Candle In The Wind

Chapter 1*The calm before the storm*

               The Richardson family wasn't a large family, a family consisting of James Calvin Richardson, Annetta Maria Richardson, a black woman from West Africa, Isabella Maha Richardson and Williams Tobi Richardson, these are the only people that made up the Richardson family. Small and cozy filled with love and liveliness never interfering with other people's business that's how the Richardson lived, Maha grew up being the lovely little angel of the Richardson's couple, her being their first child they made sure to shower her with lots of love and attention, never neglecting her needs..

                Her parents always gave her the reassurance that they were always there for her,right from childbirth everyone knew Maha was a beautiful girl with a cute little smile, within the years Maha had grown into a slim, melanin sun kissed skin beauty, not taking after her mother's dark complexion or her dads fairness, for her dad is an American, well Maha decided to be the combination of both her mom/dad, given her a melanin sun kissed skin, accompanied with her ocean blue eyes with a streak of green, Maha was a beautiful sight to behold and did her parents not love her, in fact they adored her..

             Five years After the birth of Maha came their second child, a boy, William Tobi Richardson, the exact copy of his father, Tobi decided to take after his dad in everything, looks, hair color, and skin color, the only way one would distinguish William from his dad was the fact that he had his moms hazel brown eyes and her broad lips, while Maha had her dad's plump lips...

                     While growing up as a kid Maha never wondered why she didn't have a grandma or grandpa like other kids in her elementary school, her only concerned was why her little brother had more friends than her, she never understand why the kids didn't want to play with or share things with her, but most of the time they were always playing with Tobi,  there were days when the little bundle of joy would ask her mama, why she wasn't fair like papa and Tobi or why she isn't dark like mama, her mama would always assure that it wasn't a big deal, either way she is still their little bundle of joy, their first child and they would always be grateful for having her, her mama would always tell her to pride in her skin color, and never let anyone intimidate her for it, her Papa would tell her, how proud he is to have her as his melanin popping, saying she is his miss universe, which always made Maha Happy..

            The Richardson family always make good use of holidays, because that was when they had enough time on their hands to bond with their kids, so they would either go sight seeing with the kids or travel to a desired choice of country by the kids to spend the holiday,  this year the Richardson family decided they've been flying too much, why not explore the ocean this time around, James and his wife seeing this as a good idea and new experience for the kids decided to inform their kids about the new holiday venture.

         Maha and Tobi quickly jumped for joy at the knowledge that they would be going a cruise, Maha particularly was happy that this holiday falls on her  11th birthday and her mom/dad already promised to celebrate it for her on the cruise,  she already started bragging about that in school to anyone who cared to listen...

          School activities came to stop in a flash after the exams and the Richardson's family began counting down to Christmas break in anticipation for their ship cruise, for them it started feeling like forever...

           After the long awaited Christmas break it finally came, and the Richardson had two days left for their cruise, so they used those 2 days to sort out what they will be taking with them and clothes to wear,  if Maha had her way, I'm sure she would have dragged her whole wardrobe to the ship, well girls will always be girls and guys will always be guys, after sorting and packing of bags, the day for their cruise finally came an everyone was excited..

              James drove his family to the port, and they boarded the ship cruise, and mind you they weren't the only family onboard, seeing as its a cruise for just 5 families, and the Richardson already knew it was going to be fun, on the first day, the beauty of the ocean was so captivating that it left few families awake staring lovinly and in amazement at the beautiful ocean creation, Maha found everything fascinating. Days went by, the Richardson family had already made a few friends with the other families...

          It was the most fun thing the Richardson's had ever experienced, and both parents were glad they were able to afford this for their kids despite the fact they aren't the richest family, they made sure that were always able to provide for their kids,...  As promised by her parents, maha's birthday was here finally..

       All the families in the cruise gathered around for her 11th birthday, mama made her chocolate cake, and cooked her favorite meal, papa got her a beautiful bracelet, while mama gave her a pair of new shoes as her birthday present, the 5 families sang her birthday songs, after making her wish and blowing out the candles, the cake was cut and everyone had their share..

        After the long long day and the joy and meriment from celebrating maha's birthday,it was way past evening and everyone retired to their respective lodge on the ship, everyone was fast asleep when the first wave hit the ship, the impact wasn't that much but it could be felt, Maha woke up startled, shivering slightly..

         She climbed down from the twin bed she was sharing with her brother and made her way to their parent room, she was half way through when the second storm hit the ship again this time, making a huge impact, Maha swayed lightly on her feet, wrapping her hand around herself she knocked on her parents room, receiving a response before going in...

         "mama" She called out for her mom.. Her mom motioned for her to come towards the bed engulfing her in an embrace

        "why are you awake Bella, what's wrong" her mom asked her gently

          "I'm scared mama, I had a terrible dream, you and Papa left me all alone, I kept looking for you and I couldn't find you" she answered her lips quivering

        "sshhhh, don't cry princess, it's just a nightmare okay, I'm here, see your papa is also here, we would never leave you or your brother, you both mean so much to us"  she assured her sweet baby

       "are you sure mama, I'm scared it felt so real "

         "everything is fine baby girl, no need to be scared, no one is taking you away from us okay, now come and sleep with mama and Papa, we would be right here when you wake" getting the assurance she wants from her mom, Maha hoped on her parents bed and drifted to sleep wrapping her arms around her mama..

             Everyone was fast asleep when the 3rd storm hit the ship, this time 3times harder the the first two, the impact was so hard the captain lost control for few minutes, making the ship go off course colliding with an iceberg, denting the sides of the ship allowing water into the cruise home, the 4th wave hit and this got everyone wide awake in panic........