Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: KINDNESS (11/04/21)
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TITLE: In Fond Memory | Previous Challenge Entry
By Robert Rutaagi
11/09/21 -
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ADD TO MY FAVORITES
‘’What a boring eve!’’
Maggie imagined.
‘’Let me sneak out and see…’’
Wonderful nature around here.
Stealthily, she did.
No one saw her, not even her mom.
Richmond Hotel, famous for it’s wildlife,
Outside its perimeter wall warned guests:
‘’Beware of dangerous animals!”
‘’H-h-h-u-u-u, just a short walk for a few minutes…,’’
Maggie convinced herself, savoring the park beyond.
Suddenly, a whirlwind, whirled sweetly,
Lifting her dress up too cool her legs!
What an experience so missed indoors!
Then, her feasted upon a radiant setting sun!
Premonitions never lie or forget,
Maggie remembered her mom’s warning:
‘’Never, adventure like boys do!”
‘’Yes, let me run back…’’
It was too late! Before her second leg could turn to follow her first leg, a hyena, that was monitoring her, jumped upon her, mauled her face before disappearing back into the bush where it had come from.
Maggie screamed so loudly, out of fear and pain, that the Hotel guards heard her and came rushing to her aid but it was too late. She was drenched in a pool of blood and in excruciating pain. Nearly half of her pretty face had been taken by the ravenous hyena. Her parents, who were in their room, completely unaware of what had befallen to their dear daughter!
By the time the Manager traced them, in their room, the Hotel ambulance had already rushed Maggie to the Hospital. They frantically went to the Hospital only to be told that she was already in the intensive care unit where she remained for many hours. The pain they went through, especially, the mother, must have been greater than the labour pains at her [Maggie] birth and she, too, was going through a worse pain.
Many local Surgeons and other experts tried to work on Maggie, to treat the wounds, as well as reconstructing her face, but were not succeeding and the family’s capacity to afford the costs was limited. When a national appeal was made in the media, my Rotary Club willingly offered to help.
Maggie was flown to USA and given the best care that was available. Her face was thoroughly treated and reconstructed but there was also, I believe, divine healing, too. In addition, Maggie was trained as a Nurse and a Mid-wife to the highest level of the profession. She found a suitor and got married and raised a beautiful family, migrated from USA and settled in Australia where she died [RIP] a few years ago.
This Author who is a member of the Rotary Club that sponsored Maggie, in her memory, has written, the following virtual epitaph on Maggie’s grave in Australia:
In Memory of Maggie
Was there a kind so unkind,
Like the hyena kind that mauled Maggie,
And robbed her of that innocent face,
Inherited from her mother,
And creative intelligence,
Under benignity of Omnipotent God!
Can the wheel of Rotary,
Trace this hyena or its descendants,
And crush them into irrecoverable cinders,
For this crime committed against humanity?
Was there no brave man,
Capable of proving his manhood
By removal of this unacceptable bestiality?
Yes, Rotary,
Even if this hyena be dead,
And safely interned anywhere in universe,
Or devoured by a hungry lion,
Thy tender medical care of Maggie
And the gift of her new face,
That gave her a new lease of life,
Be it of plastic or rubber…
Is, simply: ineffable, noble, wondrous…
Wretched hyena,
Were you to return,
From the jungle or your condemned grave,
And decry Maggie’s transformed face,
You would run back mad of jealousy,
Or instantly faint back into your death,
While Maggie lives on,
Because of Rotary, and-
Modern science and technology.
Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!!!
Extraordinary valiant girl,
Hearken to this:
You fought a brave battle,
And won gallantly.
Behold that testimony on your face,
And divers testimonials of scholarship!
Rotary, thy brother, hails thee.
Like Rotary International,
You are no longer merely Maggie
But also Maggie International.
So long. Rest in peace.
Non-fiction, apart from Maggie [a pseudonym], used for privacy reasons.
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In some aspects, I would argue the points/thoughts made. But it is unforgettable. .