EMBELLISHED ARCADIAN 🧑🏼‍🌾

 

My childhood was the best period of my life, one I often wish I could relive. My parents, especially my dad, were incredibly kind, witty, loving, and empathetic. He taught me the importance of kindness, compassion, empathy, and the simplicity of life. We studied under the light of my mother’s lamp and used a box iron for my school uniform. We would often visit the farm, and my parents would narrate Ananse stories to us. My dad had a special affinity for animals; in fact, we had a dedicated feeding trough for the birds that visited us every morning and evening.

I miss the onomatopoetic sounds of various wildlife in the middle of the night, especially the eerie, echoing shrill of the tree hyrax, which always sent chills down my spine. Our house was on the outskirts of town, near the forest. It sometimes felt like we were outcasts due to our distinct fair skin and curly hair, which contrasted with the dark and shiny skin of the natives. Yet, my father embraced our uniqueness, and we became the oddballs in the community.

Porridge was our breakfast, rice our lunch, and fufu our dinner. This routine remained unless we had visitors. My mother disliked fufu, so she would often opt for yam or kenkey in the evening. My dad, ever the supportive partner, would come home early from work to help my mother prepare dinner. At barely ten years old, I couldn’t handle the heavy pestle with my tiny upper limbs.
My love for highlife music began during this time, as the only entertainment available was listening to the “wireless”  while my parents made dinner. Occasionally, I would summon the courage to walk miles to the town center, to “the concert house,” and pay to watch local movies. The first time I ever watched a local television show was in September 2008, when I moved to live with my older sister in the city. My dad felt I had outgrown the village.

I was the apple of my father’s eye. It took him two years to decide whether or not to let me go. Being a staunch believer in education, he knew I had to move to the city to further my studies and take lessons in Arabic and Spanish. However, the city marked the beginning of woes and traumas that may haunt me for the rest of my life.

~Freeman.