Marlee's story

On the day Marlee Aburo was born, both her parents John and Mary, knew there was something different about their daughter. Her impatience to enter the world caught them both by surprise, such that John Aburo had not the time to get his sister-in-law from the hut on the other side of the escarpment. Instead, Marlee arrived quickly from her mother’s womb falling literally into her father’s outstretched hands. The eldest son was soon sent scurrying out of the family hut by his shocked father to fetch his Aunty, “Mwana, kukimbia na kupata Aunty yako. Haraka! Haraka!”

The birth had been relatively quick, which left Mary Aburo the ability to direct her husband and eldest daughter to find a blanket to wrap the screaming Marlee. The evening sun had yet to set over the horizon, so there was enough light for the rest of the family to prepare a fire. A bucket of water, which had been carried on the head of one of the children earlier from the nearest waterhole a kilometre away, was used to fill a pot ready for heating.

...

John Aburo stood outside his family hut; he stared into the distance with many thoughts passing through his head. What luck would this child bring the family? She was strong, but it remained a fact that he now had four daughters instead of three sons. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the shouts of his sister-in-law, Ghati, waddling eagerly over the ridge. Wanting to avoid questions and the woman’s need to tell him what to do, John moved down the hill in the direction of the Mara River. He would wash the blood from his body and leave the women to it. He wondered what he would see in the stars later, but somehow he knew he wouldn't need to search too hard to find a name for his binti.

--------------------------------------------------------