Olwethu felt guilty about all the things she had asked from her grandmother, but appreciated the effort that MaNdlovu had put in to help make her dream come true. She truly believed that she had the best grandmother ever. They sat in the yard under the tree next to the hut to rest and relax after they finished putting up the fence.

“Your little field looks good, Olwethu. It is well fenced,” MaNdlovu said with appreciating for her granddaughter.

“Thank you, Gogo. If it wasn’t for your kindness, fighting for my dream would have not been so easy,” Olwethu said with admiration.

“Tell me, Olwethu, what do you want to plant?” MaNdlovu asked.

“What about bananas, Gogo?” Olwethu inquired.

“I like bananas, but they don’t grow here in Impendle. It’s not warm enough to plant them here,” MaNdlovu explained.

“What about potatoes, maize, beans, Gogo?” Olwethu continued.

“Yes, they’re good here. You can plant them, Olwethu,” MaNdlovu encouraged.

“I’ll plant them, Gogo,” Olwethu said cheerfully.

MaNdlovu seemed to be at peace seeing Olwethu feeling so delighted. She knew that Olwethu’s field was ready to be planted.

“Where will you get the seeds, my granddaughter?” MaNdlovu asked.

Olwethu had never thought of the seeds. She didn’t think that far.

“I’ll come up with a plan, Gogo,” Olwethu said hopefully.

That evening, Olwethu’s spirits were high with the possibilities of the future to come. The realisation that her dream would come true made her beyond happy.

“Olwethu, come here.” MaNdlovu called from the front room of the hut.

“I’m coming, Gogo,” Olwethu said hurrying.

Her grandmother was sitting outside when she reached the front room. MaNdlovu had a small clay bowl on her lap and her forelegs were crossed to hold it.

“I’m here Gogo,” Olwethu said wondering why her grandma had called her out.

“Take this, you have to wake up early by tomorrow morning and sow these seeds,” she said handing Olwethu the bowl.

Olwethu took the bowl and looked at its contents; there was one small potatoes seed, one maize seed and one bean seed. Olwethu knew her grandmother to be a resourceful woman and didn’t know where the seeds came from.

“Thank you, Gogo. Thank you very much. You always come up with a plan at hard times. I’ll wake up early tomorrow morning and plant my field.” Olwethu said happily.

“We all face hard times in life, Olwethu. That is when we have to stand up for what we believe in,” said grandmother, MaNdlovu said before they went back to the hut to turn in for the night.

The next morning when MaNdlovu was getting ready to leave the hut to fetch wood, Olwethu woke, grabbed the spade, water hose and the bowl containing the three seeds so she could go to the field.

“Olwethu, you have to wait,” MaNdlovu said when she saw her heading for the door.

“I can’t, Gogo. I can’t. I want my dream to come true as soon as possible.” Olwethu said impatiently.

“Did you put any manure on the furrows?” MaNdlovu asked.

“No, Gogo,” Olwethu replied.

“You have to scatter manure over the field or any fertilizer on the furrows first,” MaNdlovu said.

“What is it for, Gogo?” Olwethu asked.

“Manure is like food for your seeds. Without manure your seeds might grow weak. You wouldn’t get a good harvest if that happens. You must get manure first, Olwethu,” MaNdlovu said pointedly.

Olwethu went to their neighbours’ yard and asked the madala there if she could take some of his cow manure for her field and he obliged. She collected a wheelbarrow full of manure then scattered it all over her field. After a week of manure scattering, ploughing and watering the field MaNdlovu believed that the field was ready to be planted.

“Now you can take your seeds and plant them, Olwethu,” MaNdlovu said one morning when Olwethu woke up early to check on the field.

“Gogo, you said I can’t plant without manure,” said Olwethu in despair.

“I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Gogo,” Olwethu said hugging her grandmother.

Olwethu took the spade, water hose and the bowl with the seeds and went to the field in excitement to plant her seeds.

***

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