Thousands of people, all of them looking at me, waiting to hear my story. With my soft voice I greeted the crowd, while holding the microphone closer to my mouth.

Well I didn’t know where to start but here goes my life story.

My name is Anita Masha. My dad was a businessman. He owned a shoe company and in those days he was really rich; he used to have a lot of shares in different companies. Mom she was a doctor working at a government hospital, doing different procedures.

I had it all. My mom and dad gave me anything I wished for; good clothes, expensive phones, shoes. I had personal maids, actually three of them: Mary, Linda and Trisha.

Mary was my favourite aunt as she was with me since my childhood; she was good at selecting my clothes and cooking my favourite meals. I was really a princess in my own world. My mom and dad were always there for me, just the three us.

I’ll never forgot the hot milk mom gave to me every night and her a sweet songs she sung to make me fall asleep. Dad’s night time stories were the best; his voice made me smile whenever I was upset. My life was all set; hanging out with rich girls and boys, shopping in expensive shops, having hot parties; it was my habit.

I attended the best school in the country, where only rich kids attended. It was a really nice school and I was bright when it came to school. I was on top each term and mom and dad were proud of me.

Dad sponsored the building of an orphanage. Papa was good in charity work. Each year he gave twenty percent of his profit to orphans, the homeless and the aged. After a few months he finished a project and dad was invited as the guest of honour. It was a sweet event seeing those poor kids moving to their new homes. The children gave dad a thank you gift; it was a bible, how sweet.

After the function we stopped for coffee at mom’s favourite coffee shop. We had the coffee and I paid the bill and as always dad bought an ice-cream for me. I was laughing with mom and dad, and dad turned to pinch me, but dad lost control of the car. We hit a tree and in that moment I was shouting at the top of my voice. I didn’t know what happened next, all I remember was the hospital beds. I was unable to walk, I had a bad leg injury.

I asked the nurse about mom and dad, but she ignored what I said and start advising me to follow the doctor’s orders. I stayed quiet and the doctor entered my room. He sat down and greeted me, then said I needed an injection.

“Where is mom and dad?” I asked, but the doctor said nothing.

After an hour another nurse came in and held my hand. She said, “My girl you need to be strong, your parents are no more.”

The moment she said that I stood up and I wasn’t able to feel the pain in my legs. I was shivering while hot tears flowed down my cheeks. I opened the door and ran without knowing where I was going. Two security guards held my hands, trying to stop me.

Two nurses carrying my happiness covered them with a white cloth; the wind blew and revealed their faces to me. I was all alone, just me, no mama, no papa. What kind of life was I going to live?

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