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A stolen womb
#WritcoStoryPrompt2
A wet leaf fell on her shoulder making her jump in fear. Startled she shifted from her hiding place behind the bush.
She could not believe that she fell asleep there...
For a nano second she could not conceive how it came about that she should be lying there. The flimsy coast she was wearing was covered with tear-size droplets of dew which rested upon her while she was overtaken by the slumber.
A feeling of ambivalence overcame her. She was relieved that while hiding in the bush she fell asleep till morning. On the other hand she fell foolish that she allowed herself to fall asleep at such a life and death moment.
It was a small voice deep inside her which made her come out of her reverie. She decided to listen to the voice, her conscience telling her that this was no time to think of what was or what could have been. The time was to think about the dilemma right in front of her.
She could not believe that she was so careless. A dilemma... Was that the best phrase she could come up with? A rustle and a slight moaning from a bundle lying next to her feet brought her back to real life. For a moment she had lost touch with her surroundings and her circumstances.
Quickly bending down to grab the small bundle on the ground she could not believe that she was that reckless.
A wave of guilt clutched at her heart and resonated deep into her soul. She was lucky... The small voice accused her again that while she was asleep no damage was done. She could not believe how lucky she was. She felt that it was a great miracle because she knew that if something awful had occurred she could not have forgiven herself.
There was no way she could be forgiven because she would feel much worse than the people she was running from. She would be just as bad as those monsters. With the bundle lifted from the grass and safely in her hands her mind trailed of to the events which brought her where she was.

It all started with a small advert in a newspaper. It was a day she would never forget. She was out of her luck as her mother who had been riddled with cancer had just passed on. It had taken a great toll on her. Not employed and living on her mother's monthly grant she could not afford paying for her mother's health care. So she personally looked after her mother.
When her mother died she was also on the brink of dying herself. With luck the glitch in the system allowed her to continue getting her mother's grant even when she was dead.
Her luck ran out as some bureaucrat found out the mistakes and letters started piling up on her porch threatening an eminent arrest for fraud. She had no resources to fight the system and she was afraid of being sent to jail. While slouching on her stale coffee as her food supply had long diminished ;the advert came to her as a miracle.
" A young couple needs an equal young and energetic female to look after their young son with special needs..." The advert went on and on but what caught her attention was that the job was a live in job and that the pay was surprisingly exciting. This was an offer that she could not turn down.
Now standing there freezing in the early morning cold she realized what a trap she really found herself. The dream turned into a nightmare.
At first it all started well. She had to look after a 5 year old boy who had a speech problem. The boy was well looked after. Well fed and well clothed. But he was shy, reserved and at times a little bit jumpy.
She loved the boy and she tried everything to comfort him and to be close to him. But all her efforts failed as the boy seemed to be moving even further away from her. What she could not understand was the boy's relationship with his parents. It was not often that the parents came in to see him but once in a while when the came to peep on him that mother son o parent bond was not there.
She did not want to read much into the situation. Having not had any children of her own she could not tell what good or bad parenting was. All that she knew was that for the best part of her life she took care of her mother until she passed on. With no family of her own she new that these people who have hired her are her lifesavers. She was not going to bite the hand that was feeding her or even look the gift horse in the mouth.
She was there and she was going to do her best to keep this family happy. The wife and husband had done well for themselves at their age. At some stage she was even envious of their wealth. She did not see much of them but the glimpse of them that she caught was how exuberantly expensive they dress.
The cars parked across the mansion that could be described as a ranch were equally expensive. They had a boat as well as small plane with its own take off and landing strip. She could not start to understand how people do young could amass such a wealth. But she attributed everything to having been born with a silver spoon_or golden spoon in one's mouth.
There were security all around the place. Half of the plot was a river where the boat was stationed. The other side was a stretch of a bush and overgrown shrubs. A thought crossed her mind that this place was secluded and not easy to escape from. Her little voice rebuked her for thinking of an escape. Instead of appreciating the beauty of this place as compared to the past she was running from she was already thinking of escaping. How ungrateful she was as this place was supposed to be her sanctuary for her fraud case.
She did her best to look after the boy. If he looked cared for and not scared like he always looked her future would be set. But no matter how hard she tried the status quo remained the same. Although she told herself to hang on.
Now in hindsight she realized that the boys behaviour turned out to be a warning on the wall. But she failed to see the warnings all written there.
The new job had given her hope. The place was a good hiding place from her past. The house was a huge mansion. There were wings of the house where she was not allowed to tread into. Once in a while when it was all quiet and the boy was engrossed with TV channels, she would investigate.

Her life took a drastic turn when she was sent to one of the rooms and told that their in house doctor conducts general check us for all their workers. She had seen many of the other employees but her bosses had zero tolerance for workers socializing with others. She learned very early to keep to herself.
At times she would see pregnant women around. Different faces of pregnant women she saw. Now that she recalls she realizes how unhappy and empty they looked. But she was too happy to have left her past in the past. She was going to keep he nose out of other people's business.
After her physical checkup with the in doctor; things took a turn for the worst. She started throwing up and later on she gained weight. A lot of weight. She realized that she was pregnant. At that stage she was moved to the secret wing of the house At first she was told its for her safety. But she soon realized that it was for her isolation.
The general check up she had undergone_ the papsmear done on her was actually artificially insemination.

She discovered the hard way that the women she saw coming in and disappearing where unknowingly inseminated during their false check up. They were later held without their consent. After giving birth their babies where snatched out of their embrace and sold to their highest bidder.
After being held captive for months on end she finally gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She was torn between the child she gave birth to and what was done to her. What is a mother? She had to ask herself as she new the embryo transferred into her uterus was not hers. But she carried the child for nine months. Standing there with a bundle of a newborn baby she was wondering what her next step will be. She didn't know how he got out of the clutches of those monsters a wiggle in her hands brought her back to reality. Her battle was just beginning...
© Baipedi Christina Tebogo Mosebi