CHAPER ONE —
Amara wiped her tears and stared blankly at the ceiling.
The rain hadn’t stopped, and neither had the storm inside her.
Her heart burned with sorrow.
“This is my end,” she whispered. “I’m broken. But who? Who would do such evil? HIV? Ha!”
She cried all through the night, curling up in the corner of her room.
Eventually, she drifted into sleep at that very spot.
By morning, her heart still felt heavy, her mind trapped in yesterday’s horror.
In her haze half dream, half memory came flashes:
a trembling phone call, a confirmed test,
a doctor who spoke with science, not shame.
The result had arrived within a week.
She had read it through tears and trembling thoughts,
her heart a storm, her eyes a flood.
The paper slipped from her hand and floated to the floor.
Positive.
Her knees gave way.
The walls seemed to close in.
The room tilted, its edges softening into a blur of grey.
Voices melted into one another echoes of rain, whispers of doubt.
The world around her faded, swallowed by fear and disbelief.
--- To be continued……
WRITTEN BY UMORU DANIELA JOHN
