All Chapters of AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10
31 chapters
PREFACE
In The Years I Have Lived, I Have Seen And Learnt Various Things. Some Good And Others Bad As Well. Most Importantly, I Have Come To The Conclusion That, The Most Unsupportive And Unfriendly Being Of All Creation Is Humankind.Despite All The Brain Power, Abilities And Gifts From God, We Have Evolved to Use Them The Wrong Way And For The Wrong Reasons. Leaving Love And Friendship As Just Mare Words. Words We Only Use And Value To Serve Only Selves And None Other. The Virtues We Are Supposed To Uphold, We Disregard.We Have Created Our Own Sickening Paths To Follow. Life Is A Gift From God. It Was Never Meant To Be A Nightmare But... We Thrive Each Day To Achieve This For One Another. Unity, Efforts And Determination Matters No More But Achievements In Terms Of Material Things.We Despise Those Without Yet, None Of Us Knows What Tommorow Holds. The Gifts We Get From God For Free, We Sell The Highest. Patience And Courage We Lost Eons Ago.It Is A Sickening
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Chapter 1
“I just wish someone could tell me the sayings were not just that, but, guides to a sophisticated map to be used in the future. I could have taken my time in the English class, you know! Moreover, that teacher, one whom I always found inducing my sleep every time she opened her mouth talking about them. I could have given her my attention.” This was James talking to himself in his mind as he sat on an anthill at the far end of their farm. He was dressed in ragged clothes. The clothes looked like the robes of an ancient warrior stripped off his armor after a fierce battle in a muddy arena. They were full of mud and hardly could anybody tell their true color. In his hand, he held a broken panga (Machete) but well sharpened. In the other hand, he held a rope and an old tattered sack. It is this hand that, he also supported his chin with as he stared. In his feet was a pair of black old patched wellington boots. Looking at him, one could not help but understand the importance of educatio
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Chapter 2
“Our father who art heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil, for thy is the kingdom, the power, and glory forever and ever, Amen.” This was a prayer by James early in the morning, as he was getting ready to start his day. He always kept his faith and in touch with God. He was one very energetic determined and hardworking young man who had a whole life ahead of him. He was not wrestling-big body wise but he had just enough strength. He had to find something else to do as he endured the long wait for his results to know which path his life had to trend. Ever since he was in school, James happened to be a hard-working young man and had a dream and a vision to be an industrious man. We cannot say that he was a genius though. On a scale of one to ten, he scored a seven and
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Chapter 3
As always, every market place has a mad man. In this Munyari High School, there was one mad woman? Every student loved him save for one girl in particular.Sometimes, it is known for students to hate teachers for being punished. Others hate them for being strict and the many assignments they give. For James and this student, neither of those cases caused the hatred but something else. As we all know, teenagers are a complicated group of people.As James was busy in class trying to get the students up to speed in mathematics, there was this girl Julia that never saw a teacher but something else. To her, James was a potential boyfriend and the perfect lover so to speak. Julia was so much fancied by James beyond her control. As the others were busy looking at the sums on the board, she was busy stripping him down. She had stripped him in her imagination for so long that, she could no longer keep it inside. She had to burst her heart out and tell James how she felt about h
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Chapter 4
Early the following morning, he arrived at school first. He was the teacher on duty. As he was going round the classrooms, he saw Julia smile as he entered their class.He could not understand why she had to smile at him yet he had let her down the previous day. Knowing that Julia was a crazy one, he knew she might have opened him the gates of hell. He could feel the scorching heat already by looking through her eyes. As he was walking out, one other student followed and caught up with him. James stopped walking to hear what the student had to say. To his surprise, Julia had told most of her classmates about it. The student got concerned and decided to tell James about it.It confirmed the gates of hell were really opened and the devil was ready with the big fork. He told the student to disregard the story because nothing had happened. The student was kind enough to tell James what Julia had waiting for him. She had told everyone including her parents that, James had s
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Chapter 5
On his way home, James could not understand why life had proven to be so tough on him. To some extent, he thought something he did that God was not happy about and suffering was the punishment. On the other side, being a Christian, he properly understood that God could never do such a thing to him. He is a forgiving God. In conclusion, James thought of it as the suffering he had to go through to salvation.Mr. Peterson had been a principal for such a long time to know that students can be cunning sometimes. He sent James on the suspension because he needed to release the tension in school and so that he could have a good time to know the truth about the matter.He knew that once Julia saw James go, she could show her reaction and from this, he could tell what happened. After all, he was sure that Julia would eventually want to show herself to the others and tell them the whole story. One thing there is for a fact is that a teenager was, is and will always
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Chapter 6
After a few days later, it was time for him to have his fate sealed. He could not imagine what was awaiting him back at school. He prepared himself and left early enough.Maxine still could not leave his side for she was the first to wish him victory via a text message that morning. This got James warmed up and elevated his hopes that God was to stand by his side and be his Judge.James did not have the fear of losing the case for nothing. In the current world, James knew that being accused of rape and getting off the hook was a miracle. A girl child was not to be easily defeated on this matter.Indeed, things did not go as bad as James thought. During hearing of the case, Julia still stood by her accusations against James. On the other end, James stood by his innocence. Luckily enough, the students were willing to testify to save James from Julia’s satanic trap. Julia was not aware of this and she never could expect anything of that kind. As
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Chapter 7
A few weeks later, it was time for the previous year’s candidates to harvest what they had planted. It was time for the O level examination results to be announced. James, being one of them could not get hold of his emotions.Finally, the day came and the results were announced. Lucky enough, these results came out as James had expected. He had excelled in the examination with excellence.James was in a position to join the public university to continue his studies. The good results also got his job as a teacher justified and guaranteed until he joined the university.James’ girlfriend Maxine was not as lucky as he was. She had done well but not well enough to join the public university. This was not good news to either of them because they hoped to have qualified for the public university so that they can join the same university.Unlucky for them, this was not to happen. That meant that, for them to continue enjoying the joy of being in love
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Chapter 8
His first day at the university revealed yet another secret. This is where the real meaning of freedom was viable and put to action. Unlike in high school, here there were no uniforms for the students. That was one barrier broken but it did mean something else too. The fact that there was no uniform was yet another sign of every man for himself and God for us all. James was fine with that. This he could handle perfectly.Having spent the last year depending on himself was a jog to his memory that he was no longer the mother’s boy. On the other end, university life can be traumatizing for those without proper cause of joining it. This is where the laws of nature are defied most for its only here that you find the daughter of a minister and that of a peasant sit in the same room in battle with a common enemy, illiteracy as they say.James could not get bored with this. To him, having an opportunity to meet this diverse group of people and to be an engineer was all
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Chapter 9
James had no clue whatsoever of what was happening back at home. He continued his studies well through to the end of the semester.As usual, the semester was over and he went home. Later, the results were out and he gave his parents. Upon giving them, this time they did not congratulate him as usual and had many questions to ask him.James could not understand why his parents reacted in that manner and why the many questions. Nonetheless, he just assumed they were having a bad season. As James was enjoying his holiday, he noticed that something was not quite right with his parents.He noted that his relationship with his parents was slowly by slowly beating the bush. He was happy that his parents appreciated him and his efforts once again and could not let that go away. He could not live with this and he had to ask about it. Upon asking about it, they hardly said anything. All they said was that everything was fine.James did not bother to ask anymore but
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