The day before yesterday, Hana could not get a full night sleep seeing that quite a lot of things were flickering through her mind. She was restless and inattentive. She easily got angry and sad over and over again. Even worse, she fought like cats and dogs with everyone without any reason.
One fine morning, when birds set in motion singing harmonious songs early in the morning, she woke up all at once. She was furious with the birds. Though she wanted to sleep late owing to some unforeseen reasons, she was not able to materialize her dreams. By hook or crook, she did not want to break the news, which was going in and out of her mind. She was simply cursing her rotten luck.
For the sake of her children’s daily bread, Hana worked like a dog now and again. No matter what happened in life, she did not give up hope. Furthermore, she always struggled with life challenges for her children’s daily bread.
After Hana took counsel with herself, she headed straight to her restaurant found in the environs of Bole. As she could not pay back the money she borrowed from a certain bank, she was always worried about her children’s destiny and what the last of them would be down the road. She did not know how to rescue them. She was as nervous as a cat.
Hana was from a heavy pursued family who believed firmly in helping others and rescuing people from troubles shackling their hands and feet. Nothing made her happier than helping the needy because she knew the fact that the secret of success was giving but not taking.
In the same way, as Hana was not a penny-pincher, she was in the habit of spending money like water. For quite a lot of years, she was a solution to people’s problems. She hated to death penny pinchers. She was ready to get to the bottom of peoples’ problems in a short time.
As time went by, Hana’s life turned upside down in a little while and everything kept on jumping from the frying pan into the fire. She was between the hammer and the anvil. She sometimes cried her eyes out behind her children’s back.
In the past whenever Hana’s alter egos showered her with pieces of advice not to spend money like water, she turned a deaf ear. She simply quoted the Bible and verses. She said, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“…Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek… Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Hana was a strong advocate of God’s word. She always puts her trust in the lord.
When her friends realized the fact that she was in the red, they jump-started giving the cold shoulder. Even worse, they spread the news like wildfire. Hana was thankful in all things. As she was a religious person, she did not get angry at God and hold a grudge against anyone.
Be that as it may, Hana’s housemaid, Rosa had lived with Hana under the same roof for more than twenty years. She was treated like a queen. Rosa’s parents were above the dead and below the living. Aside from supporting Rosa’s parents financially, Hana was treating Rosa like her own daughter.
The instant Rosa completed high school with flying colors, she joined one of the higher learning institutions of the country and studied civil engineering. Over time, she got married and left for America and began leading a luxurious life. Due to their determination and hard work, Rosa and her husband turned out to be mega-rich almost immediately.
One fine day, when Rosa learned the fact that Hana’s residential house and restaurant were going to be sold in auction, she could not believe her ears. She got terrified. After so many struggles with her ideas, thoughts, and feelings, she decided to rescue the family as soon as possible.
“I should do something to the woman whom I consider as my mother, Hana. She had been by the side of my parents and myself for years. She is the secret behind my success and I am the outcome of her kindness and optimism. Besides, I have the courage to say, she is the oxygen I breathe in every so often. I love her very much. My life is incomplete without her. Had not been for her, my parents and I would have remained under extreme poverty,” said Rosa to herself.
Earlier than the auction day, Rosa came to Addis Ababa without Hana’s knowledge. As she wanted to do the whole thing behind closed doors and surprise Hana and Hana’s children, she did not want to break the news in a jiffy.
When the day approached, Rosa hurried to the auction house. All the family members were available there. Nobody had recognized her except for her biological parents.
Little by little, the long-awaited auction began. Hana simply went far deep in thought. She had butterflies in her stomach. At a loss what to do, she jump-started crying her eyes out. The entire family did not know what they had to do as they were going to lose their residential house and restaurant in the blink of an eye.
In due course, Rosa won the auction. This time, Hana and her children gave up hope and began crying their eyes out. When Rosa unveiled herself, Hana’s parents could not believe their eyes. Everybody was perplexed at the stroke of a pen. Hana and her children thought that Rosa had bought the residential house and the restaurant for her biological parents.
All and sundry were trembling with fear.
In this interval, Rosa rose to her feet and cleared her throat and said, “As long as I am your daughter and you are my mother, and your children are my sisters, nobody can buy your residential house and restaurant. I will buy all the necessary things for the restaurant and you will get back to your business. As long as I am alive, nobody can purchase your properties.”
When Rosa handed the keys to Hana, she could not believe her eyes. She burst into tears. She did not know how to thank Rosa. Tears were simply running over her cheeks. She could not control her emotions. As Hana’s children could not believe their eyes, they knelt on the floor and started shouting at the top of their lungs. They felt as if a huge weight was off their bodies.
“You are my real daughter. You are my rescuer. You have saved the entire family. May God repay your kindness. You are the apple of my eye. You have sown the seeds of happiness. I do not know how to repay your kindness. I do not know how to thank you for your thoughtfulness,” said Hana fighting back tears.
The Ethiopian Herald Sept 25 /2019
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
