BROKEN (First book in the Omaira series) ON HOLD

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Picture of Mama above

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"Wake up! Hurry up! This is our chance to leave," she stated as she shook me roughly.

I woke up and rubbed my eyes. I could hear the sounds of gunshots and horrible screams of children coming from outside.

"What's going on?" I panicked.

"I don't know. It seems another group attacked our camp. We have to run away from here if we want to see another dawn. Get up!" she responded quickly and rushed to wake the other children in the small room.

"But where do we run to?" I inquired of her I quickly changed into the only good clothes I could boast of, an old blouse with patches and a faded black skirt. I fixed my veil on my head and rushed to her side. The other kids were now wide awake. She grabbed my hand and that of another girl called Chika.

"Listen very carefully, this is a matter of life and death. We have to run like we have never ran before. Even if we get separated while running, don't stop. On the count of three-"

We didn't wait for her to finish counting because we heard a loud explosion and we all bolted out of the room in different directions. She was holding my hands tightly as we scurried towards the entrance of the compound. We ran in a zigzag way in order to avoid stray bullets.

Outside was a gory sight. We even stepped on blood and guts of people on the floor. As we rushed past a corridor, we caught a glimpse of Jaja, the camp cook, drenched in his own blood. His hands were trying to stop blood coming from his neck. He was barely alive.

I turned to search for Chika but she was no where to be found.

"Chika! Where is she? You were holding her before, right?" I demanded from her as we ran.

"I don't know. I don't know. Just run! Keep running!" she sounded alarmed. It appears to be that she is in pain as she dragged me along.
I began to cry and recite Al-Fatiha(a chapter of The Holy Quran) silently.

"Stop crying! Run faster!" she shouted at me as we ran out of the compound.
We ran and ran until we could not hear those horrible sounds again. We fell on the ground and...

"Omaaaaaaaaa!"

I jolted up from my sleep and looked around the room. Oh! Another nightmare!
I was drenched in sweat and was panting heavily. I don't think I will ever be free from that night. That night when I watched Lulu, my friend, die in my arms.

We were both thirteen years of age when we met at the camp. That camp was for kidnapped children. They were kept there until the females were sold as prostitutes to brothels and the boys were sold as house helps to neighbouring countries so that we do not have the chance of meeting any of our family again.

I was kidnapped after I started living in the orphanage where my mother dumped me at the age of twelve.
Strange right? I stayed in the orphanage for a year. I was kidnapped that day on my way to the market to buy pineapples for Mother Hannah(She was the owner of the orphanage). Perhaps if I had not offered to help her, I would not be in this situation now.

Lulu had explained to me that she was kidnapped on her way from school. When we met at the camp, we immediately became friends. She became my sister and my mother. She was my only source of happiness during the one month I stayed in the camp.

Children were sold in batches in the camp. Lulu and I were in the same and would have been sold into prostitution the following week had we not escaped.
I watched as life slipped out of lulu as she breathed her last breath. She was lying in my arms, a smile on her lips.