A Cobra in our Bathtub
I was 6 years old, my sister was 3 when we moved to Siavonga, Zambia. It was midnight when we arrived and there were no lightbulbs in the house, so dad checked the place with flashlights for unwanted strangers or crawlers. He saw a scorpio on our bathroom floor and as he was killing it I saw something rise it's head from the bathtub.
Cobra.
In the position to strike.
I'd never seen a snake before. I couldn't even scream, no sound came out, I took my dad's hand and pointed and pointed.
Huh he saw it on time and with great difficulty killed it. Then there were a couple of spiders still to get rid of. The house had been abandoned, empty for some years and it showed. It was temporary housing for us, but even for that, too covered in thick dusty and all too ransacked.
At night my sister started crying. I always took her to my bed as that calmed her down so I braved whatever creepers could be on the floor and ran to carry her to my bed. But she didn't calm down, she was hungry.
I called out for my mother and father who slept in the next room. Only echo answered. Terror started to rise it's ugly head. They had to hear us.
I was so afraid of what I might step on in the dark but had no choice. I picked my crying baby sister in my arms and ran to mom and dad's room. Their bed was empty.
I had to stay calm not to panic my sister but inside I was shaking with fear. Anyway first I had to get Katri something to eat. I run to the kitchen as fast as I could with her in my arms, feeling the cobra's rising head on every step.
I placed Katri in the kitchen sink and put the plug on so noting could get to her from underneath - thought it would be safer than what might be on the floor. We had hardly any food supplies but I found butter and sugar and mashed those for her.
She calmed down, me - no. We had been stopped by some many armed militia groups, some of them aggressive, on our way from the capital Lusaka that I could only imagine they had come to get mom and dad and killed them. They couldn't have vanished like that otherwise, this had never happened before.
In my 6-year-old head I drafted a plan for us. The only way for us to survive, in my mind, was to get out of that place, get us back to Finland and find our grandparents. They would take care of us.
I'd never flown on an airplane before but knew now that passports and tickets were needed. So I decided to wait till morning light, look for the passports and money and try to hitch hike to Lusaka with Katri. Then we'd have to find the airport. After would come the tricky part - I'd have to find a plane that was going to Finland and buy tickets or smuggle us in. Felt most difficult, especially as I didn't speak a word of English.
Once we'd be in Finland I knew I'd get us to safety.
Not a great plan, I realised, but the best I came up with.
We stayed in the kitchen as there was light in the fridge and by keeping the door open I could see that no scorpios or other poisonous creatures were around. I'd never been so scared in my life and couldn't stop thinking of the faith of my parents...
Until the door opened and giddy happy they entered. There was another Finnish family somewhere nearby and they'd gotten a brilliant idea of going to introduce themselves and have a drink together. Katri and I were so tired from the time difference and the very long and strenuous journey that they were sure we wouldn't wake up.
Parenting those days sure was way more relaxed than now. They had just wanted us to get enough sleep and rest, and themselves were bored sitting in a dark house with nothing to do for hours.
I was so relieved that there are no words to describe it, but beyond that I was so mad that there are even fewer ways of expressing it. I couldn't even speak to my parents in a very long time.
The next time this happened we just found torches (and knew the village) so we went to find them :).
Cobra.
In the position to strike.
I'd never seen a snake before. I couldn't even scream, no sound came out, I took my dad's hand and pointed and pointed.
Huh he saw it on time and with great difficulty killed it. Then there were a couple of spiders still to get rid of. The house had been abandoned, empty for some years and it showed. It was temporary housing for us, but even for that, too covered in thick dusty and all too ransacked.
At night my sister started crying. I always took her to my bed as that calmed her down so I braved whatever creepers could be on the floor and ran to carry her to my bed. But she didn't calm down, she was hungry.
I called out for my mother and father who slept in the next room. Only echo answered. Terror started to rise it's ugly head. They had to hear us.
I was so afraid of what I might step on in the dark but had no choice. I picked my crying baby sister in my arms and ran to mom and dad's room. Their bed was empty.
I had to stay calm not to panic my sister but inside I was shaking with fear. Anyway first I had to get Katri something to eat. I run to the kitchen as fast as I could with her in my arms, feeling the cobra's rising head on every step.
I placed Katri in the kitchen sink and put the plug on so noting could get to her from underneath - thought it would be safer than what might be on the floor. We had hardly any food supplies but I found butter and sugar and mashed those for her.
She calmed down, me - no. We had been stopped by some many armed militia groups, some of them aggressive, on our way from the capital Lusaka that I could only imagine they had come to get mom and dad and killed them. They couldn't have vanished like that otherwise, this had never happened before.
In my 6-year-old head I drafted a plan for us. The only way for us to survive, in my mind, was to get out of that place, get us back to Finland and find our grandparents. They would take care of us.
I'd never flown on an airplane before but knew now that passports and tickets were needed. So I decided to wait till morning light, look for the passports and money and try to hitch hike to Lusaka with Katri. Then we'd have to find the airport. After would come the tricky part - I'd have to find a plane that was going to Finland and buy tickets or smuggle us in. Felt most difficult, especially as I didn't speak a word of English.
Once we'd be in Finland I knew I'd get us to safety.
Not a great plan, I realised, but the best I came up with.
We stayed in the kitchen as there was light in the fridge and by keeping the door open I could see that no scorpios or other poisonous creatures were around. I'd never been so scared in my life and couldn't stop thinking of the faith of my parents...
Until the door opened and giddy happy they entered. There was another Finnish family somewhere nearby and they'd gotten a brilliant idea of going to introduce themselves and have a drink together. Katri and I were so tired from the time difference and the very long and strenuous journey that they were sure we wouldn't wake up.
Parenting those days sure was way more relaxed than now. They had just wanted us to get enough sleep and rest, and themselves were bored sitting in a dark house with nothing to do for hours.
I was so relieved that there are no words to describe it, but beyond that I was so mad that there are even fewer ways of expressing it. I couldn't even speak to my parents in a very long time.
The next time this happened we just found torches (and knew the village) so we went to find them :).
So, after LONG soul searching I found a little silver lining in that experience and can say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Sometimes.