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2024-10-29 19:42:56Somewhere, in one of the great and iconic countries of East Africa was a small town. It was in this small town that two among God’s wonderful creation met and fulfilled one of the greatest commandments. They fell in love. Not too long after, a miracle happened and a boy child was born. No amount of effort could fade the joy and smile on their faces upon holding him in their hands. It was a miraculous and glorious moment.
As it turned out, they surely had a reason to praise God in thanksgiving for the special gift. Years later, he grew… no, wait a minute… well, I grew to fulfill my destiny, as it was the will of God. The name of my Country is Kenya, and, that of my town, the great Meru. It was after very many years of challenges and what some might refer to as ignorance and failures that I finally figured myself and the true purpose of my birth.
God Almighty brought me to this earth as a messenger of his True word to his p
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AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape 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
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape 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
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape 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
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape 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
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape 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
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape 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
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape 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
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape 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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- AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Somewhere, in one of the great and iconic countries of East Africa was a small town. It was in this small town that two among God’s wonderful creation met and fulfilled one of the greatest commandments. They fell in love. Not too long after, a miracle happened and a boy child was born. No amount of effort could fade the joy and smile on their faces upon holding him in their hands. It was a miraculous and glorious moment.As it turned out, they surely had a reason to praise God in thanksgiving for the special gift. Years later, he grew… no, wait a minute… well, I grew to fulfill my destiny, as it was the will of God. The name of my Country is Kenya, and, that of my town, the great Meru. It was after very many years of challenges and what some might refer to as ignorance and failures that I finally figured myself and the true purpose of my birth.God Almighty brought me to this earth as a messenger of his True word to his p
- AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape
Chapter 29
This was hard for him to accept but promised to do something about it. He was also advised on maintaining his cleanliness to avoid being mistaken for someone he was not. He was to shave his overgrown hair and beard as well as shower regularly. He promised to do all this. Finally, the officer was done and she left. James was so much astonished by the fact. He could never comprehend an officer caring so much about anyone. He realized the world still had people with humanity and doing the right things the right way.All day long, he just thought of what the lady officer had told him. To some point, it all made sense to him to get in touch with his loved ones. In fact, this being away from them made him even worse. He decided to head to the bar and have a drink as he thought about it. He sipped bottle after bottle. This day, the beers would not cut it. He decided to go for a stronger choice. He decided to take spirits. After draining two bottles of this direct injection, he switc
- AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape
Chapter 28
James did not respond to any questions she asked. He was in a bad state of hangover. The officer did not mind and just kept at asking the questions. Finally, James got himself together and started answering the questions. She wanted to know why he would waste his life so bad. James gave lame answers all the time. He did not tell the officer anything about his life nor why he did whatever he was doing. Every time he would tell her that, it was his destiny and that life was not always fare.This got the officer even more interested in knowing more about James. She finally released him. James could not comprehend why an officer would care about his life. It was not in the nature of police officers to care about the wellbeing of the people to that level. He could not get the reason for her interest and that is why he answered questions in a lame manner. As it seemed, the only time a police officer would care to know about someone is if the person is in trouble or has caused some
- AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape
Chapter 27
