Monday,5th April,11.30pm

Mohamed I and his two young sister's, kadija and fatmata, Sat in the quiet hall of the mama gintay maternity hospital.none of them spoke.they were all praying silently for the life of their stepmother.mabinty was in trouble, and so was her baby . only an operation would save her and his baby.

A door opened and a nurse pass through.

''is she.....?is the baby....?"Mohamed I could not say the words.the nurse shook her head.things were not going well.mabinty was fighting for her life, but how could she tell these poor children?

"There's no news yet.the door is doing the operation now.I'm sorry"

Kadija and fatmata started to cry.it was as if was as if the nurse had said mabinty would die.he wished that their father was here.he would have known what to do.

But Ibrahim Kamara, their father was far away, lying in a hospital bed himself.he had been badly hurt in a road accident just the week before,hurting to get home to his family.now Mohamed I had to pull himself together and be responsible.he was the eldest child, the only son-unless the new baby.

Just a few weeks ago Mohamed I had been a happy student in his first year at university.now he was head of the family and the family was in trouble.what if mabinty died ? what would he says to his father? and how could they live with out mabinty, their dear stepmother?