Grade 8, Rena le Lona Creative Centre
Once upon a time in the village of Ganga, on a winter morning, a beautiful girl called Nothando woke up feeling happy, as if she knew what would happen that day. When Nothando was about to make breakfast, she heard a strong knock.
Nothando hurried to open the door. She saw a dirty and hungry homeless man. The man asked Nothando to give him some bread and milk just to eat for the day. Nothando told the man to come inside but when the man didn’t want to, she insisted, and the man came in. Nothando told the man to wash himself in the bathroom and she said she would bring him clothes. The man washed and ate the most delicious meal he had ever had. The man didn’t have enough clothes and his hair was ugly, so Nothando told the man to go to the barber, and she would pay for everything.
Nothando wasn’t lucky when it came to love. She didn’t even care because she was a therapist and loved to converse with other people. She could provide for herself.
Nothando didn’t know that she was helping a prince. Instead, she thought she was helping a needy man. When Nothando would go shopping, she would invite the man to join her and told him to choose anything he wanted for himself. Nothando ended up having feelings for the man, but she hid them.
One perfect morning, the man came to the house and Nothando was stunned and lost for words. The prince got down on one knee and told her the truth. He said he had been looking for the perfect wife and now he had finally found one. He asked Nothando for her hand in marriage and Nothando said, “Yes.”
Nothando had never seen such a beautiful palace before. The prince’s name was Thando. They were meant for each other. Thando introduced Nothando to his family and they accepted Nothando as their daughter-in-law.
Nothando had never met people that were free, kind, caring and sweet like her sisters-in-law and brother-in-law before. Nothando was stunned that she had not foreseen anything like that happening to her.
She remembered her late Gogo’s words, “Ungakhali nelakho liyofika mntanam,” and well, her Gogo’s words became the best blessing for Nothando. They married and they lived happily ever after. They were couple goals.