Life is about spending your final days with the right people and steering clear of the wrong ones. It's about showing love to those who treat you with kindness—your loved ones, your closest friends, and your family.
In Africa, life can feel different in every corner of the continent. But in places like Botswana, it's not just about spending time with loved ones. It's about finding those you truly trust, and letting them into your world.
In the southern part of Africa, in the beautiful nation of Botswana, there once lived a boy named Rosainte. He was special from the moment he was born. But there was one thing that set him apart—he grew up without a father. Without a father figure in his life, Rosainte never understood what the father-son bond felt like.
All he ever dreamed of was having the kind of father his friends had—someone to look up to, someone to teach him, someone to share life's lessons with. But his dreams were just that—dreams. To him, they seemed like fantasies, while for his friends, those dreams were a reality. The boys he grew up with turned their backs on him when they discovered he had no father, making it even harder for Rosainte to fit in.
In African society, it's common for boys to grow up with father figures, and to not have one felt like a curse to him. He couldn't escape the emptiness he felt.
When Rosainte turned 18, he began to fear the future. Growing up meant responsibility, it meant making choices that would shape the rest of his life. But more than anything, Rosainte feared becoming a father. He had never known fatherly love, and he was terrified that he wouldn't know how to give it. On top of that, he struggled to connect with girls his age, never really seeing the point in dating or even dreaming about love.
Little did he know, however, that every soul has its mate. And for Rosainte, love was closer than he could have ever imagined.
In his final year of senior school, Rosainte's life began to change in a way he never expected. It was the kind of love story he had only read about in books or seen in movies. It was love at first sight—or rather, maybe it was fate that had been guiding him all along.
Sandy, a new girl who had just transferred to Mare Senior School, was about to turn Rosainte's world upside down. She wasn't just a schoolmate—Sandy had also moved into his neighborhood with her family. And little did Rosainte know, fate had something extraordinary in store for him.
It was a typical Sunday when Rosainte was on his way to church. Everything felt as it usually did—calm, predictable. But as he walked, his life took an unexpected turn. For the first time, he saw her: Sandy.
She was walking towards him, her eyes searching the street, looking lost. The world seemed to stop around them. Time froze. The universe held its breath as she approached him.
"Excuse me," Sandy said, her voice shaking with uncertainty. "My name is Sandy. I'm lost. I live in Residential Plot 234, but I can't find my way back."
Rosainte was momentarily frozen. This was the moment his life had been waiting for, but it also terrified him. He wasn't used to this kind of attention, especially from someone so beautiful.
"I'm Rosainte," he stammered. "I live in Residential Plot 232, right across from you. It's no problem, I can walk you home."
As they walked together, Rosainte couldn't help but ask, "Are you new around here? I don't think I've seen you before."
From that moment on, Sandy became his "Princess next door" in his heart. Their connection was undeniable. It felt like fate was weaving their story, one small step at a time. But there was one thing Rosainte still struggled with—his fear of love.
He had never confessed love to anyone. He had no idea how to express what he was feeling. But each day spent with Sandy taught him something new. Through movies, books, and his own growing feelings, Rosainte began to understand that love wasn't just a fleeting emotion—it was a transformation. It was a shift from pain to peace, from uncertainty to joy. And it was something he could give and receive.
The more time they spent together, the more Rosainte knew that he had to take a leap of faith. Despite his fears, he couldn't deny the love he felt for Sandy. He decided it was time to tell her how he felt.
The day he confessed his love to Sandy was nerve-wracking. He expected rejection, but instead, he received something he never thought possible—a smile, a soft reply, and the simple words, "I love you too."
For the first time in his life, Rosainte felt complete. He finally knew what it meant to love and to be loved in return. His heart swelled with joy, and the pain of his past seemed to fade away, replaced by hope and happiness.
Their relationship flourished. Despite the challenges of keeping it a secret from their families, Rosainte and Sandy found ways to meet, to talk, and to be together. For the first time, Rosainte felt like he had everything he had ever wanted—a love, a connection, and a chance at happiness.
But life, as it often does, threw an unexpected twist their way.
One Saturday afternoon, as Rosainte and Sandy walked hand-in-hand, enjoying the simple joy of each other's company, disaster struck. Sandy's father, John, who was known for his strict ways, spotted them. His face turned red with anger as he yelled at them from a distance.
Sandy's heart sank. She knew her father's temper well, and she feared the consequences of his anger. They both ran to their respective homes, desperate to escape the storm that was about to break.
But it wasn't the end of their troubles. Sandy's father, furious, barged into Rosainte's home and demanded that Rosainte's parents stop him from seeing Sandy again. It was then that everything changed in a way Rosainte never expected.
When John laid eyes on Rosainte's mother, Mary, something broke inside him. The anger that had consumed him slowly faded, replaced by a deeper, more complicated emotion—tears. The revelation that shook Rosainte to his core was that John wasn't just Sandy's father—he was his too. The man who had never been there for him, the father he had never known, was standing right in front of him. The world he had built around himself, the life he thought was his, crumbled.
In that moment, Rosainte felt his heart shatter. All the pain he had tried to bury, all the feelings of abandonment, rushed to the surface. His world, his dreams, his love for Sandy—it all felt meaningless now. He was consumed by the realization that he had been living a lie.
But as he sat alone in the darkness of his room, tears streaming down his face, something miraculous happened. He woke up.
It wasn't real. It had all been a dream—an intense, emotional dream sparked by an argument he had had with his mother about his father's absence.
The dream taught him something profound—that life doesn't always give you what you want, but it always gives you what you need. Through the pain, he realized that everything happens for a reason. He didn't need to chase after the father he never had. He didn't need to seek approval from anyone who had left him behind.
Rosainte woke up that morning, full of gratitude. He walked straight to his mother, hugged her tightly, and promised to never again take her love for granted. He understood now that the people who truly cared for him were the ones worth holding onto.
In the end, there was no curse. Instead, there was a new blessing—a lesson in love, in forgiveness, and in the understanding that sometimes, the family we choose is more important than the one we are born into.