Reflections in fiction, stories of struggling to survive. NP & JWT

Reflections in fiction, stories of struggling to survive. 

As I think and process my role in South Sudan, both past, present, and future, I wanted to share some of the fictional stories I wrote one year ago. These stories, glimpses into other peoples' lives, are a culmination of stories I’ve heard, experiences that have been shared, laments offered in reflection, real people trying to make sense of this world. Though they are fictional, most stories are based on real people living in South Sudan.

NP – 1

She knew nothing of love, only of passion and desire. She had learned to give herself away freely, to enjoy pleasure and to never feel the pain.

She knew of darkness and knew nothing of light. She had seen only suffering, felt its grip pulling her down. There were moments of happiness, but they were too few and too long ago to remember them now. Her survival rested on blocking the pain, neglecting her self and living only for the moment, not caring or acknowledging that there might be a future.

She was young, only 14 years in age, but her soul was old and frail, well beyond the deception of her youthful stance and ensnaring eyes.

JWT – 1

“When God made me, he did not make me smart”, he replied.

Learning had never come easy to him. His mind wandered too freely, his focus shifted too much, and his sense of self-worth was too desperately low. He resigned himself to a future of labor, digging the land one swing of his hoe after another.

His coordination often failed him, his judgment often misled him, and his lack of self-confidence entrapped him.

He had hoped for more, as a younger boy dreaming of adventure, longing to explore, hoping for more than the life of poverty he had always known. But now the truth set surprisingly in, suddenly and concretely, without a mere shred of doubt. He knew, at the age of 19 years old, that he would never accomplish more. His life of poverty had now become a life sentence of despair.