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  • Cinderella in Mdantsana 1

    Cinderella in Mdantsane 1

    My name is Cinderella Sonata. I'm 32 years old. I'm residing in N.U. 13 Mdantsane Township next to East London. Eastern Cape, South Africa. 
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    I've never finished even high school but I'm good at what I'm doing now. 
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    My parents and I where involved in a car accident when I was 10. I'm the only one who survived that accident. I woke up in hospital not remembering anything but all I saw were the machines that were keeping me alive days after the accident. Not all where connected to me to me today when I woke up but I could see that they were a few days ago. 
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    I didn't know where I was at first until I saw nurses and doctors around me and all were happy I was up and alive.
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    Who am I? I didn't know at the time. A good doctor who was very good looking and good with kids told me my name is Cinderella Sonata. He told  me to relax and go back to sleep if I want to, my aunt and my two cousins are on their way. They have just been informed that I'm awake. They'll be here soon. They are glad that I've survived the accident.
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    "What accident?"
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    I remember asking the good doctor that question. I remember the look on his face. I remember that he was sorry he had said that to me. A minor. 
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    "Sleep Cinderella, relax your aunty will be here soon."
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    That was his answer to my question.
    Yes I decided to sleep again after I saw that the good doctor wasn't going to tell me anything more. I was far from understanding what was going on. The doctor had introduced himself but I didn't keep his name. I couldn't recall even mine at the time. Cinderella was a foreign name to me. It was really not my name. Where were my parents to tell me my real name? Who are they? Who is this aunty and the two cousins he's talking about. I couldn't recall or comprehend anything that day. I had to go back to sleep thinking that at least when my aunty arrives I would know something or l would remember her and my cousins. The time on my ward's clock or my hospital room clock to be exact was ten minutes past ten in the morning when I looked. I wanted to be alone that was why I chose not to talk to the good doctor anymore. I also saw that he was not going to tell me anything until he speaks to my aunty. I was alone in my hospital room. It was a single ward.
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    "Who is my aunty?"
    I asked myself that question until I fell asleep. I was always waking up between the sleeps and I was always seeing nurses that I didn't wanna talk to so I would always go back to sleep. Or pretend to be asleep but not missing looking at the wall clock. I was not a shy person even at that age. At 10 yrs old I was a top student in my class in Clarendon girls primary. But that day that was absent from my mind. My mind was blank. I had lost my memory.
    At exactly one o'clock a tray of food arrived. A lady with a blue uniform which I recognized as a help because she was not wearing a nurse's uniform came with the trolley to my bed. She disconnected some few machines and washed my hands, preparing me for my lunch. She said while disconnecting the machines.
    "Thiza I'm happy that soon you won't be needing these machines anymore."

    I looked at her not knowing what to say to her as she was getting me to sit up straight. She was going to set a tray over my legs. My bed had holes for the legs of my Trey to enter in.
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    "Yhoo sorry Cinderella, my name is Nomso. Sisi Nomso to you."

    "Hi sisi Nomso. You know my name then?"

    "Ewe thyini. You're Cinderella
    It says that here in the chart, look... I've been with you and feeding you since the first day you arrived here. I'm your best friend. I'm the one who always come here just to talk to you. I knew you couldn't hear me but I loved talking to you hoping you'll hear me one day. And that day is today."
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    I took the chart and looked. Yes I am Cinderella Sonata. I am 10yrs old. She took away the chart before I could read anything other than my name. She heard some footsteps in the hallway that is why she did that. I realized that it was wrong for her to show me the chart. She would get into trouble.
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    "How far is Mdantsane from here?"

    I asked trying to figure out what was taking my aunty so long to be here. What was keeping her?
    Sisi Nomso got my question the first time.

    "Owu Mdantsane is not that far. Especially with your own transport. Yhoo sweetie you are thinking about your aunty? Mlibale lowo... yes forget about her. She doesn't care about anything or anyone else but herself and her little brats. And of course she cares about your father's beautiful car. It's hers now."
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    Sisi Nomso wasn't supposed to say that to a child. But she was who she was. A talkative person. She still is. She loved me since the first day in hospital and she really helped me at the East London private hospital. She was my friend in there now we're inseparable.
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    This is my story
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    © Lungi Shigo Msusa

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