The Consequences

 

THE CONSEQUENCES

CHILDREN'S STORIES

Anjie was in class three. She was a good girl who knew why she was in school. Her mother had told her long time ago that she went to school to learn and not to play around. Once when the teacher found that Anjie had not done her homework, she wrote a letter to Anjies father. Anjies father had read the letter very gravely and when he put down the  letter he reached for a the cane that was just on top of the cupboard. Everyone knew where the cane was, but there was not need to be afraid of the cane unless, of course, you had done something wrong. That day Anjie had done something wrong. She got one of those whoosh canes from her father that made her bottom hurt for a few days and always remember to do her homework. Her father told her that next time she would get two strokes of the cane.

 

Anjie worked hard in school, but in class four, she got into bad company. Bad mannered and naughty friends whose parents never punished them for doing wrong. They told her that they could have fun making other people upset and angry. Anjie began playing tricks on her friends and making them cry. She would laugh, and laugh while they cried and cried. One of her friends finally told the teacher and again the teacher wrote a letter to her father. He again read the letter with deep concern. He called Anjie and said to her, "why do you want to ruin your future". This surprised Anjie because she never really thought about her future, but she said, "I don't". "Well if you keep going on like this, you will" said her Father reaching for the top of the cupboard. This time Anjie got two very hot canes; she couldn't sit properly for a week. She decided to give up being naughty for a long while.

 

Anjie was doing very well and she was close to finishing primary school when she again got into trouble because of bad company. She had become very naughty with a group of girls who made a habit of teasing boys and then running off to hide in the school library where everyone was supposed to be quiet. But on Tuesday the teacher set a trap for them in the library. The teacher had called the headmaster into the library to see for himself how the girls were misbehaving.

 

As usual, the girls pulled an exercise book off one boys desk and raced to the library, giggling loudly as they went. The boy raced after them shouting at them to stop and give him his book back. They raced straight into the library and into the headmaster who was standing just behind the door. They were running so fast that they knocked him off his feet and on to the floor. By the time they realized who they had knocked down they almost fainted.

 

The headmaster called them to his office and called their parents to take them home until they learned to behave themselves. Anjie knew she was in deep trouble. Her father said nothing to her all the way home. When her mother heard the story, she just cried and cried and cried. Anjie knew she had done wrong but she didn't think it was that bad. After all, the headmaster was not hurt, and they said sorry and gave the exercise book back to the boy they had taken it from. She just could not understand what the fuss was about. However, there was one thing she was sure was coming.

 

Sure enough Anjie's father called her into the house and stretched his hand to get the cane one more time. For such kind of mischief, Anjie knew that she would get the maximum punishment. Three strokes of the cane. But Anjie was not worried she was a big girl now and no matter how hard she was caned she didn't feel that much pain any more. She was actually quite ready for the punishment. To her great surprise, her father just stood there looking at her. Then he gave her the stick and walked to a corner of the room. And said calmly, "I know you are expecting me to cane you, but I won't. You  have grown up and I know the pain of the cane does not hurt you enough to make you sorry. It will not make you learn the lesson it is meant to teach you so I want you to keep the cane to remind you of a very important lesson in life; You can always be forgiven and even escape punishment, but you will always suffer the consequences". With those words her father walked out of the room.

 

Anjie waited and waited, but her father never came back. She was so confused that she went and kept the cane under her bed. Nobody mentioned what happened again. She did not quite understand what her father had said, but she was glad that he recognized that she was all grown up and that she should no longer be canned and punished like a little girl. She felt quite proud that she didn't need to be caned anymore.

 

Anjie went back to school after two weeks. By they time she got to school the final examinations had started. Anjie was a very clever girl and she always managed to get the mathematics prize at the end of every year. She always revised two weeks before the end of term and always did very well. But this time for the first time, she was worried. Very worried. There was not time to revise. The other students had been taught some new topics in the last two weeks while she was away. None of the other girls and boys would help her because they knew that she made trouble for everyone else. The teacher who was always proud of her performance said. "Sorry, its too late, I cant teach you everything in two days, you will just have to sit the examination like everyone else".

 

She tried to study the night before the examination and went to school very early to study some more. But when the results were announced she failed Math, and English and Art and, in fact, she failed every other subject. She had such poor marks that she came bottom of her class.

 

The headmaster said she had performed so poorly that the school would not allow her to move to the next class. Anjie pleaded and pleaded with the teacher and the headmaster and begged for another chance. The headmaster just shook his head and said, "you are a clever girl Anjie and if you had not been so naughty this wouldn't have happened to you".

 

Anjie was so ashamed she went home and wanted to hide under the bed but there was no room because the cane was under the bed. Ahe sat on her bed and wondered what she would tell her father. When her mother came into her room, she just cried and cried and cried in her mothers arms. Then Anjie did a strange thing. She took the cane from under her bed and gave it to her Mother and said, "please cane me for what I have done wrong". Her mother said, "Anjie you are my daughter and I love you very much. When I punish you, I am only trying to remind you that the consequences of your mistakes can be very, very painful. But even if I punished you now, you still have to suffer the consequences".

 

Allan Bukusi, 2007