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Covos plans to visit a pan bricked English house, a Heritage site in Africa. It is called the Shiwa House. This property belongs to an ex-soldier who settles in Zambia after World War II. His grandson has advertised this 32-roomed house on tourism websites and among the incoming visitors, Covos, the Spanish lad, steps on this site. He comes to Zambia through the East Africa route. He uses a bus to a border town, Tunduma, and crosses into Zambia. His plan is to continue his trip to the Shiwahouse by road. Nevertheless, he spends a day at Tunduma show grounds, gathering information about African heritage sites.

The next day, Covos is on the taqwa bus. Reaching the turning place, he takes a dust country road 12km to the site and reaches after six. Finally, His eyes glance at the beautiful home, the Shiwa House. He is tired of his heavy travel bag. At the reception, he meets a young woman, Cathy who books him in room 12. After a bath, Covos walks to the dinning for a light meal.

First, Covos orders for beer, as he is waiting for the meal. Cathy Woods is colored from a European and Zambian mother. She comes to the dining room to give a welcome greeting to Covos. His found seated on a wooden stool while reading the menu. They greet each other. Then drags a stool and she seats. Covos orders two beers and hands over one bottle to Cathy. She smilingly accepts but requests the barman to count it on her. She is still on duty. Covos and Cathy are together at that table until past midnight. Cathy talks about the game drive and the hot spring, while Covos talks about his adventure. Covos is so drunk such that he stands up and starts to dance to rumba music. Cathy joins Covos on the dancing floor. Covos shout and become so excited. They hold hands as they both dances. Cathy is very sober. Unexpectedly, Covos twists his legs with difficulty then falls down and collapses. This was the beginning of the story about two people who meet and become instant friends. Cathy and the barman take Covos to the clinic. The standing nurse on duty reaffirms to the duo that Covos is out of danger but needs enough rest.

The following morning, Covos opens his eyes and notices the reddish ceiling board. He is in pain because his left leg twisted the muscle at the joint. He then hears a woman’s voice saying, Good morning Covos. It is Cathy Woods already at the bedside. Putting the basket on top of the bedside table, she pulls out a flask and pours hot coffee. Covos pulls himself out of the bed coverings and sits up straight while groaning of the pain. Then he gets the coffee cup from Cathy with his eyes closed and says, thank you madam. After a sip from his cup, Covos poses a question, Cathy what happened to my leg. Cathy smiles as she draws nearer to the bed and whispers, “you enjoyed to the fullest Sir”. Both Cathy and Covos laughs loudly. Covos remember the dance but what follows is out of his mind. Covos is relieved from pain when he seats around with Cathy the whole day. They talk again about the rumba dance and the beer bottles flashing. Evening comes and Cathy is on duty again at the shiwahouse. This means that Covos is to be alone the whole night. His sadness grows red as Cathy says, “goodbye we meet tomorrow”. For Cathy, she is wearing a smile because she is going to seek for permission and come again to the bedside.

Cathy comes back after three hours of work. She brings food for Covos. She wears a leather jacket to warm herself overnight. When she enters the male ward, Covos is lying fast asleep because he has had received a drug jab. Cathy uncovers the face and whispers “Goodnight Mr. Covos”. The man never hears any word. She walks to the nurse on duty and gets permission to stay along aside Covos bed. Cathy walks back and types a few words to her mother on whatsapp then fells up in sleep.

Morning hours catch Covos to the call of nature; he draws himself out of bedsheets and struggles to stand. Cathy also feels cold. She stretches herself wanting more bed covering but has only the brown coat. Covos notice Cathy on the nearby bed. He smiles and limps toward Cathy’s bed. Cathy wakes up and notices Covos approaching. In a horse voice, Cathy says, “Good morning my friend” but Covos advances towards Cathy for a hug. He misses a step and again fell down. Upon seeing this, Cathy stands up to assist the friend get up. He is heavy for her. She then rushes to the nurse on duty to seek for help. They raise him and escort him to the bathrooms. After this, Covos and Cathy seats on their beds revising what has had led to the second fell down. They laugh and Covos is happy because he has not slept alone in that male ward.

It is after seven in the morning when Cathy tells Covos that she is leaving and would undertake a handover at work. She then leaves. The nurse on duty comes to Covos bed to give him a jab. They start to talk. The Nurse laments,” I admire you two. Coming to sleep alongside your bedside in the cold, She must be your number one”. Covos laughs and says, “Cathy is just a friend. I am from Spain and met her at the shiwahouse”. The nurse nods and says, “She is good, go for her”. Covos say “thank you madam”. Covos is discharged from the clinic and Cathy organizes for a taxi to the shiwahouse. They seat in the dining apartment again. This time their friendship is becoming stronger and stronger. They torch hands, laugh together, and walk side by side to the bathrooms. Covos books at room 12 shiwahouse for twelve days. All his stay is in company with Cathy except during the nights. They eat together and drink some eagle bottles. They dance together until on the twelfth day when Covos asks Cathy to escort him along with the palm trees. Covos tells Cathy that she is a beautiful companion and he wishes they dated. He adds that Cathy welcomed him to the shiwahouse, rushed him to the clinic, and took care of him until discharge. Cathy admits the love proposal of being on a date with Covos.

May 05, 2020 15:29

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1 comment

Leya Newi
22:33 May 13, 2020

I liked the story, and enjoyed how you showed they became instant friends, and how they treated each other. Great job!

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