The poster was displayed on the notice board of the Community Hall. She had put it up with trembling hands, the hands that once were so sure, the hands that once made these shoes with so much love and hope.
Pearl white, baby pink, sky blue and soft yellow, four pairs for her little baby.
Soon the four sets were ready. She placed them on top of the chest of drawers in her cosy bedroom where she could see them everyday as she waited for her baby to arrive.
Keith would sit with her , holding her hands and would say, “ They are beautiful, my love.” To that Kezia would reply, “Yes, they are”.
Kezia and Keith had been high school sweethearts. They married young and they were always dreaming and talking of their future.
On lazy autumn days they sat in the park, amidst the falling orange and rust brown leaves , discussing the number of children they would have. It was the days when families had a lot of children and so Keith always said , “ I want six of them.”
Then Kezia would say,” I think four would do”.
And they would laugh.
They had been married a long time now but the babies had not yet arrived. They waited patiently and one day Kezia discovered that she was expecting a baby.
“I’ve got wonderful news,” she told Keith.
Keith was overwhelmed.
When Keith had to go out to work he would tell her , “ Be careful Kezia, don’t tire yourself with too much work.”
Kezia was careful but the nausea and the morning sickness wore her out . She thought it would stop after a few months but it continued for almost all nine months. She took some medications but still did not feel too good .
The day she went to hospital she packed the little dresses she had made along with the four pairs of baby shoes. Keith wondered loud,” Why do you need four pairs of shoes at the hospital?”To this Kezia said, “So that I can change the shoes often . They are soft and knitted with wool. They will keep our baby’s legs warm and comfortable.
Keith just smiled.
The labour was difficult and then she was finally holding her baby in her hands.
Keith heard the baby’s cry and then he heard a deafening shriek, loud and frightening. It was Kezia.
He could not understand. His heart pounded. He went in. There was Kezia holding their baby to herself, tears streaming down her face.
He didn’t understand the tears.
He came to her and put his arm around her . She gave the baby to him to hold . He took his child in his arms and to his utter dismay and shock he found that his baby had just two stumps for legs.
He sat down devastated.
A sadness so heavy filled his heart . With his head in his hands he thought to himself, “ How could this ever be.”
He roused himself when the doctor called him to make him understand some things which he could not comprehend.
The doctor said it could be a congenital anomaly being born with short , deformed and underdeveloped limbs with limited function or it could be due to the medication she had taken continuously without proper medical supervision for her uncontrollable morning sickness.
He went back to Kezia . They held each other and the baby and cried together.
In a few days time they were back home. They looked at the beautiful baby shoes which she had placed back on the chest of drawers and they looked at their baby’s face , so soft and beautiful. Kezia touched his cheeks and kissed him tenderly. He tried to grasp the strands of her long flowing hair though he was not yet able to do that . At that moment she loved him so dearly .
As days and months passed Kezia thought about her baby’s future. She had to see that he would walk one day .It was a long arduous task ahead.
She stood at her window looking at the neighbourhood children playing in the park Would her Neil be able to join them when he was their age or would he simply stand at the window and yearn to run around like them ?
“ Will our baby run and play in the park?”Kezia asked Keith.
“Yes Kezia, he will,” answered Keith.
They had to do something about it right from that day. They had to make money for the expenses treatments ahead . They had to prepare themselves for hardships and future disappointments but they would survive it all.
The first thing to be done was to sell the beautiful shoes she had made for Neil. The poster was ready to be put up at the Community Hall.
