Grade 10, Illinge High School
A place of gold, diamonds and all the riches you could ever want. Where all your dreams are accomplished within seconds of want, all I’ve ever wished is to see this place of wonders with my own two eyes. I had always wondered by all means what living there would be like. If only I had known it wouldn’t be as sweet as I thought.
“Shesha Khany! Ndiyahamba ngoku,” shouted my uncle as I ran towards the car. I was so overwhelmed with joy, but sad all at the same time. I couldn’t believe that I was finally leaving my place of birth, Inanda in KwaZulu Natal. While I was in the car, all I could think about was my new life, new home, new school and new grade. I honestly couldn’t wait to get to the place of riches. I sat in the car for almost four hours and almost paralysed my legs.
At last I was here. The beautiful tall buildings were so amazing, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. All that was left was to travel to a place called Yeoville. I had never heard of such a place with such a name before, but all I said to myself was, “New place, new discoveries.”
We finally got there, it was a township where my parents and siblings lived and upon seeing their house, my mind was blown away. It was big enough to fill the whole Nanda Community. We then went inside. We unpacked and I got to know everyone from a better view.
As days passed by the opening of schools grew closer and when it was finally time for me to go to school and start grade 10, I was so scared my whole body was shaking with fear. As I got out of the car, my legs froze. I felt anxiety running all over my body as I watched my dad’s car turning and disappearing around the corner.
I now gathered all the courage and strength in me to the so-called K.S.S. (Kondriel Secondary School). The deeper into the school I went, the more attention I gained. By the time the last school bell struck, I had already made friends and met a lot of people with interesting personalities. My life was fantastic until I met the biggest fraud of my life, Mochino. I hated him so much that every time I saw him my blood boiled to the point that I felt like punching him.
Other than that, Igoli was truly the place of dreams but unfortunately it always seemed as if I was the only one dreaming. Every single day my dad would fetch me late and I would use the time to dream and be at a place where I would feel at peace. On one unfortunate day, my dad fetched me later than usual and during my wait an unpleasant person decided to join me and for what reason, I don’t know. I tried my best to ignore him but eventually I had to say something. So apparently, I ended up talking. We talked and had a long conversation. I hated the guy, but in the end, he wasn’t as horrible as I thought. For a serious looking person, he has a lot to say and life is an adrenaline rush. Suddenly the hatred I had disappeared into thin air. Every after school he would sit with me while I waited for my dad and as each day passed, slowly but surely the tiny, weeny little hatred that I had turned to love.
We would meet on weekends to study together or go around in the park. He actually made school worth going to and all that was ringing in my mind was power, power, power. Finally, it was time to vote for junior phase president. I was so excited because if I were to win, I would be able to introduce soccer for girls once and for all. But if only I knew that I was bringing trouble on myself I wasn’t the only one running for president. There were so many boys and girls, I was quite surprised until some girl stole my thunder. She goes by the name Thuto feared by all and respected by none, also known as marchioness. It was finally after school and on my way to the gate I heard Thuto talking to her friends about her plans being a success, her so-called ex was able to distract me and if this continued a bit longer, the elections would be in her favour. I was so furious in such a way that I couldn’t tell what was real from what wasn’t. I cried myself to sleep.
Then I woke up in the morning feeling more energetic than before. When I got to school, I campaigned the whole day. I barely managed to survive most of Thuto’s lots to bring me down. Before the end of the day Mochino came to apologise. I didn’t forgive him because I despised him so much that there was no going back from there.
It was a beautiful day so I decided to walk home. While I was walking, I saw a house that was bit by bit falling apart and what surprised me the most was that there were people living in it. So I decided to go in. As I was entering the house a gutter almost hit me but I dodged it in time. Then I entered the house and I found this old couple holding hands in the hope that the house didn’t fall on them.
I decided to talk to them and ask them why they were abusing themselves in such a way. Then they told me this long sad story about their children abandoning them and having to make a living by begging on the streets. Their story touched me in such a way that I cried for ten minutes mixing my pain with their pain. I really thought that this was the place of dreams but if you don’t have money then dreaming is not for you. From that day on I swore that I would make their lives worth living. Every single day I would bring them food from home. Their happiness kept me occupied so I couldn’t notice or give attention to elections.
Then something hit me. After a week, I realised that my allowance and lunch money couldn’t sustain them forever so I decided to take them to a Senior Citizens home. I used all my savings to pay for their applications and acceptance. I felt amazing and proud of myself because I helped people that were in need.
Then the day came for the results to be announced. I couldn’t believe it but I won and it was thanks to Mochino. The whole Thuto thing was a lie created by a fraud. Since I had to give a speech, I decided to raise awareness about poverty in our community and to find a way to eliminate it altogether. I thanked Mochino for what he had done for me and for the fact that he was able to stand up for his opinions.
All in all, what I learnt from the place of wonder is that in order to fulfil your dreams, you should help other people dream too.
Gauteng … the place of riches.