by people.

He was an alien and all these stories about his history never made sense to others. His father would sometimes lock him inside the house as he was scared that his neighbours would want to kill him because he was different. One morning, his step dad was ready to tell him the truth about his mother’s death. Sadly, when he was busy planning the right way to tell his son the truth, something really bad happened. He found an angry mob with tools, sticks with fire and they were all ready to set a fire on his home.

This got him angry as he knew that he would never get the chance to talk to Opinion and make things right. This mob wanted Opinion dead as they claimed that he was the seed of evil and that he will one day cause terror to the community. They said his kind is here to kill the children of the African land.

They had a hunger to kill as if they would get some kind of victory if they succeeded. Opinion told his father that he was now tired of living in the shadows and that if what was happening to him is believed to be good, then God will take good care of him.

Opinion had faith in God, so much that he didn’t care about dying anymore. He had the belief that if he dies all the sins done by his late mother would vanish and be forgotten as he knew that everyone had bad memories of her. Opinion even told his father that he heard the rumours of what his real dad was and what his mother had done.

People used to want his step dad to disown Opinion but Dr Vision was no fool as he had been in Opinion mother’s life before and after this alien boy was born. Apparently, Opinion’s father was an immigrant from Zimbabwe and his mother was a Zulu from KZN. They met in Cape Town while they were both seeking for better lives. Opinion’s mother was believed to be a very intelligent girl and had a bright future before being involved with his dad…the immigrant.

Opinion heard the angry riot and decided to make a plan, in his plan he had the thought of being a bird. He wanted to be a strong and fearful bird so that he can chase enemies away. He firstly asked his dad to sneak out and run to the nearest shop to buy him balloons, as many as he can afford. His dad saw this as a stupid idea and hid Opinion in a hidden basement behind a wall in the house and went to the shops.

As he was busy browsing some balloons, he questioned how a balloon could help in this situation. Finally, he got the strongest and bullet-proof balloons for his alien son. He then went back home and still found the angry neighbours in front of his home. He then decided to call the police as he knew that the matter was extremely fatal for him and his son. When the police finally arrived they tried to stop the riot and make peace. As they were busy doing that Dr Vision moved very fast and snuck back to his home basement.

Opinion was so thrilled and had a great idea for his problem. He blew up the balloons and joined them all together. He asked his father to call people from his alien family to come fetch him when he gets to his home land. He then went upstairs with his dad and asked him to help buckle and surround him with balloons so that he can fly and be free. Dr Vision did as he was told. He was sad as he knew that there could be a possibility that he could never see Opinion again.

Dr Vision pushed Opinion out of a big, open window and he flew very high. He was crying because his step dad was the only parent he ever loved and felt safe with. By the time his neighbours saw this it was too late for them to try and sabotage Opinion’s plan. He was really a bird.

On his way to his homeland he faced some very dangerous and bumpy obstacles. The weather on the other side of the continent had had reached its greatest tropical cyclone. Opinion was a very smart, quick thinking an intelligent boy. He quickly went to the nearest bush in Natal and landed there.

It was then when he saw something disturbing. He came much closer to take a look at it. The shock he had was so great that his eyes were fumed with fear. He saw a field of bodies of other “aliens”. He was filled with rage and wanted revenge. At this moment Opinion understood why other people from his home of birth chose to die of hunger than come to this ruthless South African land. He told himself that one day when the time was right, he would get his soul comforted.

Opinion finally left the dead burnt bodies of other “aliens” and continued with his journey. He now knew how his real father was brutally killed and how his mother was left alone and neglected by her kind to bury him on her own. After a one hour walk, Opinion met a very well know person from his homeland. This person was the president of Zimbabwe. He then told his terrifying story and how he had escaped death to seek for his family.

The president accompanied Opinion in his private jet. After seven hours they landed safely and for the first time in his life, he felt like he belonged. He was told that a ceremony for his safe return must be done as he is the heir of a long lost son who will never be seen again. The president was invited to attend the ceremony as he brought back such a special gift to this family. On the other side of Africa, Dr Vision was said to have committed suicide eight years later. He was arrested because of the mob and was sentenced to life in prison for being a perpetrator and for illegal use of drugs.

The people who had framed him wanted Opinion dead in exchange for clearing Dr Vision’s name and so he chose death than sacrificing his own son. Opinion was believed to be a very intelligent scientist and he was said to have been planning a way to come back to South Africa and prove Dr Vision’s innocence once and for all. Opinion had also not given up on his promise to his people that one day he shall get revenge.

About a year later, Opinion had some fuzzy feelings so much that he developed a habit for eating raw foods. He never used knifes anymore and he was always alone thinking of an evil plan to make himself a bird, little did he know that he had bird genes. He went to the mountains and suddenly he could feel some changes happening to him. He had caught some chemicals of a bird and was in his first stages of transformation.

Peace was being done and people were trying to forgive but the scar in Opinion’s heart was too extreme. He continued with his very successful scientific creations and had created an atomic bomb that he had kept under ground for the day he gets his revenge. Since he was now half-human and bird, he knew that the plan would surely work.

Xenophobia had taken Opinion’s warm heart and had buried it in ashes filled with blood. He now lived in his own world of an endless war. He could not see any reason for peace as his own peace was disrupted and thrown to the dogs. He now knew what to do in order to take action and get revenge.

Opinion was now a man living in his own world. Everyone wanted him to rethink his decision but he had made up his mind. For almost a decade South Africans were dying mysterious deaths with no clue of finding out the cause. Opinion was now obsessed with his actions for revenge and he now was getting careless and giving clues. After a few months the investigators gathered some new clues and the killer was found.

Opinion was now sentenced to serve life in prison. With his success going down the drain he had met his fate. For the first time in more than a decade he could sleep peacefully. He had the most pleasant time in prison as he volunteered in projects and was building a good image for himself.

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