‘I did it!’

My heart leapt for joy. I hosted a private victory party, complete with a dance,right in my heart, unbeknown to the friends I was sitting next to; with whom I had been chatting for almost three hours. Need I say, to whom I also appeared to be the life of the party. For that day, while it seemed like a normal one, for me, it was an appointment with a vicious monster; a savage. It was a do or die! It was the day  scheduled for the confrontation with my worst fear; the boat cruise.

Lets face it, I have had a complicated relationship with flowing rivers  since time immemorial. Mother would always warn us to avoid water. This is the advice she gave to all her children who passed through Tirelo Sechaba (as it was known back in the day). As if by design, all those children were posted to North West where rivers never dry.  Do children ever listen? Well, they all went and did the opposite. She never got tired of the warning though and as fate would have it, she lost one of her own to the deep of the waters. Mother knows best, always! My relationship with water then deteriorated; from complicated to separated.

 After almost three years of separation, water extended a challenge to me in the form of a work excursion. I would never have scheduled that fight on my own and as I went through the programme prior to departure, my heart would skip beats when my eyes caught sight of boat cruise.

That day finally arrived. What to do Ona? Do I fake sickness? Not an option. I also reckon I will be bored should I remain. And so the resolution is: water shall be ridden. The resolution, however, kept being revised until the time I queued to get into the boat. Even then, I struggled to make up my mind. But the tranquil, the sweet odour and spectacle of nature, the cool breeze by the bank soon captivated me, leading me to the conclusion that I had no other option but to indulge.

Oh what heaven on earth! No amount of therapy beats a boat cruise. Right in the middle of nowhere, the sounds of the chuckling birds, the stillness of the waters, the sight of elephants and the occasional peeping of hippos (to my chagrin, i admit); I made peace with my opponent. Instead of a vicious fight, an olive branch was extended.

Except for the silly comments from my new friends about eventualities should the boat capsize, fun was had. Although I kept shouting ‘why are we stopping’ to the captain along the way, I had long made peace with the fact that I had no control. It was just the water and I. My loved ones had been assured of my love, that was not to be left to chance.

In the midst of all the noise, laughter and frenzy, I held a meeting with myself. I celebrated victory and freedom. I let go of hate. I was reborn. I let out a smile and knew deep down, he would be proud that I did not cower.