2/3 In the orphanage I had no one who cared for me except for child number 26. Her name was also Mabinty and she was left handed and would wet her bed at night. From the moment we met we were best friends. At night whenever I was having nightmares she would sing to me and tell me that we would survive and that everything would be alright. One day I was playing outside and I found a magazine at the gate of the orphanage and there was a beautiful woman on the cover. She was wearing a pink tutu and point shoes. I was mesmerized by her beauty and elegance but most of all she looked happy and that is what I wanted to be; happy. There and then, I decided that one day, I would be just like her. I ripped off the cover and I hid it in my underwear, where the aunties wouldn’t be able to find it. One day, a new teacher came to the orphanage and unlike the aunties she cared for me. She realized that because of my skin condition, I needed extra education. So, she would spend extra hours educating me. She became a mother figure whom I trusted. I went up to my teacher and I showed her the cover of the magazine. She explained to me that the woman on the cover was a ballerina. One day I was playing outside with my favourite teacher and while I was twirling around and dancing, suddenly we heard the rebels. They noticed that my teacher was pregnant and they stopped her and they started betting whether she was pregnant with a boy or a girl. They decided to find out and they cut her stomach open with a machete. It was a baby girl. They cut her arms and legs off right in front of me. Somehow I thought, I could save her and I ran up to her. One of the rebels, who was also very young, took his machete out and cut my stomach open. I still have the scar on my belly.
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