Chapter One : Before

Before the cyclone, there were over ninety formal houses and countless informal structures in the small village that l live at in-between Chipinge and Chimanimani but today only one house survived whilst the rest became part of the ramble that was flushed away by the great waters. If you ask us, really inquire of us, if we knew that the cyclone was coming? We will totally agree that indeed we knew but what we didn’t know was what it was and what it could do! Being in region one where there is vast rainfall and high temperatures normally we assumed that the weather forecasts and early warning systems meant that a cyclone was just more heavy rains and wind therefore we resumed our daily lives as usual only to be caught vulnerable by an uppercut that left us decimated on the canvas. My name doesn't matter but for the sake of progress ,please understand that what l am about to tell you won’t matter until you understand that l was just like you before l became a victim, a beneficiary, something l never thought or dreamed to be, void! By profession l was a school teacher but by skill l was a barber on weekends when l was usually free. Abigail Mlambo, a black beauty that had this dimple and aurora around her that made me smile every time she spoke, was my wife, my best friend and my Nubian queen l meet 20 years ago. Our eldest child was 19 years old, the second born was 17 years old, the third was 15 years old and the last born is 2 years old, the only girl ,survivor, my princess and world!

If l had time l would tell you extensively about what my kids used to like and do and what my wife’s favorite meal and song was, the finer things in life and priceless moments but because l need you to understand what happened on that Friday, that dark day, I will tell you of the things that truly matter. It began with a loud thunder,l mean the one they only show and make in horror movies. You could swear someone had stepped on a up close landmine but the sound was so intense and loud that even people in Mozambique felt it the same time we did! In that moment, there where no borders, no wards, nothing besides the fight for survival! There was total darkness,it was so scary and overwhelmingly dark that you couldn't even see your hands up close properly. I remember jumping to the side when the first boulder hit the family hut,it wasn't instinct or luck,l was reading my Bible as usual before l tuck in to bed when l heard a huge sound that followed the thunder.It was like someone rowing a boat in a quiet river and the fish were all oblivious to the net and traps that had been cast! When l jumped to the side and the boulder ate the entire kitchen away! It didn't have to be dark or bright for me to understand that l had to run for my life!

With no time to gather anything or prepare at all, l flew out of the house! Yes my friend,l flew! You see the family hut had a one way 'enter and exit' door and the boulder had carved a picasso out of that normality. The windows were gone, the bedroom doors were all gone or carved in to a point of no recognition at all and what was left was a big hole on the roof that l flew bare footed from until l hit the ground rolling as l escaped. It was on my second step after hitting the ground that l realised l couldn't run any further without looking for my child.