NewStats: 3,262,916 , 8,178,513 topics. Date: Wednesday, 04 June 2025 at 04:24 AM 6z4s2x

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Suddenly, she felt a push from behind. She screamed as she fell into the water. She struggled to get up, thankfully, the river was not deep but the sand was sinking her feet so she moved uneasily, trying to get out of the water but turning to face the biggest man she had ever seen in her life. He smiled wickedly, sending a chill down Amblessed’s spine. His jean tros were ripped at the knees, exposing scars that Amblessed did not wish to know where they came from. In his hand, she saw a knife, its blade shining. The moon was just at a quatre, its light only bright enough for her to see a huge chunk of a man about to attack her. The knife reminded her of her own jackknife; if only she could get it from her bagpack.

She did not have any time to think as he lurched forward to grab her. In one sleek move, she flew up the rocks and kept going up till she got to the highest point where she could run forward. She had never climbed rocks barefooted in her life but tonight, she had no choice. She could hear him charging behind her as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She ran helter skelter, not knowing where she was going to and not caring. She just needed to be as far away as possible from the horrible man behind her. Her eyes were getting dizzy from the wine she had drunk but the adrenaline pumping through her was fighting the dizziness. It was a struggle.

She stepped on a small rock which shifted, sending her spiraling down the hill like a rolling ball. As she tumbled down, her body hit stones and branches and all kinds of things which hurt like hell.
She closed her eyes and resigned to her fate: imminent death.

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~~~
As they ate, Amblessed noticed a movement within the bushes beyond the small river. She asked her friends, “did you see that?”
“No!”, they chorused. They looked at her like she was losing her mind once again.
Trisha stood up and said, “let me take a look around”
“By yourself?”, Amblessed asked.
“Yes. Unlike you, I’m not a ‘scaredy’ cat”, she teased Amblessed and walked away. Amblessed continued eating. She poured some wine for herself and drank. She drank another cup.
“This one that you did not complain that I will finish the wine, hmm, I am surprised o”, Amblessed said to Tiana.
Silence.
She turned back and saw that she was alone. Her heart skipped a beat. When did this girl leave that she did not notice? Why didn’t she say something?
“Tiana! Trisha! Where are you girls?!”, she called out.
Silence.

The unexplainable fear settled in. She opened her bagpack to pick her phone and call them. She rummaged through the bag and saw nothing. She emptied the bag, still, nothing.
“Tiana! Trish! See, if you girls are playing a prank on me because of what I did earlier on, it’s not funny o”. She walked around, too afraid to leave the river side so she wouldn’t get lost. She sat back down beside the river and her heart skipped a beat again.
Her I-pad was missing!
But it was here just now. She had turned for a minute and it had disappeared. She held herself closely and prayed silently for her friends to come back.

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~~~
Silence dominated everywhere. Nobody said anything else till they upon a short bridge; there was a river on the left side whose source they could not see. Amblessed gave Tiana a look as if to say, “I told you so”. The river was crystal and beautiful, the girls had to pose in front of it and take several pictures before moving on.
“We will soon see a river with a beach we can sit on and refresh, trust me”, Amblessed said. Nobody questioned her instincts anymore.
After some minutes, Amblessed stopped and turned back.
“What is it?”, Tiana asked.
“I thought I heard something”, she replied.
“Well, I can’t see nothing. Trish, can you see anything?”
“No. Fear has started engulfing madam here”, Trisha said and together with Tiana, laughed at Amblessed who pouted her lips in feigned anger.
They continued walking for some minutes. “wait!”, Amblessed said again and stopped.
“Am-B, why are you such a scaredy-Cat?”
“I can hear something”
“What?”
She craned her ears for some seconds and then screamed, “water! There is a river around! I told you!”. She broke into a run and the others ran after her till they sighted a river some distance to the left, away from the main route they were on. They ran to it and rested on its sands. Amblessed removed her shoes, exclaiming, “my feet are killing me”. The girls set up the snacks and began indulging. The Cook had put some cakes, cookies, a jar of peanut butter, apples and some bananas. The drinks included a coke for each girl and a bottle of Amarulla wine with cups.

I'd really love to receive comments as you read, thank you

Chapter Two

The evening had begun well. The friends talked about a lot of things and laughed all the way, forgetting about their fight from earlier on. In no time, they reached their destination. Amblessed spotted a building near the foot of the hills. She talked to the man in front of the building [he said he was the security of the building which turned out to be a small company] and kept the car in the compound of the building under the man’s care. She kept the car keys in her bag pack and together with her friends, set out for the hills.
“Seems like there is a road through the hills after all”, Trisha stated, pointing to the road that meandered up between the hills.
“Miss State-the-obvious, we can all see that”, Amblessed said, laughing at her friend. She did not notice the fleeting look of despise that ed her friend’s face. She continued, “let’s take a picture, the start of our adventure!”, dramatizing as she did.
The girls rallied round her for several shots of themselves, the looming hills standing behind them. They had to use the camera’s flash as it was getting dark already. After the pictures, they began their walk, talking loudly as they went. The hills and forests were silent except for their voices. Even the birds seemed to have perceived the presence of some rich loud girls so they just looked on in silence. After walking for some minutes, Amblessed said, “I hope we can see the river soon enough so we can rest there and have some refreshment. I'm hungry”
“How do you know there is a river here?”, Tiana asked.
“Because, these are rocks all around us babe. It is only natural for water bodies to be found around here. Didn’t you pay attention during Geography class in secondary school?”, Amblessed asked, laughing again at her friend’s ignorance

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That is all for today.
I will post Chapter two tomorrow so watch this space.

