I believe that life is not fair because most of the time you don’t get the things that you want, and things don’t go the way you want them to. Sometimes you can get blamed for something that you didn’t do and have to deal with consequences. I remember in Grade 7 I was blamed for something that I didn’t do. I was accused of stealing my teacher’s wallet when my friend was the one that stole it.

A parents’ meeting was called and my mother had to leave early from work to attend. Aha! Here comes trouble, I said in my mind. My mood changed especially after I knew who the real thief was. During the meeting, no one wanted to hear what I had to say as it was concluded that I had stolen the wallet.

My mother had to apologise on my behalf and also pay back every cent that was in my teacher’s wallet. It was not fair because I was innocent from all the accusations. They didn’t even have proof yet they labelled a thief. My mother was so furious she yelled at me when we got home and I was even punished on top of that. I lost friends at school until this day.

I wanted to grow old with my father present in my life but life had its own decision and denied me my wish. He got sick for months and was later taken to the hospital. My ‘aha’ moment came to mind because I had a feeling that things were about to change. I remember coming home from school then bumping into two police officers coming out of the house; my mother was in tears. I could see that something was wrong, I wanted to ask but my mother kept on crying.

A few hours later, she decided to talk to me and before she could finish the sentence all I could hear was that my father had passed on. That was when reality hit me because I couldn’t believe that my father had died and left me just like that without even saying goodbye. We had plans but he suddenly died. I felt weak for a moment. I felt lost. I was numb and couldn’t hold back my tears. I had lost a father.

Life is not fair; never was and never will be. Some people are rich and others are poor. My mother lost her job and things got more difficult. Being born in a poor family comes with a lot of suffering. I didn’t celebrate my birthdays because there was no money to buy cake or a gift for me, I got used to the fact that in my home we don’t celebrate birthdays because we were short of money. I grew up sleeping on the floor because there was no bed and sometimes we went to sleep hungry because there was no food. It was hard but I adapted to the environment as I didn’t have a choice. I never expected anything from anyone at home because I would be told that there was no money. Life at school was hard because other children carried lunch boxes and pocket money while I couldn’t. At break time, I had to hide myself in the toilets because I didn’t want other children to see that I had nothing to eat and was also avoiding being made fun of. If my father was alive he could have done something but life took its turn for the worst.

But I am proud of myself today because I was strong and never allowed any bad thing or heart-breaking moment destroy me. I completed my matric despite the hardships and I went to college and acquired an end-user computing certificate. I am now a UNISA second year student. I will wear that graduation gown. I will graduate and make my mother proud. I will make sure that I change the situation at home and also make sure that my dreams come true. I will be able to buy a cake and a gift for myself soon. And now I will have a positive ‘aha’ moment when I have to wake up early so I can get ready for work. As for friends, I choose them wisely so I don’t get accused of something someone else did. Sometimes life is not fair but it teaches us something.

Tell us: What do you think about the author being accused of something he didn’t do?