Windy Valley Secondary – Trials of the Young and Restless

by Shane CONNELL 14.NOV.08

Ras tried persuading Miriam not to go to the hospital. He even suggested that he could take a message from her to Susan. Miriam was insistent that she wanted to go and see Susan herself. Ras couldn’t understand why she would take such a risk.{{more}}

Miriam’s picture was plastered all over the newspapers, and there was a hot debate on all the radio call in shows about whether she had indeed been kidnapped. There was no doubt in Ras’ mind that she would get caught, if she went out in public. Her features alone were distinctive; her long, curly, black hair, her fair complexion, and her slim build, all meant that she could be easily picked out from the crowd.

As he hurried home from school, he was certain that the news he had just received would convince her not to go to the hospital. Ras had heard news from Susan’s father that she had regained consciousness and was recovering. All he had to do was tell Miriam the good news. That would surely make her give up her foolish idea to see Susan.

As he entered his house and placed his school bag in the corner, he noticed that the room was unusually quiet. Ras knew that something was wrong. Surely Miriam couldn’t have been so foolhardly to have gone to see Susan, he thought. It was just then his sister came out of the bedroom, and he eagerly asked: “Alecia, where’s Miriam?”

“You’re not going to like this,” she replied.

“When did she leave?” he asked.

“She hasn’t.” Alecia nodded to the bedroom: “She’s still inside.”

Relief washed over Ras. “Then what’s wrong?”

Alecia called for Miriam to come out of the bedroom. The bedroom door slowly swung open and Miriam stood before him. But it was not the Miriam he recognised. Her long jet black hair was cut short, which immediately made her look like a boy. Shoe polish had darkened her syrup complexion to a chocolate brown, and the baggy clothes that she wore gave the appearance that she had gained weight. In short, the Miriam he knew looked like a boy.

Ras couldn’t believe what she had done, and all for what? He told her “Miriam, Susan is going to be fine, you didn’t need to cut your hair off”.

Miriam was pleased by the news that Susan had recovered, but she was still insistent that she wanted to see her friend.

Ras couldn’t understand. He became angry: “You’re telling me that you’d risk getting caught and going back to the molestation of your father, just to see Susan?”

“You don’t understand!” yelled Miriam. “I need to see Susan!”

“That disguise won’t fool anyone. You’re going to get caught… are you listening?”

But Miriam refused to listen anymore and stormed out the door, bumping into Sel as he came in.

As Ras shook his head, he wondered why girls had to be so difficult. He should go after her, but he felt so angry that just for a moment he wished she would get caught and be out of his and his family’s life.

“Who’s that boy?” Sel asked Ras.

That boy, he thought, is the girl that he had fallen in love with, and would do anything to protect. Ras knew that he had to make sure that she was alright. He went after her.

Sel turned to his sister and asked the question again: “Who’s that boy?” Only for Alecia to ask: “What does molestation mean?”

The Windy Valley Secondary series is fictional. Any resemblance to real events, places or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.