Then her phone rang. She smiled as she saw who was calling.
“Tiana, hey babe”, she said innocently.
“see, it’s not like we have completely forgiven you. Where did you say we should go for the adventure?”
“errmm…those hills after Etobaba junction. They say it leads to Lamingo”
“ehn?! Who is ‘they’?”
“people”
“that is some serious hiking o”, it was Trisha. Amblessed knew she was on loudspeaker.
“I know. But come on, it will be fun. Moreover, I could use the time to convince you girls to completely forgive me”
“hmmmm”, Tiana sighed. Silence stretched for some seconds, Amblessed waited. Eventually, Tiana said, “fine. Get the edibles, we’ll get drinks and any other necessities Bring your small self here before we change our minds”
“ok! ok! ok!. coming right up. Thank you! love you girls! Kisses!”, she said excitedly and ended the call.
She rushed to the kitchen to give the Cook instructions on the food to package for the trip. Then she rushed to the bathroom, had her bath and got dressed in ten minutes. She did not apply any make-up on her face. She wore a black jean, sleeveless blue top and a black jacket. She wore her black leather boots to match. She took her bag pack and stuffed it with her I-pad, her phone, purse, a jack knife. The last item was one thing she took with her to every adventure.
“you never can tell what’s out there in the rocks and forests”, she would always say whenever she was asked why she took a knife with her.
She got the food set in a basket, wore her glasses and headed for her car. Before driving out, she told the gateman, “if my parents ask, I did not come back home after my exams, okay?”
“okay ma’am”, he replied, no questions asked.
Amblessed drove to her friends’ house. They were already waiting for her.
“Hello my lovelies!”, she greeted them.
“Hold it. We haven’t completely forgiven you ?”, Trisha pointed her right index finger at her accusingly.
“How could I forget?”. The girls put the drinks in the car and set out for their adventure.
It was six pm. It was getting dark.
It was an adventure indeed.

~~~
Amblessed was a drama queen afterall. Today, it was not strange that she shouted at her friends the way she did. She drove out of the school environment and sped on till she got home. She horned so loud at the gate that the gateman rushed to open it, knowing fully well the it was A blessed, the only person crazy enough to do that. Once, she had broken all the expensive glasses in the house and scattered her father’s wine bar just because he had refused to let her have a bottle of Campari.
Amblessed locked herself up in her room for hours, going through pictures of herself and her friends on her I-pad. She cried as she watched all the happy times they had shared together. She knew she had gone far again with the way she had talked to them. She looked at the time, it was past five in the evening. She decided that they would have calmed down by now so she dialed Tiana’s number. It rang several times without answer. She tried Trisha’s number too and got the same thing. She knew they were deliberately ignoring her. She decided to leave a voice message:
“I know you two are icing me out but you know I will keep calling till nine pm, then when you still refuse to pick, I will drive over to your place. We all know how thoughtless I can be and that is why I acted the way I did earlier on. I am truly sorry. Please don’t let me risk going out at night alone. Forgive this your annoying friend who loves you with all her heart, plea…se”. She sent it and waited for some minutes

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“why the sad faces?”, she asked.
“are you serious? History of southern Africa sucks!”, Tiana burst out.
“who cares about the Mfecane or the Great trek?!”, Trisha asked, also angry.
“historians like us! Historians care about all these things. And why are you sulking? What were you expecting when you applied to study in this department?”, Amblessed asked.
Neither of the girls could say the truth, that they only applied because Amblessed used her persuasive powers on them. Trisha said, “we did not know it would be this hard. It’s so easy for you. It was you who took us out clubbing yesterday and yet, you wrote well. How were you able to study?”
Before Amblessed could respond, Tiana said, “by now I don’t expect you to ask AmB that kind of question, Trisha. You know how sleek she is na”
“what are you implying?”, Amblessed asked accusingly.
“nothing”
“no, tell me what’s on your mind!”, Amblessed shouted, not caring that the other classmates were watching.
“AmB, I said it’s nothing so let it go”
“whatever! It’s not my fault that you are not smart. I did not force any of you girls to go out with me so don’t give me that trash about me taking you out. So what if you did bad in HIS 213? Stop being such crybabies. Move on already!”
She stormed out of the class, leaving everyone bewildered and her friends, very upset.

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Hi everyone!
This is my very first story on this forum. I hope you remain at the edge of your seats.
Comments would be appreciated.
P. S: I will post on a daily basis till its done, Insha' Allah.

CHAPTER ONE

Amblessed loved the wild side of life.
“I’m in the mood for an adventure!”, Amblessed announced to her friends after their exam. The girls were obviously not in a good mood because of the paper they had just written. She, on the other hand, enjoyed writing about South African history.
Despite her truancy right from secondary school, Amblessed always ended up ing her subjects and getting promoted to the next class because she was intelligent. She did not need to study so much before understanding any topic.
Now she just finished writing her exams for the second semester of her second year in the university. She was in the department of History and International Studies. She had managed to convince her friends to apply for the same department with her just as she had convinced them in secondary school to go to arts class like her. She loved history, she did not have to stress herself to study for tests or exams.
As usual, she wrote well.

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