Chapter 1

• Malisa's POV.
• I still can't believe that I am turning eighteen soon, it still felt like yesterday when I and Princess Gabriella said our goodbyes.
• I miss my only best friend and comforter, she was the only one that understood me the most.
• I am very grateful for all the times we spent together.
• She taught me a lot about life, if not for her, I will be a girl with no direction.
• I still remember vividly the day we last saw each other.
• How we both became emotional as we knew that this was probably the last time we would see each other.
• It's funny how she made me make a promise to her that I wouldn't give up on my dreams no matter what.
• Well, I don't plan on giving up on my dreams but...
• It's hard, very hard I must say.
• Today is the beginning of a new month, March 1.
• My eighteenth birthday is in 24 days.
• I am supposed to be happy about it but I am not.
• I feel suffocated, I wish I could change my fate.
• I want to fulfill my dreams.
• I don't want to get married to Ronaldo Jones, the 50-year-old man my parents chose for me.
• Not only is he almost thrice my age, but he also has Five wives and Twenty children with most of them older than me.
• Why would he want to get married to a young girl who is younger than his daughter?
• I haven't gotten my answer.
• I wish I had a choice.
• Getting married isn't the only thing I am sad about but I am also sad about the fact that I would be violated.
• I have to get circumcised on my 18-year-old birthday, this isn't a new thing as all girls my age go through this but it's crazy.
• Well, I thought this act was normal until My best friend, Princess Gabriella told me that most countries of the world don't practice this.
• Really?, Then why is our Village practicing it? ' I had asked her but she only replied to me with one word.
• 'Tradition.'
• I don't want to go through all of this, I am scared.
• I could remember how Stella one of our neighbor's daughters who was a year older than me, bled to death after being circumcised.
• Well, this circumcision isn't safe as there are often complications.
• Some women end up becoming an Empty shells because of it but as they say, Tradition is tradition.
• I wish I wasn't born here.
• A place where girls don't have a voice.
• We are seen as nothing but Tools, we are been nurtured and trained to become instruments of pleasure for men and also childbearing tools.
• We aren't respected at all.
• Sometimes I ask myself the question.
• 'Why am I here?'
• But then a spark in me will be felt then.
• Am I here to Break the rules?
• Well, would I be courageous enough to do this despite knowing the consequences of it?
• But I can't just accept my fate.
• I deserve to be able to choose.
• I am a human, not a thing.
• I wish people in my village understood this.
• But sadly none of them do only my best friend does.
• Speaking of Princess Gabriella.
• I would never forget her love and care.
• She was very kind and lovely, unlike her older siblings despite being the youngest child of the One and only king of our village.
• She respected me and treated me like a little sister, I would never forget her act of kindness.
• I often wonder how it felt to be like her.
• She lived in luxury.
• She was well respected by all including her father who loved her unconditionally.
• She didn't have to worry about being circumcised or being married off to an old man at a young age as she would have the right to chose.
• She had traveled to different parts of the world.
• She was well educated.
• She could speak multiple languages fluently.
• I often envied her, her life seems so perfect, I wish my life was like that.
• [ Is Gabriella's life that perfect? ]
• Though I am not that Ignorant as she taught me a lot.
• She thought me how to read and write, yeah she did.
• She'll be a good teacher, I guess.
• From here, I knew how to read novels and that's when I came across one of best selling writer Francine Rivers books, The book was titled Marta's Legacy
• As soon as I started reading it, I soon got hooked and didn't stop till I completed reading the book and then I realized that the book had a book two which was titled, Her Mother's Hope.
• I also made sure to read that too.
• And that's how Francine Rivers became my best writer.
• I started to wish to be a writer but can my dream be fulfilled?
• Also, I became a fan of Celine Dion after listening to her two Emotional songs, My heart will go on and The Prayer.
• I especially loved her voice and the way she sings, I also began to admire her too.
• Who knew that while I was enjoying all this luxury at the palace, I was building up hate, unknowingly.
• When Princess Gabriella finally left the village for the city to further her education, I became an outcast.
• All the friends I had before avoided me like a plague.
• I often overhear them gossiping and saying awful things about me.
• Even my mom began to treat me differently
• Isn't this too much? I thought.
• I soon got used to all this and began to focus on things that matter and yes in the blink of an eye, Two years have passed.
• I am almost eighteen ready for marriage.
• Am I ready?
• The answer is obvious but do I have a choice?
• No, I don't.
• My fate had been decided the minute I was born in this village.
• But...
• Is that how my story is going to end?
• Of course not.
• I have my dreams waiting to be fulfilled.
• I made a promise.
• To who?
• My creator.
• Myself
• And Princess Gabriella
• That I would fulfill my dreams.
• I'll be persistent no matter the cost.
• But what to do?
• There are only 24 days left!
• That's enough to change my Destiny.
• I am Malisa Bree and this is my Story!
• Enjoy!
• I hope you'll learn a lot from it.
• Thanks for reading....