The search of the father

Some years ago when mobile phones was not being used, only landline and post office to send letters, there was a girl from the coast of Papua New Guinea, who had a pan-pal from the Highland, Wabag, in Enga Province. For years they sent letters through their school address, but never met face to face.

After grade 10 graduation they agreed to meet up, and the girl would go up to the highland to meet her long loved one she had never met in real life.

Right after the graduation Sharmella board a ship, without informing her parents or her relatives where she was going, even her best friends, and shore at Lae Port. She jumped at a bus that was heading to Mt Hagen. She had never been to any part of the Highlands region before. She only followed the instructions from her pan-pal on how to catch the bus from Lae to Mt Hagen, and from Hagen to Wabag, and he would pick her up at Wabag bus stop.

She arrived at Wabag bus stop and waited for her husband to be to pick her up. She waited for hours but there was no sign of anyone coming to confronted her.

Someone saw her jumped out of the bus, but he wasn’t paying much attention to her has he thought she reside somewhere in the Highlands. She waited and waited, and Nelson spotted her again on the same spot where he first saw her. When he saw her she was too worried and confused and was waiting for someone. He slowly get closed to her and asked how she was.

“I’m OK,” said Sharmella. “I am just waiting for my husband to pick me up. He will be here shortly.”

Another hours passed and it’s almost dark. Nelson came back and saw her standing at the same spot. She didn’t even moved because her loved one told her to stand beside a specific tree so he could easily identify her. He came to her again and asked her the second time. “Are you OK?”

“I’m OK,” answered Sharmella.

“I see the place is going dark and I didn’t see anyone coming to pick someone up,” replied Nelson. “If you don’t mind I could stand beside you and keep you company till your husband arrived.”

Sharmella agreed. They both waited for her husband till late. Nelson asked her to come to his place for the night, and tomorrow she would come back and wait for her husband, (Pan-pal)

The next day she came back to the bus stop, and waited for her pan-pal to arrive, at the same spot under the tree. No sign of him. She went home to Nelson’s late afternoon and told him her husband was not coming. The following day she did the same.

All day every day she did the same for the first one month, waiting for her pan-pal to come pick her up. Still no sign of him, and she started to gave up.

Nelsons home was full of fun, and laughter. She found peace, protection and more friends, but most importantly she found love, with Nelson.

Nelson was not educated that he could find a job, but instead he became a bus driver, driving someone else’s bus.

For three years they stayed together as husband and wife, without any children. Sharmella never visited her parents. She only wrote letters to them about her life up in the Highlands. She described her husband as a nice and charming husband, that he was one in a million a husband could ever be. She wrote many letters but no letters was ever replied.

She was three months pregnant when Nelson decided to buy her to become his permanent bride (Traditional), and asked all his tribesmen to help. They contributed the money to around PGK 20, 000.00, and bought two ways ticket for Sharmella to go give the money to her parents, and returned as a true wife.

She went to her parent’s province at the coast. She was very happy, and smiling, as she will see her parents once again.

Once she put both her foot inside her parents gate, she fell to the ground. She could hardly move her body. Her legs and hands both became numb. By using witch craft the father didn’t want her daughter to come home. Father did saw her daughter fell on his gate but did nothing. The spell father used was never to go back to her husband. He said because of her beautiful legs and hands she could go anywhere she wanted, and what if she doesn’t have neither of the two? Mum tried to help but dad warned her.

She lied there for some hours, till an old lady came and saw her. She knew the father did something to the girl. She took Sharmella to her home, and treated her as her own daughter. The old lady didn’t have children on her own, and Sharmella was a lucky daughter. She bathe her, fed her, and carried her to the toilet. She was very good on her.

She didn’t went back to her husband. She was paralysed for five months at her home province on a stranger’s home, till she gave birth to Ismael. The old lady took the boy has her own, and took care of the baby and the mother. Everyday Sharmella would thanked the woman how thankful she was.

The woman knew she would never see Ismael grew up, as her age was catching. Everytime when she wanted to do something, she took Ismael with her and teach him how the job was done. Cooking, laundry, gardening, and everything.

When Ismael turned five years old, the old woman died. It’s time for Ismael to do all the house work himself. Thanks to the old lady Ismael knew basics. He cooked, do laundry, do ditches, gardening and house cleaning. He even registered himself at Elementary class. He used to tell his mum, “Just wait for couple of Years. I will kill myself at school, and when I became a doctor I will make sure you walk again.”

“That’s my son,” Sharmella would say.
Though Ismael promised his mum, he couldn’t concentrate much at school. He always thought about his mum at home, and before the school ends he always ran away from school just to see his mum. He washed her, dried her beddings, wipe and clean her shits, cooking and everything.

