“It is the little things that make a vast difference.”

People, up to this day, do not value and recognise the truthfulness of this quoted saying. Well, I used to be a part of those ‘people’ until my deceased mother, may her beloved soul rest in peace, gave me this poetry book.

Goodness me! I am ahead of my story about my something special.

I sat at home feeling exhausted. It was one of those gloomy days where I just felt perturbed and hopeless. My mother, who had a smile that never vanished from her face, came back from work. She saw my tight face and gave me a present to loosen it up. She gave me something special. It was a poetry anthology. It was small yet made a huge difference in my life.

I was not one to peruse poetry but I could not resist this book my mother had given me. When I looked at it, it was as if it was saying, “open me.”

This pretty poetry book had young and old voices. Voices which helped me to positively use my freedom by feeding me with their wisdom. I frequently read the book and gloomy days disappeared. People became astonished for I suddenly became respectful in my community. I smiled often and greeted my neighbours and elders. All these were things I never bothered to value before.

The book altered my life completely. I enthusiastically turned the pages, stumbling on William Shakespeare who influenced me to choose good friends through his sonnets. I forsook my good-for-nothing, insolent friends. I started hanging out with prudent people, and with whom I had the same ambitions and wavelength. My book induced me to have a different perception of life. It made me an optimist. It is definitely my something special.

Sadly, a few months later my mother passed away. I went to live with my father in Johannesburg. When I was on the tedious journey to Johannesburg I carried with me my pretty poetry book. It prepared me for every barrier I was to come across. It helped me to eschew the temptations of the City of Gold. It motivated me to tell tales about my special things, like this one, which I never dared to tell.

Since I have read the book, and I still read it sometimes, I am motivated to change my life for good. I want to make a positive contribution to the universe.

That is the end of my story about my something special, something which has changed my life. It was the best gift that my mother had ever given me. It is my inheritance. Yes, it is my inheritance because as I have said before, it is the little things that make a vast difference.