Once upon a time, in a small village called Mangweni, there was a couple who were madly in love with each other. Their names were Joe and Angela. They were the most popular couple in the village, seen by others as a match made in heaven. They were inseparable. One would think they just fell in love, because their love never grew old.

Joe was from the neighbouring villages. They met in high school three years ago while he was in grade 11 and she was in grade 10. Angela was one of the top learners and the most beautiful girl in the school. Most of us called her Mona Lisa. One could not ignore her beauty. Not even that, but she was intelligent too. It was a rare combination, beauty and brains. She was one of those people you couldn’t blame for anything.

Joe was a tall, handsome, well-built young man. He was dark with soft and flawless skin. His lips were thick and well cut. When you looked at him, the first thing you’d notice was his dimples when he smiled. He was a simple, ever smiling and a gifted man. He was not only gifted in looks, but brains too. Each time we wrote a test, he was between first or second, nothing below that.

Both Joe and Angela were from poor families. Joe lived with his uncle, who was a little better off than his parents. His father had lost his job at one of the local mines due to a medical reason and his mother had never had a chance to work all her life. She married his father at the age of twelve through an arranged marriage. Her job was to make babies and take care of them, also taking care of the household. Joe was the fourth born of eight children in the family. They were five boys and three girls.

All of Joe’s elder brothers had already left school due to financial constraints and as a result, they were working on the nearest farms, earning only enough to take care of themselves. They hardly came home and if they did, they only managed to provide a combined support enough for food and nothing else. They were facing serious struggles.

Angela was living with her mother and younger sister. She was the first born. Her father had passed away years ago. He was hit by a car one day when he was coming home drunk. At that time, Angela’s mother was pregnant with her younger sister, Jane.

Jane had thus never met her father and had only seen him in pictures. Her mother would lie to her when she was younger and tell her that one day her father would come back and that he was only away in Joburg. She would tell her that he will bring her sweets when he returned. Jane would become so happy and her mother would then hide the pain with a painted smile.

I could only imagine how she felt knowing that whatever she promised her daughter would never happen. Kids don’t expect their parents to lie to them and when they find out the truth, it can truly hurt a child, knowing their parents lied. But sometimes parents try to protect their children by telling them a lie, anything to avoid the pain.

A year after Joe had arrived in our village, he completed his grade twelve. At that time Angela had passed her grade eleven into grade twelve. Joe and Angela had to live apart from each other because of school. Joe had now moved to Gauteng to study Chemical Engineering, and he had received a scholarship. But the unfortunate part of the whole situation was that the scholarship that Joe received was only covering his tuition fees, accommodation and book allowances. He had to pay for his own food and transport.

This made it hard for him to travel back home because it was expensive. Since his arrival in the city, three months ago, Joe had never gone home and he had only managed to call them once. Angela was the one who had to call him, and that was how their love kept burning.

Joe respected his girlfriend and he had never cheated on her despite the fact that girls were always mad about his looks. He tried by all means to fulfil the promise he had given her when he left. He had promised her that he would take good care of himself and that when he was done studying he would marry her.

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Tell us what you think: Can a long distance relationship survive when communication is limited?