Mother knew she was a burden to her son. She didn’t want her boy to struggle because of her. She decided to send the boy back to his father up in the Highland. The bride prise money that she brought with her, she used it wisely for six years, and have PGK16.00 left.

Sharmella asked Ismael to buy a bottle of kerosene and five packet of biscuits. She also asked Ismael to draw a map for her when she guide, leading from a bus stop to a house.

“I want you to pretend you are someone’s son, and walk among the elders into the ship to Lae,” Sharmella told Ismael. “Once you reach Lae go to the Highlands bus stop, and wait till you heard a bus called to go to Hagen. Also walked among the group, pretend you are with your parents. Get out of Hagen, and look for a bus called for Wabag. Do the same. Once you get to Wabag bus stop, follow this map you just drew, and asked for a driver named Nelson. If you see Nelson, give this diary to him.” (When she was still at school, she wrote her story on a diary, in which when she got paralysed, the old lady continued from where she left till her death)

“If you heard any screaming or shouting,” Sharmella continued, “don’t turn back. Keep walking till you get to the shore”
Ismael packed his small bag, giving a good bye kiss to his mum and said, “Mum, I will do as you wish, but who will look after you when I’m gone?

“Don’t worry son,” replied Sharmella, “I asked my sister and she’s willing to come. Once you are out she will be here, so go now.”

“I will come back before the sun sets mum,” thinking that he will return as soon as possible.

When he was walking, people screamed and shouting that a house was on fire, and a woman was burned alive.

He didn’t turned back as he followed what his mum told him.

Somehow he board a ship to Lae, and it took him 3 night and 4 days to arrive in Lae. He slept anywhere in the ship, and ate his biscuits one at a time.

He roam the streets of Lae for a day trying to find where the bus stop was. He got $7 dollars left in his pocket, which he bought another 5 packet of Wopa biscuits.

At last he found the bus stop, and now he waited to hear which bus was calling for Hagen. Few hours later a bus called for Hagen passengers, and when all passengers jumped in he too got into the bus.

Bus crew grabbed hold on his hands and asked him where his parents were. He said nothing. Then he asked all passengers in the bus if they were with a boy, and they said no. The crew chased the boy out, telling him to go back home.

The bus didn’t leave yet because he still had some sits yet to be occupied. It went around, and came back again. The boy again tried his best to get onto the bus, but the crew chased him out the second time. He tried again the third time, and this time the crew let him in, and sat at the floor next to the crew.

The bus took off to Lae, and it was a long ride, about eight to eleven hours drive. When all passengers came out for lunch and buy proper food at the store, he sat back and took out one of his biscuit and ate it. While all passengers, driver and the crew were laughing while enjoying their meal, with soft drinks, the boy sat quiet eating his biscuit thinking amount his mum, and how she was.

The boy was holding on to the diary, and somehow he fell asleep and dropped the diary to the floor. The crew saw the boy and picked up the book, and started reading it. The last paragraph Sharmella wrote with her mouth, stating, “Dear my sweet husband Nelson. If you read this last paragraph, that means I am dead. I want to let you know that I always loved you very much. I should have came back to you, but I couldn’t due to my situation right now. I couldn’t let our Ismael suffer because of me. I send him back to you, so take good care of him.

To my boy Ismael, Mum loved you very much. I will be up their looking out for you.

Love Mum, and wife,”

The crew, with tears surrounding his eyes, grabbed the boy and hugged him when he was still sleeping. He ordered the driver to stop, and quickly went out and bought half of a roasted chicken, some chips and fine drinks. The driver was confused as to why the crew buy that big amount of food with the money he collected from the bus. When the driver was still staring at the crew, he gave all those food to the boy, in which hours ago they had some quarrel at Lae bus stop. The crew looked at the driver and told him he would explain everything to him later.

When they arrived in Lae all passengers got out, but the crew hold back the boy. He asked the driver to come meet the boy. They shook hands, and the crew asked the boy where he will go next. The boy replied, “Wabag,”

“What are you going to do their?”

“I’m going to meet up with a man by the name of Nelson,” replied the boy.

“OK,” said the driver, “He is going to Wabag so what do you want me to do?”

“I am not going to tell you anything,” said the crew, “but this diary will.”

The driver started reading the book, and while reading he looked at the boy with tears. The driver was shocked, and heart broken. He grabbed the 6 year old boy and started crying.

“You found Nelson, boy,” said the driver. “I am Nelson, your father. You are safe now, son. You are safe.”

*********** END**********

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