Cindarella

Her story was very similar to the 
Cinderella story, but in her case 
there was no fairy godmother, 
no glass slippers, no prince charming, 
no party, and definitely no stepmother! 
She was hated by her own mother, 
cursed and abused by the one who 
was supposed to nurture and protect
her. 
Her parents met at the French village 
They were both undergraduates of the 
same university and found their passion 
for the French language to be a common 
ground upon which they could plant the 
seed of their love 
Her mother was 22 at the time and her 
father was 24 
They dated for three years until her 
mother got pregnant with her during their 
NYSC year 
The two families met and the lovers 
got married 
Four months after her mother got pregnant 
with her, her father was given a full 
scholarship to study in France. 
It was a once in a lifetime opportunity
both her parents applied for the scholarship 
and they both had high hopes that they 
would be granted. 
They waited for several days to see if her 
mother's letter would arrive but it didn't 
The two families met and decided that her 
father had to take advantage of the 
opportunity
Her mother moved to the village to stay 
with her father's parents so that she can 
be well taken care of through her pregnancy 
period 
Her father traveled when her pregnancy 
was six months! 
As fate would have it, her mother's scholarship 
was granted two days before she was born
One of those earlier considered for the 
scholarship turned it down and her mother 
was given the space because she had always 
been on the waiting list 
The two families met again 
The baby had become a liability 
Her mother didn't apply for the scholarship as 
a married woman and was not expected to 
move to France with a baby 
Apart from the stress of having to process the 
baby's documents which might take forever 
and cost her the scholarship, she wouldn't 
know how to cope with the baby in a foreign 
land 
The scholarship was an opportunity for her 
mother to reunite with her husband and 
pursue her career 
It was a no brainer, the baby had to stay! 
She was handed over to her grandmother 
(Paternal) 
Her mother traveled to France and reunited 
with her father 
The promise was to find a way to get their 
baby to France as soon as possible but
that never happened 
She grew up calling her grandmother "Mummy" 
Everybody treated her as if she was her 
grandmother's last-child 
She grew up in the village, attended the village 
primary school and hawked palm oil for her 
grandmother until she turned twelve 
One morning, just after she had written her 
common entrance examination, her grandmother 
called her into the room and started talking to 
her 
Her grandmother tried to explain to her that 
she had to move to Lagos to live with her 
parents because they had returned from 
abroad and they wanted her back! 
It was all very confusing 
Her grandparents had hoped her parents 
would let her be with them 
Her parents had insisted they wanted her back 
Her grandmother took it as a slap on the face 
Her grandfather was very disappointed 
She was their child and they didn't want 
to lose her but her parents wouldn't listen 
to that 
They had relocated with their two other children 
and they wanted their first child back home 
This was decided without her input 
She didn't even know she had another set of 
parents elsewhere 
She was tearfully told to dress up and pack 
her bags
Her grandmother was especially distraught 
Her grandfather was the one who tried his
 best to fill her in on their six hours journey 
to Lagos 
Her grandfather told her the story surrounding 
her birth 
They got to Lagos in the evening 
She met her mother and her two younger 
sisters!
They were nine years old and seven years old 
Both of them were very pretty girls and 
they spoke with ascent and all 
She didn't fit in at all 
Their house was tastefully furnished with all 
sorts of gadgets 
Her parents had prospered abroad and she 
could see the evidence of their wealth all 
over but her mother's reaction was cold 
and distant 
Perhaps because she had anticipated a hug 
and some explanations 
She got none of that 
Her mother kept looking at her suspiciously 
She saw all the signs and felt very 
uncomfortable 
As a girl raised in the village, she was 
trained to interpret both verbal and 
non-verbal cues 
She knew her mother didn't love her right 
from that first day but she couldn't do 
anything about it 
Her father had gone to the office by the 
time they arrived at her parent's house 
It was too late for her grandfather to
return to the village that day 
At about 9pm that same day, her father 
arrived home 
Her grandfather introduced her to him 
Her father hugged her and cried 
He apologized for disrupting her life and 
told her he loved her so much and would 
make up for the lost years 
It was what she had expected her 
mother to do 
Her parent's house was a three-bedroom flat 
Her parents slept in a room 
Her sisters slept in a room 
Her grandfather slept in a room 
Her mother insisted that she couldn't share 
a room with her sisters 
She was told to sleep in the sitting room right
from that very first day 
She barely slept a wink 
Lagos mosquitoes welcomed her with 
dancing and singing 
The next morning, as her grandfather was 
leaving she started crying 
He was the last familiar face she knew and 
she would have given anything to follow 
him back to the village
Her mother saw her reaction as ingratitude 
"You want to go back to the village? 