A few years later, Vero graduated from college. She had not gotten herself another boyfriend because she was still in love with James and was willing to keep on hoping he would come back. Carol too and her friends graduated from school but had not done as well as Vero. Most of their time in college was spent on partying and exploiting whomever they could for money to pay for their parties. James’ parents had already given up hope of their son ever coming back home or getting in touch with them again.For James, his money was no more. He had nothing from his land sales. He was now depending on odd jobs for money to pay for his companion. One day, he took a little too much. He also mixed it with the stress from his life. Normally, when alcohol and stress are mixed inside one’s system, things do not go so well. It becomes a very explosive and deadly mixture. This is what James had done. The mixture did give in and he decided to get it out on people. He fought one of
- AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape
Chapter 26
After the two weeks were over, it was time for the verdict by the jury. James, Vero and Jude went to the court for the listening of the verdict. Carol and Timon too were present for the hearing. The results from the hospital had been done and given to the court. This day, there was no listening of the case anymore but the final verdict by the jury. After a short while of waiting, the judge entered and the hearing session began. The judge read the jury’s verdict.JUDGE: The final hearing of the case of Caroline Njema Mutuku against James Mwendi Kaburia. The test results from the hospital were forwarded to the court as requested and the jury was able to come up with the verdict for this case. From the testimonies that were given against James in this court, it is clear that, none of the witnesses actually witnessed the incident. Therefore, it was hard for the court to prove that in deed James forced himself on Carol. However, the results from the hospital sh
- AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape
Chapter 25
JAMES: It is because no one was in the rooms. Being on a weekend, they had all gone out to various places. If I had escaped, how then did the police find me in the room when they arrested me?TIMON: How then did your shirt end up torn and with bloodstains in the hands of Carol.JUDE: Objection your honor.JUDGE: Objection overruled. Answer the question please.JAMES: I cannot know how she got the shirt blood stained and torn but what I do know is I had left it with my girlfriend Vero when I visited her.TIMON: You say you did not force yourself on her but the results from the hospital indicate otherwise. How is this, James?JAMES: Well, I did say that I slept with Carol but she claimed to love me and begged me to do it. What I did not do is force myself on her. Whatever that happened after I left the hostel, I cannot explain.TIMON: Are you saying that Carol is lying to the court?JAMES: No. I have not said such words. What I a
- AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape
Chapter 24
After Carol gave her side of the story, it was time for James to give his side of the story too. The court clerk read him his rights and he decided to cross over to the other side to the witness stand. At this stand, he was sworn and he was viable to be asked questions. He was sworn by his counselor and on he went to tell his story.JADE: Can you please tell the court your full name as indicated on your I.D Card?JAMES: My name is James Mwendi Kaburia.JADE: Can you tell the court where you were and what happened on the afternoon of Friday last week?JAMES: Yes. I had just come from my morning classes and had no other lesson that day. Since it was a weekend, I decided to surprise my girlfriend by visiting her without telling her. I left my hostel and walked to Vero’s hostel. When I arrived in their room, I knocked and the door was answered. I met Carol, who was busy doing her tidiness. I greeted her and asked her of Vero’s ware bouts. She told
- AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape
Chapter 23
After Susan and Damaris finished giving their testimony, it was time for Carol to give her side of the story. She was the plaintiff. The prosecutor called her to the stand. As usual, she started by saying her names and swearing that she was to tell the truth. She placed her right hand on the Bible and went ahead to swear. After she was done, it was time for her to give her story.TIMON: Can you please tell the court your official name as it appears on your I.D card.CAROL: My name is Caroline Njema Mutuku.TIMON: Carol, can you tell the court what happened on Friday afternoon.CAROL: I had just finished my classes and got back to my hostel room. My friends and roommates had gone out and therefore, I was alone in the room. As I was tidying our room, I heard a knock at the door. I went forward to open. It was James. I welcomed him inside. He asked me of Vero’s ware bouts and I told him that, she had gone out. He tried to call her but her
- AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape
Chapter 22
JUDGE: Objection overruled. You may proceed with the question.JADE: Thank you your honor. So, Susan, you say that, you believed what Carol told you because she was your friend and hurt, right?SUSAN: Yes. Carol is my friend and I believed her every word. She also looked to be in pain and she was half-naked with her inner clothes torn.JADE: Did you notice anything apart from what you have just told the court?SUSAN: No, that is all that I saw.JADE: So, there was no blood on Carol’s clothes or torn inner wears?TIMON: Objection your honor. It is obvious for the victim who is Carol in this case to bleed after James forced himself on her.JADE: Your honor, it is necessary for the witness to state whether she saw the blood on any of Carol’s clothes when she met her.JUDGE: Objection overruled. You may proceed with the question.JADE: Thank you your honor. So… Susan, did you see any blood on Carol&r
