The will to survive

As a person who grew up to never need to work for anything, it was strange how the world spun and responsibilities forced me to take up the mantle of working to settle my needs.

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Out of five children, I was the first child of my parents, and the world was more than a pleasant place for us. My parents were wealthy enough to cater to the needs of their kids, as well as the needs of outsiders who needed their help. I had the best childhood anyone could ask for; we lacked for nothing and I never imagined that a day would come when I'd have to lift a finger to work for money. Well, I guess you'd call that a childish thought, but it stemmed from my dad's promising words to me and my siblings.

"Even if I were to be dead tomorrow, you'll all live a comfortable life like I never even left in the first place." My dad would always say to us.

I must confess that being part of a wealthy family is one of the best things that anyone can ever experience, if not the best thing. But I was soon to realize how it felt like to be the caterer of one's own needs when the tides turned, and I saw myself in an unfortunate situation.

I was just twenty-three years of age, and in my third year at the university when I lost my parents. When they say life hits very badly sometimes, it hit me hard during that period. At first, I took consolation in the words my dad had always said to me since I was little about leading a comfortable life even after he was gone, but that was soon to change when things took a different turn, and his kinsmen went all out to torment me and my siblings. It was then that I realized that my siblings had no one else to look up to except me, and I had to make sure that I did not let them down.

"Sis, what should I tell my teacher about our school fees? We were supposed to pay by this week's end." Daniel, my little brother asked me over the phone.

I sighed and gulped down the water I had in my hands. I had totally forgotten that I asked them to plead with their teacher to give them the grace of that week to pay their fees. I sighed again.

"I'll see what I can do. I can only pay for you and Lilian's fee; probably by next week, I'll be able to complete George and Grace's own. Can you plead with your teacher again?" I asked him after explaining my financial situation to him.

"Can't you pay half of George's fee now?" He asked me.

"Dan, I need to buy some textbooks and pay my rent which is already two months overdue. I'll try to pay their fees by the end of next week, but for now, all I can give is your and Lilian's fees." I replied, and after we had reached an agreement, the call ended.

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That night, I had a long discussion with myself, and I made up my mind to go out there and start something.
As a girl, I watched my mum bake cakes for my dad since he loved them. Luckily for me, I hadn't forgotten how she made them, so I decided to pick up the cake-making business, and it excelled. I didn't stop there, I went ahead to add other snacks to my bakery business, and in no time, I was well-known for my cake and pastry making.

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One of the things that amazed me was the rate at which the number of friends I used to have diminished. In my first year at school, I was the girl everyone wanted to hang out with because I always took care of the bills, but when the tides turned, I was left with less than four people in my life as friends.

Finally when my cake-making business started to triumph, and I began to look more like my old self once more, people assumed so many things that I couldn't even care about. All that mattered to me was the fact that I was able to cater to the needs of my siblings and make ends meet without having to depend on the kinsmen of my dad who had assumed ownership of his properties, and life turned out to be good once more.

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