My Secret Hideout

                   
         
Although this is the first chapter of #MYBOOK it is in fact the last, because the alpha and the omega are always tied together, in the beautiful dance called life.


It was a cold, crystal-clear winter morning. The sun was so high that it made the African sky look like a vast blue sea that stretched out forever and for a day. It must have been the ice cold crisp fresh air that caused my head to flip in the direction of my heart or maybe it was the other way around, my heart to flip in the direction of my heart, all I know is that suddenly I found myself looking at a derelict villa in the middle of nowhere through a lens of rose-tinted glasses. From this perspective, I heard my inner child squeal in delight.


"This is the spot where I could take a nap".


No wonder, my inner parent said brushing my inner child off, there is not the building in sight nor a being to be seen other than a few die-hards that can't but stay put, hopeful that a knight in shining armour riding a white horse will arrive on their doorstep with an offer of relief.


I do believe with my input we can get a cash injection flowing in this direction. I said to my Twin flame and partner in crime feeling punch drunk in love with the scene before me. It was not the village that made my heart flip it was the scenic beauty of the natural setting that did it for me.


My best friend a handsome man of Khoisan and Germain descent, a very intriguing cocktail for an alpha male so hot he made my head spin the moment I met him smiled lovingly in my direction. Come he said let's take a closer look. Without a second thought, I caught the rhythm of his step, following him down the hill, hence the reason I say he is my partner in crime. Most often you will find us up the mountain in the middle of nowhere, down the creak deep in the forest, or on an isolated beach like children out on an adventure. Besides the fact that my best friend says yes to my every whim, it is his level of kindness that rattles my cage like no one else does. For instance, recently we attended a wake together. At the end of the gathering, he grabbed a paper plate and neatly stacked some leftovers on it, so I copied him, thinking, "pad koss", an Afrikaans phrase that best describes food for the trip, in a way that English falls short, all the while piling on the speed on my paper plate, while eating it at the same time, then feeling full I set my plate aside before we left while he walked over the top security guard offering her his food, while I hung my head in shame remembering that in his home his cupboards were bare.


We have everything we need, right here is said egotistically pointing to my head, to turn these abandoned shacks into a goldmine. Look at all this rubble. With my magic, I know we can turn this small town into an exclusive HIDE-OUT RETREAT: our target market, the connoisseur for refined stillness and beauty.


Usually "I" that one who has given her life over to THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER in favour of living my heaven on earth, am vigilant to the shenanigans of my ego mindset. It is quite easy to recognise her at work. Usually, she is the one claiming the spotlight with a flash of cash she does not have and a bright spark of idea intent on saving the day in order to win Business Woman of the Year.


"I" am well qualified in every respect. I said, "I "have a diploma in Architectural technology under my belt. It is obvious that "I" have a creative flare based on the way I flick the artist's brush. "I" am quite capable in website development, my speciality drawing traffic to the hotel industry, so "I" know I have what it takes to bring relief to these poor people via the portal of job creation. All "I" require is a signed, sealed and delivered contract from the park manager, who in turn works for the mining company that stole the land from the ancestors of the villages who now have their hand cupping the begging bowl. Suddenly I could feel the revolutionary rising up inside of me before I stifled it with greed. Feeling rather pleased with the solution, I took a sign of relief giving way to a millisecond of silence, providing the space for me to hear the whisper of my FairyGodMotherthe name I give to the VOICE of my SPIRIT, my INNER- TUITION


"Vast empty spaces, with surround sound birdsong, uninterrupted by the noise of man, like an astrological chart that is in alignment for your success, we have the perfect match and frequency to shatter a FROZEN HEART with the sound of SILENCE.


Wait what, I said to my inner ear, backtracking from my stance, My HEART IS NOT FROZEN OVER, answering my FairyGodMother statement with a question.
Where have you been of late, have you not noticed that I AM bursting at the seems OUT-OF-LOVE?


See that shack over there, I said, drawing my eye to the most dilapidated woodcutter hut at the end of the road IN-THE-MIDDLE-OF-NOWHERE. That, dearest FairyGodMother, is my new SECRETE HIDEOUT.
Granted it has no roof on it, and wooden walls and floors have gaping holes in them, but still, my heart goes BOOM BOOM BOOM because, beyond the brokenness, the view is spectacular.


I know what I want and I WILL HAVE IT, I said clamping down on my INNER-TUITION.


Usually, this attitude comes with a "wait for it", followed by a slap on my forehead by my own right hand, leaving a sticker in its wake with big bold letters printed in a comic font that reads, WHAT WAS I THINKING! QUITE CLEARLY I WAS NOT.


