Through no fault of mine

Title:  Through no fault of mine

Name of the author: Lydia Mensah.

Word count:                         1232

Number of pages:   5

Phone numbers          :     +23320 7238235/ +23354285822

Email                         :      esthermode005@gmail.com

#Write about a mysterious figure in one’s neighbourhood.#

 Ever since I saw that man, I knew Agyare was too tall to be true, He was a giant, soaring high above others, the reason for which his voice was so loud and clear and sounded like a megaphone. He took a few steps at a time and sat down when tired. I learnt his parents were short, so how did he grow so tall. Looking back into his background, there was no such tall person in his family. It was just a mystery. He had no job because he could not enter any office. Once. I learnt he missed an interview because he was too tall to pass through the door and at another interview, the panel of judges ran away. They thought he was a strange figure. It was so disheartening to see his eyes. He was in tears as he walked away. It was no fault of his that he was tall. Everyone looked up at him as he passed by and he could not sit in any car to be transported to wherever he wished unless the car was tailor-made for him. Where was he going to find such money? His only hope was a Lilliputian who had also withdrawn from society because everyone laughed at him everywhere he went, He had to struggle for recognition, It was no wonder that he lived in an old hut with a thatched roof and lived so far from people so no one would see him, Agyare the giant was his only friend. People laughed, even more, when they saw them together. They were a sight for sore eyes, a mystery. What could these two be possibly doing together? Perhaps, they had one thing in common; nobody wanted them, and nobody cared to know how they felt. It was difficult to be different in our world. People treat you as if you were to blame for the way God created you.

Agyare and Kotey had the dustbins in the neighbourhoods as their friend. They searched for broken things just like themselves, although it made them dirty and smelly. People would deliberately leave food outside their homes so they could pick it up. Their fear for them did not allow them to even greet them when they were coming, the streets were always empty, thanks to their nature. Agyare was a carpenter. He was so good at his skill that people had no choice but to patronise his services. The request came in anonymously. When he was done, he sent the finished product anonymously to the owner. Soon, he was tired of this kind of life. Kotey encouraged him. It was their only source of income. They had to survive somehow. One day, Agyare said to Kotey after a long while of silence.

“Why don’t we go searching for our family trees to find out why we are so different?”

“Do you think it will help?” he asked.

“At least we will know why we are so different,” he replied.

“Sometimes, it’s better to be in the dark concerning certain things,” he said. The less you know, the better. Agyare agreed with him but kept pondering over it until he went, determined, alone, to find something about himself. He walked into the hall that contained archives of so many people. Everyone including the receptionist ran away, so he had to help himself. As soon as he sat down, the chair broke into pieces. He had totally forgotten himself, that he was different. He sat on one of the tables. It also gave way under his weight. Though he was sad, he was still determined to dig deep down to free himself from very agony. Kotey waited for hours for him until he was ashamed, then went to sleep. He was too tired to wait for him any further. Agyare read and read until he came to the part which said a child would be born who would be different from the rest. It would happen because he came from two eggs from the womb, that these two eggs came together to form one human being,

 That explains why I am so tall. He said to himself. I could be rich. I will sell my story to the scientific mission so they study me and I will become famous. When he got to the mission field, everyone ran away including the scientists who knew about him already. His plans had been shattered and his dream was as good as dead. He walked through the building searching for answers. He saw old bones of giants which had been preserved for future studied. Why then are they so afraid of me? Disappointed, he came back to his home to find Kotey sleeping soundly. Fortunately, he had made him a bowl of soup. He was not hungry. His quest for an answer had consumed him so much. He looked at Kotey. Why wasn’t he so concerned about how different he was? What kept him going? His thoughts were soon interrupted by a knock on the door. There were two men in protective personal equipment waiting for him at the door when he came out. They gave him a shot and he was drowsy at once. They held him to prevent a disastrous fall. Kotey woke up to see what all the noise was about. Seeing the two men, he jumped onto a table and screamed.

“Hands up, or I’ll shoot!” The men put their hands up in the air.

“Now put them at the back of your heads and walk out,” he ordered. Agyare was lost for words. Where did he have such courage?

“Allow them to explain……..” Before he finished speaking, he fell down, sleeping.

“See what you have done to him!” he yelled.

“We did not come to hurt him,” they said. We were only sent to bring him to the lab.

“For what?” he asked. He’s not an animal?

“He needs answers and we do too,” they replied. After several hours of arguing with Kotey, he finally agreed to let them take Agyare away on a bond of good behaviour signed by the scientists. The lead scientist promised to keep him informed on proceedings. He also whispered into his ears a handsome reward, which softened him up a little bit. Upon reaching the research laboratory, several men carried him and placed him under a ventilator and underwent careful surgery. They discovered that he had two organs each. Both of them had formed in him like that for Siamese twins; that means, he was two persons in one. They wondered how he had only one voice. Perhaps he had only one of that one. Upon brainstorming, that was the conclusion they came to. They stitched him up carefully and he was up in good time. He wasn’t happy to see himself in the state that he was and thought they had wrongfully performed a dangerous activity on him.

 However, he was happy with the answers he received and was grateful for their help in finding a solution. From that day onwards, the community named him the tall twin. The other twin is still unknown.