Voices echoed in my mind.
"You're such a disgrace to this family!"
"How could you be so selfish?"
"We should have abandoned you when we had the chance!"
"You must die."
I tripped over a fallen branch hitting my head hard on the ground. My vision doubled. My legs felt numb but I couldn't stop now. I have already come so far.
That memory still haunted me.
A man aged around mid forties had come over to my house. He had a massive pot belly and reeked of alcohol. He held a cigarette in his right hand and with the other, a briefcase. I knew what was going to happen. I had eavesdropped on my family earlier.
My worst fear had materialized.
That man had come to ask my hand for marriage. I am barely 16. He was giving my family a bountiful sum in exchange. This was quite common in my village, where most of the families were poor. They sold their daughters as brides just to earn some money.
I came out of my room, dressed in a tattered outfit and coal-blackened face. I had chopped my beautiful hair short and jagged. I looked monstrous.
But it worked!
He left infuriated, cussing at my family. I felt relieved but they turned on me and locked me in my room, without food and water.
I escaped.
Now, I was running for my life.
Strangely enough, I feel more safe in this wilderness than I ever felt back at home.