It could have been the lack of sleep that got me seeing this run-down village in the middle of nowhere with rose-tinted glasses, or maybe it was the fear rising in my belly at the thought that pretty soon the wolves of debit and poverty would be howling at my door if I don't get my act together pretty soon, either way, it did not matter, all that mattered was was that the following week when I arrived HOME to MY SECRETE HIDEOUT IN THE MIDDLE -OF-NOWHERE, all that matters was that I rose-tinted glasses that clouded my vision were OFF, causing my version of prime real estate property to come back at me with a slap with a wet fish.


Turning this sad story into glory I thought to myself would require a superhuman ability to turn base metal into gold, a magic trick of The MIDUS TOUCH may be something I aspire to, but as yet I still have work to do.


It was not the derelict houses that got me choking on my own words. Nor was it the severe poverty that got me bolting up the hill in the opposite direction to the small town that once was my heaven on earth. It was not the agonising yelp of the malnourished dog chained to a post that constricted my breath.


Nope, none of the above, could ever have shattered my world like the child with palsy I saw no taller than the average two-year-old no using a stick for a crutch.


Let's get out of here, I heard the shrill in my own voice as I screamed out to my friend, I can't do this kind of debt relief a moment longer I added, but my cry fell on deaf ears because his bandwidth was taken up by the villagers pleas.


Enough I said to my inner ear. Get me out of here.


Take it easy my child, I heard FairtyGodMother's soothing tone. I got your back, see the furthest tree over there, and go rest your spine against its trunk while you tend your inner rose garden, you need time to gather your WITTS about you, so we don't get our lines crossed.


What do you mean by gathering my wits? No amount of WITTINESS can fix this problem, I answered back angrily, I am sorry I am not qualified enough for this job.


Look I added, right now I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place, If I save the dog and report the owner whoever they are for animal cruelty, I will have a target on my back, that says I let the cat out of the bag. If I don't I won't be able to sleep, If I do to get closer to the child with the stick. If I don't I won't be able to put my rose-tinted glasses back on ever again


BE CALM, STAY FOCUSED, WE GOT THIS said my FairyGodMother.


How so I trailed off losing my connection to my spirit because the truck headed in my direction caught my attention. Lost in thought I wondered what a truck like this was doing in the middle of nowhere, while I watched it grind to a halt right in front of me.


Oh my gosh, I grasped for air, there were people crowded in the back of it looking like cattle, headed for a slaughterhouse. Causing me to retreat into a comatose state of not enough air shutting my FairyGodMother out. This is too much hardship for me to bear in one day.


The sweet sound of "Hello" coming from a woman's voice drew me back to my senses.


What are you sitting under this tree? I heard her say, causing me to focus my attention on a coffee-coloured happy-go-lucky, would-be pretty if ONLY too many hangovers had not bloated her features out of their beauty.
Is ja nie bang vir slang nie? Are you not scared of snakes The young woman said in a heavy Afrikaans accent.


The word snake caused me to jump up as though one had already bitten me levelling me up to her height with freight,


Don't you know there is boom slang in the trees, she said looking up.


Following her gaze I said no, while searching the tree to see if I could see a green snake smiling back at me.


Then gaining my composure I said. My name is MAGIC, who are you and where did you come from?




From the truck over there my newfound friend said, added, of course I know who you are, you are our new neighbour.


Oh yes, that I said trailing off as I remember how the villagers had all gathered together in a street conference call to give us their unanimous vote of YES! Absolutely you can have number three, pertaining to the the least dilapidated cottage at the start of the road in the middle of nowhere, shortly after my WhatsApp message to the park manager turned blue and came back with a blank stare.


If she won't let you have your project, you can just take what is ours to give, they all said smiling from ear to ear just as the sun was setting, causing the stillness to cloak the village like a thick mist.


Oh, I said, trying to hide my embarrassment that I did not recognise my neighbour. Which hut do you live in?


I live over there, my friend said pointing in the direction of the chained-up dog.


Oh, I swallowed hard, least I let slip that there was now bile on my tongue, because I found her ownership unpalatable.


"Ja, I am" The dog is very vicious, it almost bit my friend's child over there, she said pointing to the child that caused me to bolt up the hill. His Ouma could not get the dog off him like we were there to help her pull him off.


Falling back into my mother tongue of a well-educated woman I said with relief. I can get an animal behavioural specialist over here to assist you with the dog. Smiling from ear to ear, then realising she did not understand a word I said, I rephrased my lasso of help in broken Afrikaans. "Ek kan iemand hier bring om jou te help met die hond sodat dit nie byt nie" I can bring someone here to help you with the dog.


But ek het nie geld nie, I don't have money to pay them.


You don't need money to fix your problem, all I need is your yes to get help flowing in your direction, I said, smiling from ear to ear, a trigger to set in motion the OPENING OF MY HEART in a fashion that a vegan meal at my favourite restaurant could not.


See, I told you we got this dear, I heard my FairyGodMother whisper in my inner ear. We got this!