My heartbeat pumped furiously as I ran, I ran with every strength I could muster. I couldn't let them catch me, never again will I let myself be tied like a goat ready for slaughter.

I had a choice, I had a choice to stay alive and to live for my family. I couldn't die without seeing them one more time.

I ran without looking back, I didn't know if they were on my trail or not I just wanted to get far away from them as possible.

"Mandy. Mandy." I heard them call out to me, the men who wanted to kill me. I couldn't let them get to me, I must run to save myself.

I ran under a bridge hoping they would pass and I would take another route. As I stopped I clutched my shirt taking in big gulps of air, I was out of breath but I couldn't let it stop me from escaping.

My limbs were weak, my feet bare and my clothes were torn. I wasn't just escaping the men who were trying to kill me but also the police, if I was caught I would be sent to prison and who knows for how long they'll lock me there.

I leaned against the wall to catch my breath, a prayer left my lips hoping I won't be caught.

"She ran over here!" I heard one say followed by their running foot steps over my head.

I let out a sigh of relief and tip-toed quietly from under the bridge. I was just ten feet apart from the bridge when I heard a shout.

"Hey. There she is. She's getting away!"

No. God no!

I picked up the pace again and the chase began once again.

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"Amanda! Chimamanda wake up! It's starting to rain." my mother softly called my name as she rubbed my shoulders lightly.

"mmmmm." I mumbled as I stretched out my hands. I hadn't slept peacefully in a while, the mosquitoes made it hard for any of us to sleep.

My father had found a torn net that someone had abandoned when he went out for his regular scavenging but the net wasn't big enough for us four.

We were barely surviving at the refugee camp. We barely had enough food to eat let alone a good place to lay our heads. We had heard that the government had provided the necessary funds for the restructuring and provision of food to the people in charge of the camps for it to be made more habitable as people are brought in on a daily basis. But the bad eggs found it the perfect opportunity to loot.

I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my palms and blinked to see the blurry image of my mother trying to cover my younger brother with a wrapper and prevent the rain from soaking up some of our clothes by placing bowls at the spots that dripped from the rain.

She looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her face was covered with strain, her one and only wrapper was tied around her chest as she adjusted it from time to time to prevent it from falling.

Her dark hair was in braids, that was the only thing that wasn't dishevelled about her look. I had learned to braid from one of the refugee's daughter some years back when I was a bit younger to be able to braid both my and my mother's hair in order for us not to look too unkept.

She turned to look at me and I couldn't help but smile at her. She had been doing a good job trying to get the mosquitoes away from us and making sure that our tummys didn't go completely throughout the day without food.

"Maybe you should rest, I will chase the mosquitoes away from you and Dozie and prevent the rain from flooding our tent."

"Don't worry, I only wanted you to eat this boiled groundnut before you completely fall asleep. You know if you don't have anything in your tummy you will wake up with a pain in your stomach."

"Where is daddy?" I looked around the tent and to the usual spot where my father normally lay but found it empty.

"He is still out. Maybe today is not a good day." my mother had a pained look in her eyes as she bowed her head trying to conceal her tears from me.

My father goes out everyday, picking up trash from the neighbourhood. He'd pick up used tins and plastic bottles and give them to a recycling company for a few change.

It wasn't much but it could buy a few things that the camp didn't provide for us. The only time he ever did come home late was when it was difficult for him to pick up recyclable plastics. Either someone else beat him to it or people didn't really throw their trash around anymore.

"Mummy, everything will be fine. One day it will be fine and I promise to take us out of this dump." I scooted over to take her hands in mine.

"Everything will be fine one day I know. Just eat the groundnut and go back to sleep." she tapped my hands and placed the groundnut on my open palms.

I took the groundnuts one after the other and chewed down on the crunch. My stomach had already started to rumble but I'd grown quite used to the pain I felt when I was extremely hungry.

I was nothing to look at, I was too skinny for my age. Most nineteen year olds were full of life and looking healthy but the hole that formed as a result of skin sinking into my socket was proof enough of that.

I'd tried my best to look like a human by plaiting my hair in cornrows but that was far from making me look normal.

We were malnourished and we knew it but so were the hundreds of people whose tents were around ours. Each of us had a story to tell, a story we dare not speak of. A story we'd rather not live through but avoiding it was like trying to avoid our shadows. We can't run from it.

According to my parents things were never this bad, there was a time when we lived in a perfect house and wore beautiful clothes. When we could eat whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted.

I wished I knew those moments. I wished I could remember those days, at least it could've given my a chance at my imagination. That I could eat and sleep the way I wanted would've been the best dream that I would ever dream of dreaming.

I wished things never changed. I wished we weren't poor. I wished I could change our fate. I wished for so many things that I had no power over.

If I did have the power to, I wouldn't have been born into this family in the first place, but a child doesn't have control of where and to whom it would be born to. We only learn to live with it and learn to love who we call family.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect people to be with than my family. They're everything nice, that's why it broke my heart each day watching my mother cry silently or seeing my father rub his aching back and shoulders in secret.

They thought I couldn't see them but I did. I cried when she cried and I ached when he ached. I knew that it was a long shot but I prayed everyday, even in our situation my mother always encouraged us to not give up hope and keep praying as one day our prayers might just be answered in the most unexpected of ways.

I prayed that it happened sooner than I hoped. I wish I never did.

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I just want to say a huge thank you for venturing into this story with me. I do hope that you fall in love with the characters as we go deeper into this trying tale.

Your votes and comments are kindly needed as it'll be a great support for me as a writer. Do share if you feel like it as it'll motivate me to keep writing. Thank you again.