ELEANORAH

Fear overcame her as she stared in the mirror at the mess that was once her head.

Norah’s father is sitting on the second-floor balcony, wearing only his boxers and enjoying the mid-day breeze. He sees his child running towards him, covered in blood and he dashed down the stairs at the speed of light, he grabs his beloved daughter just as she passed out on the front porch, and the last thing she heard is her mother’s call from the balcony. ‘My child….my ch….’

What happened to Norah?

Gladys and Norah are sisters who spent almost every weekend with Esther, a childhood acquaintance. Esther lived just six blocks away from Norah and Gladys. That weekend’s visit was supposed to be just like every other weekend visit, except it wasn’t.

Esther; Norah, please help me keep this on the top shelf, you know you’re taller.

 Norah; I know, but I still won’t be able to reach that height, but don’t worry, I’ll just climb on the reading table…

Norah gently climbed onto the reading table, placed the box on the shelf, and instead of descending in the same manner, Norah playfully jumped like ‘catwoman’ onto the bed.

Norah landed on the bed…and

Esther and Gladys were frozen…their faces spattered with blood… jaw down, and staring as if they had seen a ghost.

‘Why are they looking at me so intently?’ Norah was perplexed.

”Why is blood on your fa…”

She felt like her brain was on a grinding mill before she could finish the phrase – she looked into her shaking palms and saw blood gush into them like a fountain; she turned to the ceiling and saw blood smeared on the ceiling fan.

How could she have forgotten about the ceiling fan?

Norah had jumped into the fan, causing her scalp to be cut, exposing her frontal bone and coronal suture.

She rushed to the bathroom, terrified, ‘…switch on the lights…’ She yelled

Fear overcame her as she stared in the mirror at the mess that was once her head.

Esther’s parents, who were in the living room at the time, screamed and chased after her as she ran out the front door…

Norah is six blocks from her house, covered in blood, sprinting home, and unsure of what to do.

Her hands are on her head, covering what appears to be an opening on her head.

All she could hear were screams of ‘Jesus Christ’

‘Ewooo, what happened?’ from onlookers on the street.

‘Norah, sorry, sorry, please God help us…’ Gladys wails.

‘Oh God… daddy, mummy help me…’ Norah cried out.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I’m still not sure what happened after I passed out in my father’s arms; all I remember is waking up in the intensive care unit, grateful to be alive and hoping to return to a normal life… but, nothing remained normal. The following weeks and months were a battle for survival, survival from the everlasting scars… scars of migraines, an abnormal sight, cognitive deprivation, anxiety, and depression. It was a painful experience that I’m still recovering from and I never thought I’d be able to come this far, but I did, and still victorious in the journey.

From then on, I knew that no matter how severe the situation, nothing is insurmountable.

Cheers to life!