The time came for Clara to leave for university as it was time for the new enrollments and commencement of studies afterwards. It was a big break for her as she was starting a new journey towards reaching her goals. She was all smiles fantasizing about the great future ahead. She had heard before that education is the key to success, so, why wouldn't she held her head up and hope for the best in future. Things seemed to be a little promising for her and she was intending to make the most of it. Not everyday children like her make it that far in life. Some of them ended up in the streets, so, that was the reason she was hellbent to climb the success ladder with all her might. It was just a matter of few days before she took off. Just when she was hoping that Rowena was going to have a friend, now that Thobekile was in her life, a worst thing had happened. Thobekile's condition had deteriorated to the point that she was taken to hospital. She spent about a week there and later succumbed to her sickness. This kind of news did not find a perfect space to sit well in Rowena's heart. She was at it again, the mourning period. When will she ever get a chance to be happy in life? She wondered. She cried like the way she lost her grandmother, she isolated herself like the way she did when Themba left her with a promise to come back later. She screamed like she did when the bus rolled while she and her little aunt were inside. She felt rejected like the way she felt when people in her grandmother's village treated her like a curse. Everyone died on her and that made her to believe that she was a curse.
Clara was there to console her while she was broken too. She was worried that she was about to leave her while she was in such a state. When she saw the tears rolling down her face she too cried. Rowena was scared to lose Clara too. Within a matter of few days, she returned to her old self again. She was withdrawn and sad. Clara did everything to cheer her up to no avail. She was devastated. She was mourning for everyone she had lost. It seemed like the mourning process was taking too long to pass in her life, if ever it would pass. She reckoned she would bury everyone who was close to her heart.
Those days she was having bad dreams about dead people. She would wake up crying. Clara had to sooth her down before she went back to sleep. This was heartbreaking and overwhelming for Clara who was dealing with her issues too. At times she would wish she never met Rowena because her situation was too much for a child like her. The Clara would correct herself by telling herself that she was brought in Rowena's life for a reason. "Everything happened for a reason", she remembered those words. She was not sure though who the sayer of those wise words was but they made sense.
Then the time for Clara to leave came. She collected her luggage and waved goodbye to Rowena with a heavy heart. She stood at a distance while she carried her suitcase and looked back at the place she spent most of her childhood one last time. She was overwhelmed by memories. The good and the bad ones. The good ones she created by herself by being positive and true to herself. The last memories she created when she met Rowena were the most touching ones. She learnt to be a pillar of strength to a child who needs her the most. She was feeling good about it yet she felt like crying. She wished she didn't look back to see Rowena standing there watching her disappearancing in the distance. Rowena stood there for about half an hour. She went back inside and tried to distract herself by reading a book but could not concentrate. She decided to take a quick nap because she was mentally and physically drained. Soon she was taken to the world of dreams. She was happy and playing with other children until she heard a voice calling her. She woke up and looked around. She was not sure if she was dreaming or someone was calling her. She thought she heard Clara's voice calling her name. Then she remembered that Clara was gone and her heart sank immediately. "It was just a dream", she thought to herself while dragging her exhausted body to the kitchen for it was lunch time. She stepped in the queue like other children. They were given a plate of soup and few slices of bread. She ate with gusto because she was famished. Within a few seconds her plate was empty and she wished she could have some more. Clara used to set aside an extra plate for her as she was one of those who helped serving others.
She would enjoy Sundays meals because they were served meat, vegetables and salads and rice. That meal reminded her of the Christmas days when her grandmother was still alive. Just like her grandmother, Clara would give her an extra portion of meat. She would enjoy the roasted chicken or the beef stew. And other children would be excited during Sundays because of such meal. After the meat they would given fruit and drinks and sometimes snacks if the matron of the centre was in good mood. The food was donated by the nearby food retailers when they had more for the left overs. That would be a big deal to the children because they got such meals once in a week. On weekdays they would have bread and soup or samp and vegetables. For breakfast they would have porridge and a slice of bread. Even breakfast on Sundays was different from the one they normally hot. It would buttered bread, eggs and milk. So, Sundays were the best for them. Then they would bee off to church then go to the nearest stadium to play with children from outside. They would play different games. They would compete for small prizes and it would be a merry affair especially if they won those prizes. Then they would go back to the centre and gave supper which would be samp and mince or dry mealie pap and sour milk. And that was Rowena's favourite meal. In the villages they used to milk the cows and then the milk would be fermented and become sour milk. They would enjoy it with dry mealie pap and sometimes plain cooked samp. Everyone would enjoy the meal.