As Mado tidied her bed in the morning she smiled to herself at the thought of how far she had come in her short life. She did not have much, but what she had she was grateful for. She had two parents, who were still married and actually seemed to be still in love -which nowadays was as rare as finding wild animals in Europe. She only wished she had her own bedroom instead of having to sleep at the back of the cramped room which served as their kitchen and lounge.

Although her family struggled to survive in the township, it did not deter Mado’s ambition of going to university and studying towards her dream job, pathology. Everyone at school couldn’t believe her career choice. How could such a bubbly person want to work with test tubes and blood all day? But pathology was like detective work – trying to find cures for diseases – and she loved a good mystery. Besides, she was almost immune to the sight of blood. It was a career that would insure job security, which she needed more than anything else. Studying for years and not being able to find a job was not an option.

She wanted to get out of this cramped house, out of this township. Away from the mice that sometimes plagued her home during the hot summer days. Away from the gangs of boys who cat-called her when she walked down the street. Away from the roof that kept dripping in winter in their rented RDP house. Away from the dirty lanky dogs which filled the streets with poo – you had to be extra careful while walking there or else you would go home with shoes smelling like hell. Away from…

After all, her family fled from Congo for a better life. Yes, things would never be the same again, she kept telling herself as she finished making her bed.

***

In a house near the school Mado’s friend Sophia was lying in bed, stressed. She had been nervous about her results and had stayed awake most of the night, worrying. Finally in the early hours of the morning sleep had finally won and she had slept for a few hours before her alarm rang. Hitting the snooze button on the clock a few times she finally awoke to find out that she had overslept – some things never seemed to change.

“Oh my word… oh my word,” she muttered to herself, pulling on her clothes and then searching for her phone. She panicked when she couldn’t find it. How could she contact her friends on such a big day?

Valerie, her twin sister, stuck her palm out from under the duvet, which she had pulled right over her head. “Here,” she said.

“How come you had it? You know what, in the future buy your own airtime,” Sophia snatched her phone from Valerie. “Why are you still in bed anyway? Today is the most important day of our lives. Act like you care! As for me, I don’t want to be late!” And she stormed out.

Sophia could not have been more right, Valerie did not care. Why would she? Only two days ago she had found out that she was three months pregnant.

Do you think Mado is too much of a dreamer? What do you think Valerie is going to do?