You want to follow Baba back to the village 
so that you can resume flying at night 
and bewitching people? 
We brought you to the city and you were 
uncomfortable! 
Do you know how many people are crying
to be brought to the city every day? 
Her mother was very crossed with her 
The day after her grandfather left, 
her mother woke her up early in the 
morning and took her to a church 
A prophetess was waiting for them 
She was stripped naked and bathed 
in a river 
The prophetess called it a cleansing 
birth 
Apparently, her mother had been trying to 
conceive again for some time 
She wanted to have a baby boy because 
girls do not secure the name and inheritance 
of a woman "Your father can bring home 
another wife with a male child tomorrow 
and send me packing..."
The medical report showed that both 
her parents were okay 
Since it wasn't a medical problem, her 
mother turned to a spiritual source to 
solve the problem 
The prophetess "guessed" or knew about 
a first child who was living in the village 
and insisted unless that child was brought
into her parent's house, her mother would
 never have any more children 
That was why they brought her back home 
The prophetess told her mother she was 
angry she was left in the village and was 
afflicting them spiritually by blocking a male 
child from coming to them 
It was wickedness
She was made to dress practically in rags, 
placed in the school where their friends 
placed their housemaids, made to serve 
her younger sisters like a slave
She was verbally and mentally abused 
She was labeled a witch! 
When she turned 16, she couldn't take it 
anymore 
She ran away from home
She saved enough money for transportation 
and returned to the village
There were no fancy gadgets and video 
players in the village but she was a person 
of worth and she was treated with dignity
Village people and witchcraft mentality
had created a gulf between her parents
and her grandparents
The gulf had made it impossible for 
her grandparents to visit often and that
has added to her cup of suffering
Since nobody could see what she was
going through, nobody could intervene
Her father loved her but he was rarely
at home due to the nature of his job.
Sometimes when he was at home, he
would protest the way her mother was
treating her
It usually ended up in a fight, with her
mother claiming it was her father's people
who wanted to inherit his properties that
gave her witchcraft and planted her as a
monitoring spirit or demonic agent
in the family
It took four days for the message to get to
the city that she was with her grandparents
Her mother was livid!
Her mother said she went to the village
to renew her witchcraft power because
it was waning due to her prayers
Her mother said she should never come 
back
She was resolved not to return home also
She had made up her mind before she
took off after school that fateful Friday
A family meeting was called
At the meeting, which only her father
attended, it was decided that she should
be placed in a boarding school in the
city (For record purpose;
Her grandmother didn't want
her mother to claim that she was induced
to run away from home)
She didn't care about the politics
She was finally able to breathe and live
her life without the constant barbs
She never went back to her parent's
house, not even once
When she gained admission to study 
law at the age of 22, only her father
attended her matriculation ceremony
Her mother only came to her school
once
That morning, she was hurrying off
to class when she heard the familiar
voice screaming behind her
"Witch, Witch"
She looked back
It was her mother hurrying after her
and clapping her hands allover her
head
"Your sister is sick, my first daughter
is not feeling fine! She was supposed
to resume in this university with you
and you have decided to kill her out of
spite
if you don't release my daughter, this
show of shame will be the beginning!
I will tell the world what you are,
I will make sure all your school mates
know who you really are
You cannot share the meat of my own
daughter in the witchcraft coven
You will vomit it"
It was the most embarrassing day of
her life
She could barely lift her leg to walk
to the hostel that evening
Her sister recovered (It was later discovered
that she had complications due to a
botched abortion)
Her mother never apologized
but it was a new low and it redefined
their relationship in an ugly way
She graduated and got a job
Two years later, she got married
Her marriage was a dream come true
She finally had her own family
A place she truly belonged
God blessed her with three children
and she minded her business
On July 9, 2015 her mother suddenly
arrived at her home while she was
preparing her children for school
on a Tuesday morning
As soon as she saw her mother
alighting from the car, she shut her
door
She knew her mother meant her no
good
Her mother knocked and knocked
She kept her children quiet until her
mother left
Later that day she summoned courage
and drove to her parent's house
She wouldn't allow anybody label her
a witch in front of her children
Enough was enough!
