Adanne

It’s the story of a woman…

A woman who was called barren.

Born as an only child to a wealthy man who traded in the palm oil business and owned many farmlands, Ada as was fondly called by her father lacked nothing. Maybe because she lost her mother when she was barely a year old, her father made sure to make up for that by providing her with every need, employing maids to tend to her and making sure she was well taken care of whenever he had to take long business trips, which was quite often.

Anyone would naturally expect Ada to behave like the spoilt child that has been pampered silly, but no, Ada was well-mannered and respectful. She wasn't one who looked down on others, not her friends, not her maids. 'Twas this trait of hers that endeared her to many, the villagers admired her homely behaviour and willingness to help those who come to her for food items. Ada made sure her friends always had something to eat, for her house never lacked food or meat.

When Ada turned 19, her father passed on, leaving her with an enormous amount of inheritance as an only child.

She decided it was time to get married and raise her own family two years after her father's passing. She also decided that it was time to let go of some of her maids, seeing that she had not much need for them and they needed to have a life of their own too, so, she gave them money as compensation for their years of service and bade them goodbye.

Adanne got married to the son of a respected hunter, a match everyone felt was made in heaven, but they realized with time, that it was not so. The loving husband, who came upon large wealth and affluence from marrying Adanne and running her father's palm oil plantation business soon became a cold-hearted man and turned against his wife after the first year of their marriage because she was yet to conceive. He accused her of not being a fertile woman because she had used up all the children in her womb, even though he married her a virgin.

For so many nights, Ada would lay in her bed crying, begging the creator to take pity on her and bless her with a child, irrespective of gender. But the more she prayed, the answers seem to be far from coming.

Adanne was childless for many years after marriage and it became a norm for her to be referred to as barren until the husband eventually left her.

She couldn’t bear the shame so, she left her home and decided to make a life elsewhere. Being the only child of her late parents, she was left with quite a huge inheritance, some of which her ex-husband had squandered and said was the only reason he had put up with her all these years.

Adanne sold the landed properties because she had no plans of returning to a land that has caused her so much grief. And off she went...

Two years after settling in, she finally decided to give another man a chance but was quick to tell him upfront that she can’t bear him any child, and this isn’t because she was past childbearing age. To her utter surprise, the man laughed and asked her why she thinks that information was important.

‘Twas 6 weeks and a few days after their first meet that Adanne fell ill, but this isn’t the regular kind of illness. She was weak and lazy for no reason, unlike her usual agile self.

When she went to the local medicine woman, she was told she was with a child.

Adanne asked the woman why she felt it necessary to throw such a huge joke but alas, ‘twas no joke because as time went by, her stomach protruded, the mounds on her chest were swollen with milk and oh, she was truly with child.