Sitting on a branch of her favorite tree and a lot of thoughts start flowing in her mind. Trying for years to forget everything that had happened to her but all in vain. Trying to take her own life but nothing worked out. The only option she was left with was to face her past and talk about it so that she could be free from her past which acted like an obstacle every time she tried to move on. She was sure that as long as she was breathing she had a chance to change her story because she once read a quote that said ' do not waste your time looking back on what you have lost but move on since life is not meant to be travelled backwards.' She also read that always appreciate every person that comes into your life since without that person you would never be complete at all because everyone comes in our life for a reason. She knew that she never choice where to be born but she could choice where to be buried. When you met her, you could never know that she had passed through a lot since she choose to be always smiling no matter the situation , ' since life is not always sunshine and butterflies. Sometime you got learn to smile through the pain. Been a loner she learnt to be strong enough to carry all her burden by herself. To her, life was never better since she was young. She grew up in a society where she had to fight her own fights all alone. When she hears the word ' Discrimination' it is never knew in her dictionary since it was part of her life. She grew up knowing she was she and not them. When she was born, everyone thought that she was cursed. When her mother was pregnant with her, she got sick and she almost died because she had no idea she was pregnant. A friend advised her to use traditional herbal medicine and she almost had a miscarriage.

" If she had all those misfortunes before she was born, how can she not be cursed?" The neighbors whispered among themselves.

To the neighbors, she was just a cursed child but to her parents she was everything they ever wanted. Her parents had been trying hard to get another girl but every time it was a boy. They were finally happy to have a little girl at home. They now had two girls and four boys.

Everyone was happy especially her brothers since they had another sister but to her sister, Essy, she was a thorn in the fresh. She was sad and angry. She was no longer the only girl in the family. She was no longer the daddy's little girl and her brothers' favorite girl. How could she love and be happy about someone who came to take everything away from her. She felt resentment in her heart toward her baby sister. She pretended to be happy like everyone but in her heart she was sad.

"What do we name her?" Her parents asked one another.

"She will be called Shey." Her father said.

" That's a lovely name for my lovely daughter." Her mother said smiling at the baby.

Her sister was hiding behind the daughter and heard how her parents were praising Shey and she was filled with jealousy. All those praises were hers and she didn't want to share them with anyone. Her parents had now forgotten how she had helped them babysit her siblings and feed them and clean them when they were away because she was the first born and only saw Shey in their eyes. Now she was no longer their favorite but just another one of their children.

She had only one sister but she used to regret why she had her in her life. Her sister hated her so much but she didn't know why her sister hated her. She could act friendly in the presence of their parents but when alone, she would mistreat her. She felt hurt when she remembered all that but she had been fighting them all alone in her life.

Shey grew up faster than her parents expected. She was now a big girl who could run around the house when chasing her brothers and run for her father when he came home from work. All her siblings were in school while she was the only one at home with her mother.

Since she was now four years old, her mother allowed her to go outside and play with other kids in the neighborhood so she could do the house chores. Shey was so happy and she went outside the gate smiling and jumping to enjoy the new gained freedom. She was excited to see the neighbors and be able to explore it without her brothers. As she was happily looking for new friends to play with, she found a group of neighbors sitting outside a shop and smiled at them but instead of smiling back at her, they all looked away.

She felt really hurt but she went her way. When she walked a little distance, the neighbors couldn't help but start gossiping. She stood and was anxious to hear what they would say.

" She seems so innocent and beautiful but she is a cursed child." One neighbor said.

" I heard she almost killed her mother before she was born." Another neighbor said.

" She caused her mother to have a hard labor and she almost bled to death. I will never allow my son to play with such a child." Another said.

" We as neighbors we should protect our children against that cursed child and never let them play with her." Another neighbor said and they all agreed.

The smile on Shey's face faded and it was replaced by tears. She could not hold back her tears when she learnt they were talking about her. All the happiness and excitement she had about walking around the neighborhood faded away. She ran back home and hid in parents room. She didn't want her mother to see her tears.

" How can I be cursed when my parents love me so much." She kept asking herself amidst her sobs.

She cried until she was tired and fell asleep on the floor where she had squatted when she came back. When she woke up, she decided to never go outside again and she would only play with her brothers at home.

When it was time to start school, her parents had to drag her to school since she didn't want to go.

" Can't I study at home?" She asked her father.

" No my girl. I want you to go to school so you can meet new friends and socialize like your brothers and sister." Her father said.

" But I don't want new friends." she said holding back her tears.

She tried to argue but she could not say the reason she didn't want to go to school. She was afraid if she told her parents what she heard the neighbors say, they would start arguing with the neighbors and they would be sure she is cursed. When she reached school, none of the kids wanted to play with her and she spend the whole day alone. She missed her brothers so much because they were always happy to play with her and carry her around the house on their back.

She sat alone looking at the other kids and wished she could play with them. When she was quietly observing what the kids were doing, two of her classmates passed her and they were talking about her.

" My mother told me not to play with her she is cursed." One girl told the other.

" My mother said the same thing. She said she was born with misfortunes and if we play with her or talk with her we will have the same misfortunes." The other said.

She couldn't help but feel sad and sorry for herself. She wished the day could pass fast so she would return home to her safe place. When the bell rang she ran all the way home because no kid wanted to walk with her home.

" How was school today?" Her mother asked her.

" It was fine." She replied and went inside the house.

She didn't want her mother asking her if she had made any new friends because she would be forced to lie to them.

Life was hard for her at school but she had to endure it. The only fortune that came with all her misfortunes was that she was a quick student and very intelligent that her teacher liked her very much. Everything that was taught she could understand with easy and that made the other kids become jealousy of her.

Due to her excellent understanding, her sister's jealousy grew even more. Sometimes she couldn't even hide her resentment infront of their parents. If she had the power to make her sister disappear she would have done it already. Shey loved her sister and didn't mind her resentment because she was used to kids picking on her and not associating with her.