She was prepared for war
Fortunately, she met her father at home
She told him everything
While she was having the discussion
with her father, her mother and her
sisters arrived
Her mother started screaming as soon
as she saw her
"What are you doing here, have you come
to complete your work?
What charm or spell are you infesting my
house with?
You are using my children's glory
You have a good job and you are happily
married
How can a witch live a happy life unless
she is borrowing joy from the destiny
of those close to her
Release my children, let them get good
jobs and get married
Let them have grandchildren for me
Stop stealing their lives and living it
I have made inquiries about you"
Her sisters were right there
They didn't say a word but the look on
their faces showed they were in 
agreement with their mother"
At that moment something happened
in her
She was just fed up
She raised her voice and said 
"You witch of a mother, i never knew
a day of joy as your daughter
I escaped from you to find my
joy elsewhere
Yet you always bring your cup of sorrow
to me
i am the one you blame for all the things
that happened as a result of your 
foolishness and ignorance
Even now, you want to taint my children
with your wickedness
If I am a witch and If I have ever afflicted
your children in any way, may i not reap
the reward of my labour over my children
But if you have accused me falsely and
made me bitter and sorrowful for over 
thirty years for no reason, you will never
ever enjoy a second of joy over your
children!"
She didn't know where the words came
from but they were heavy
Everybody kept quiet as she spoke
and even after she had spoken
She picked her car keys and left
Things turned quickly after that
Her sisters traveled to France to further
their studies in September  2015
By December 2015
Her father left her mother to cohabit 
with a young lady who had gotten 
pregnant and delivered a son for him
Her mother was suddenly alone
Her daughters refused to keep in touch
or communicate with her
Her husband refused to pick her calls
Her mother started running to her
prophets and spirits for help
This time they all told her mother
to look for her and apologize to her
They said her curse was what had
turned the tide against her mother
Gone were the messages of witchcraft
and monitoring spirit
Gone were the labels and tauntings
Suddenly she was the aggrieved one
that had to be placated
Her mother went to her grandmother
to apologize
Her mother asked her grandmother to
intervene on the matter
Her mother wanted her blessings in
order to turn things around
But she was too bitter to respond
She just wanted her mother to be far
away from her
She felt it was improper for someone 
to dish out 30 years of pain and expect
to be forgiven after five minutes of
discomfort
In 2019, she discovered a constant pain
in her joints, especially her left wrist
The pain would come sometimes while
she was sleeping 
She went for several medical tests and
scans
The doctors insisted nothing was wrong
with her
She reached out to the Brother in Jeans
and T-shirt one night while she was in
excruciating pain
They prayed 
The brother in jeans and T-shirt told her 
the pain was a call to order
She said she didn't understand
The brother in jeans and T-shirt asked 
her about her mother
She started crying
She explained everything that had happened
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt asked
for her mother's phone number
The following Tuesday, they all met
at the office of the Brother in Jeans and
T-shirt
Her mother spoke (She was very sorry)
She spoke (She was very bitter)
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt asked
them to hug 
He also asked her mother to bless her
while they hugged
It started raining mangoes
Everybody cried!
After about thirty minutes, they released
each other
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt asked
her to check her wrists
The pain was gone
She hugged her mother and apologized
then she began to pray for her mother
and her siblings
It came from within
It was beautiful
Mother and daughter left the office of
the brother in jeans and T-shirt hand
in hand!

PS: They left a voice message and
pictures for her sisters on Whatsapp 
that same day
Her mother met her grandchildren for 
the first time
She cried because she had denied
herself so much joy by allowing herself
to be led through the nose by liars
and manipulators for so many years
The relationship between her and
her sisters had gotten so much better
Their mother insisted that they carry her
along in their plans and lives
one of them is engaged and getting
married in August
Their father still lives with the young
side chick but he speaks with his 
daughters constantly and seemed to
be open to the idea of making things
right

GSW's notes: When you meet a prophet
who can only label people as witches
but lacked the power to disarm such,
know that you have met a liar and a
charlatan whose goal would be to ruin
all your good relationships and tie your
life up in unending knots of pain and
bitterness
Be wary of cursing people
Curses hurt believers and open the 
door to strange realities
Forgive those who hate you quickly
Don't ever let them get to you
When believers take a wrong step,
the Holy Spirit will reach out to us
and call our attention to our misstep
Like Peter, it might be a gentle reminder
Like Jonah, it might be a stormy reminder
Whichever type the reminder might be
Please make corrections immediately
Always remember that human beings 
are not the enemy
Don't ever forget that!