In suburbs of Nairobi city, was a young light-skinned girl about the age of ten years, in a deep slumber on a heap of compost. It was quite a chilly morning, impossible to contemplate how the girl survived the night in her tattered clothes, and additionally, near the banks of the river. Darkness was still in a fight with light as birds usher in a new day with their beautiful voices.
Her counterparts were spread over, some were beside the road, others inside those massive dustbins and those who were lucky, inside culverts enjoying their peaceful sleep. The weather drastically changed, rains started drizzling, which made these beautiful kids so happy, even though it interrupted their sleep. The young girl sleeping on a compost only opened her eyes, still figuring out what's going on. Her fellows on the other hand, jumped up and down in the rains as other people ran as fast as their legs could carry them seeking shelter.
"Wanjiku wake up!" One boy shouted from a distance. He looked about seven years old, and extremely joyful regardless of the life he was living. The rains accumulated people close to the building near these kids, and they were forced to watch them as they wait for the rains to be over. Mixed emotions were posted on these people's faces, some were so emotional that tears drizzled down their cheeks.
The girl on the compost, sat up and stretched her hands ahead then faced up with such a relief like she had been saved from a nightmare. The rain washed away all the dirt from her head, her face and clothes she was wearing. Her face revealed, and honestly, she was a beauty. She had blue eyes, her smile was adorable, her hair was black, soft and long. You could read from people's faces how gorgeous of a person she was. The sad emotions were wiped away with her beauty, and everybody was all smiles.
She drunk water from the rain, they all did, and their excitement was a clear impression to anyone that water was a needle in haystack for them. She eventually stood up and walked down the river as people continued staring, but she didn't give two hoots about them. Down the river, from a distance, were five structures set up with old, rusty iron sheets covered with old nylon papers just beside the stream.
Before she arrived to these structures, a high demeaning voice came from one of them, "You filthy poor child of Satan. I told you to always show your pathetic self early so my customers are not kept waiting." Wanjiku looked unbothered, she just walked into the house and in a seconds time, she was thrown out and fell on the ground with a thud. A couple of people in the house were heard laughing, and as Wanjiku tried to collect herself from the ground, a huge woman, almost six feet tall walked out of one of the structures and scooped her off the ground like a ball.
"It won't happen again! Let me make it up to you Mrs. Anyango! Forgive me!" Wanjiku cried on top of her voice. The huge lady, who she referred to as Mrs. Anyango threw her on the mud and threatened to drown her if she repeats again. Other kids just watched helplessly, and as Mrs. Anyango walked inside, Wanjiku lied there on her back while covering her face as if danger was heading her way.
"Come here!" Mrs. Anyango shouted. She quickly picked herself from the mud and ran into the iron sheet house, then she came out with a five litre jerry can in her left hand and a metal cup in her right hand. All her body was covered in mud, luckily, the drizzling rain washed the mud away as she walked to the streets. "Porridge, porridge" She advertised with a squeaky voice. No one could hear her, considering the commotion and noise in the city.
She later, gradually walked away from the people to an open space, where the city's round about was situated and sat on it, then stared into thin air. In that moment, it started pouring heavily but Wanjiku didn't move an inch. Her behavior bothered a couple of people, who were shouting at her to get out of rain but their efforts bore no fruit. She acted as if she was alone in the streets, and being a busy road, with fast moving vehicles, no one could risk to come to her.
After few minutes of raining, the huge woman, Mrs. Anyango was seen from a distance walking towards Wanjiku. She had this big black trench coat, and black gumboots holding an umbrella on top of her head. She looked pissed as she walked towards Wanjiku. Numerous cars were using the round about, so she couldn't find her way to Wanjiku just sooner.
"Wanjiku!" She shouted, but her luck preceded that of Wanjiku, traffic jam built up and gave her a chance to access Wanjiku, but just after she crossed to the other side, traffic jam loosened. "She's coming! She's coming!" The other street children shouted, and fortunately, their sound landed on Wanjiku's ears. The moment she turned where they pointed, a hard slap landed on her cheeks sending her to the ground. She looked unconscious for a second there but quickly picked herself up and ran away.
She didn't get far though, considering the fast movements of cars. One black SUV caught up with her, and she was thrown almost five meters away from the car, leaving her totally unconscious as blood oozed from her mouth and ears. Mrs. Anyango disappeared into the crowd after the accident.
Some of the people sheltering from the rains rushed to where she was lying with little care about the rains. "Is she dead?" One woman asked in a shaking voice. One huge man alighted the SUV that hit her, and walked to where she was lying. "I'm the owner of the car." He spoke with a low tone. "What do you want!" A disappointed woman in the crowd shouted. "I apologize on behalf of my driver, but I'm willing to take responsibility and pay for her hospital bills." He apologized. Few men helped Wanjiku to the car, and the SUV drove away.