THE CART

Everybody has a story to tell... I am still living mine." They say Life is not fair. I say life is fair because it's unfair to all."
My father tried all he could, he avoided the advances of Life, but he got raped by Life.
 At a tender age my father knew what it felt like to be molested by Life, he lived with that shame. He lost his self-confidence because Life was everywhere laughing at his failure. He was mocked and his esteem depleted. But father had to move on, he survived on crumbs and scavenged the streets. He took up energy draining jobs with little pay. My father spent most of his years engrossed in his thought wishing he never met Life.

 Now my father wants all that years back, but sadly he can't. My father has spent a lot of years with Life and has known all her tricks and gimmicks, now my father knows how to manipulate Life. Every morning, he will charge us(his seven children) with a speech ending it with "Life Will Not Get You" ...believe me I have no iota of understanding what he really meant. As a kid I had no worries, no responsibilities, just living life as it is served. But now as I get older I can sense the advances of Life. She's everywhere waiting for fatigue to set in so she can take advantage of me. She wants me to live the fate of my father. But father already taught me how to go about Life when she puts a road block before me...

Now I understand what all those unnecessary heavy knocks were for,those unnecessary yelling from father, those grounding, those gruesome drilling, those denials of my wants. Father understands my every reason for steps I took but he chose to misunderstand me, unknown to me, he was teaching me how to go about life when she grips me by the throat... Six years ago(2010) father introduced another means of preparing us for a battle against life, "The Cart"

I swang into a state of melancholia when he presented it and wondered how this was a weapon against life. "We can't do this it's a dirty job" I and my siblings wept.
Without any preparation, we hit the street and began to use this weapon. In the first few months, the cart did more harm than good. I lost friends who wouldn't want to be identified with a cart pusher, I lost my dignity and respect, I lost my reputation of being a lowly guy and people had wrong perceptions about me. I was discriminated, I was stigmatized, I was belittled, those are the worst that could ever happen.

Tick-tock says the clock, it's six years gone the block. Several wars fought, with life winning but a few. The cart still intact like a newly coupled car. Father is proud of his warriors. The cart was able to generate enough income to buy I and my siblings a private education, something my father never had. I never had all I want but I had all I needed, the love, the care, the support, the advice, the time and commitment from father and family. I am going somewhere, the paths might be bushy and steep but the destination is glaring. I've grown too big and strong for life to maneuver like a puppet, father and the cart already prepared me for this day and I won't fail either of them. The camera is still rolling, I'm still living my story, the type with a happy ending.

Written by :
Malo Maverick
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