THE MYSTERY OF LIFE This is a short story about a young girl who lived miserably after the death of her mother.For her life was meaningless, she was disturbed with bad dreams and even attempted suicide.Read more to find out what happened...

Darkness came all over the place and Lizzy was still deep in sleep. The thought of her dead mother were still crawling in her mind. There was no peace in her life since the sudden passing of her mother. She could hear voices calling her name, and shadows of dead being were her daily dreams. She sought help from different healers but to no avail. Everyone was coming with a different story and she could not take it any more.
Her mother- Deborah- died peacefully in her bed after a short illness. She left Lizzy with no one else to look after as she was the only child. Little Liz as she was affectionately known, was still in her grade 11 when this tragedy happened. The world became still to her, she even cursed the day she was born. Everything for her seemed to be useless including life itself. The thought of taking her own life with chemicals at school flashed her mind over and over. Hello! Can I take you half way? I see you are tired, isn't it? One of the city guys asked Lizzy with a lovely mood. She was on her way to school, walking on a scorching heat of the sun. “No thanks, said Lizzy with a forceful smile on her face. The young man looked at her as she walked away, her high legs beating on each other. He thought to himself, I am going to get that girl’.
A week elapsed and Lizzy was still struggling when going to school. She began dragging her feet and sometimes skipping lessons because of her disturbing situation. One day as she was sitting under the marula tree in her late mother’s compound, a small vehicle was moving slowly towards her house. Her heart began to raise the beat, wondering who the person might be. As the car came closer she noticed one thing; the same man who insisted to drop her by the school. ‘Who showed him my place, or he is just passing by’. She stood up and went inside the house. Endless thoughts poured out in her mind when suddenly she heard a knock at the door. The knock continued for a while without an answer. ‘Stop harassing my door’, a voice came through the window.Lizzy was very angry at the man and at the same time afraid to open the door, thinking badly about the man. He wants to bring trouble to me, what will my teacher say when they see a man in my house. But maybe he could help me, anyway. Her mind was full of confusion, many unanswered questions.

When a man wants something he perseveres no matter the circumstance. There was silence for a while as if there is someone dead.Lizzy went to the door trembling with fear and opened it slowly. ‘I have come to see you’, the man said stretching out his hand to exchange greetings. Lizzy was speechless, trying to speak but only bubbling words. They sat down and the young man began pouring out his feelings towards Lizzy. In his hands he had four smart phones as a way of showing off in order to conquer her heart. ‘Wow! He seems to be very rich’, thought Lizzy. She was even not concentrating on the speech of the man, but her eyes were glued to the phones he was holding, the kind of car he was driving and even what he was wearing.
Lizzy started to glow and everyday she was dropped and picked by at school. Everything seemed to be going well for her. She was now staying with her boyfriend at his house, gong once in a while to check her late mother’s house. One day as she was coming from her house, David- her boyfriend- called her. ‘Baby, why can’t you sell that place and do something for your life? It is not safe going there alone and… What! Lizzy contradicted him with a surprise on her face. You know I don’t have relatives darling, where am I going to stay? David embraced her like a child. ‘Listen to me my love, you are safe here with me and I want to talk to my uncle about taking you to be my wife’. Lizzy was over the moon after hearing this ‘good news’. She was already a ‘wife’ because she has been living with a man in the house, doing all household chores, washing and cooking, to the point of forgetting her own school assignments.
Words are cheap and easy to say. If God could have made it possible to read someone’s thoughts and see what’s inside the heart,Lizzy could have long known the intentions of his boyfriend. After selling her mother’s plot, she only remembers buying clothes for herself. David was in control of everything not even a cent he has been able to save in the bank account. The addiction to alcohol and drugs, sleeping around with different ladies is where the money has gone. It became clear to her that the guy wanted to use her, but not caring about her future.
Lizzy found herself in the bottom of the pit again; pregnant without completing her studies and David was coming very late at home, sometimes not at all giving endless excuses of work. The promises she received were not being fulfilled at all, and when she tries to ask, a slap on her face was the answer. She became very sick due to stress, depression and the pregnancy was not normal as she experienced some bleeding at times. As she was dragging herself to the nearby clinic, she saw a rope on her way, life became meaningless for her and she thought the solution is in the rope and the tree. When David was phoned it was already too late.