22/08/2025
I would like to share an amazing story of a 'man's word.
Someone asked me 'Simmi, if u had to save anything from your home if it was on fire, what would it be?' I confidently told him without even thinking twice, 'I would save a seashell...'
It's a strange thing to save in this materialistic world. Telling him the story brought tears to my eyes
It was an afternoon in May, 2010. The radiant sun winked through grey clouds that caressed the sky. As I walked to my car closing of for the day a gentle voice whispered to me. In a distance I heard the rumble of thunder. I turned around and there stood Charles, a friend and an employee of mine. My relationship with Charles started in 2005 when we both worked at the same company. As usual, Charles looked like he had a bath in grease, his face and his overalls were covered in black grease, his white teeth peeped through is lips as he began to smile. Charles wasn't well and and he needed to go to Mozambique for treatment and be in the care of his family. My heart sank listening to him talk about his health and in the past 5 years of knowing Charles , I grew a fondness for him and his family whom I never met. He need money for his treatment but he had already used up his advance wages and had taken staff loans, his leave was also finished. Listening to him made me recall when Charles used to buy me ice cream from the ice cream van that used to pass our workshop and by the time the ice cream reached my office, the cones used to be melted and have grease on it. I think deep down he knew I never used to eat the ice cream but he used to still buy it for me every single time the van went past. He was my friend, along with most of my other staff. I didnt care what it cost, I told Charles not to worry about money and I will take care of his medical expenses and will still pay his wages even though he wont be at work. Tears welled up in his eyes as we spoke and I could hear gratefulness in his shaking voice. Delicate drops of rain misted the air as we spoke, a cool Autumn breeze whistled it's way into our conversation. As I hugged Charles and assured him he will be okay, he noticed I had a seashell in my car and he asked me if I liked seashells. I expressed my love and fascination for seashells. Our conversation drifted from his health to seashells and he told me in his country there's beautiful seashells, when he comes back after his treatment he promise to bring me seashell. Rain clouds devoured the sky and steady rain drenched through our overalls, the smell of grease lingered in the air as he walked away...
A week after my encounter with Charles, I got a phone call from Mozambique....Charles passed away, my heart leaped, I did not expect this. He looked strong and confident that he will get better, I couldn't bring myself to accept Charles had passed away. The atmosphere at our normally hyped up, party kind of environment at work was so silent that you could hear the sound of pages turning.
Fifteen days after Charles passed away, I received a call to go to the main office because I had a meeting. I rushed through the stormy weather, heavy rain pounced on my windscreen and moisture misted the inside of my car. I parked my car at the entrance of the security gate and walked to the workshop. In a few seconds, my clothes was drenched and my normally straight hair rested in waves on my shoulders. As I approached the workshop, I looked up and a familiar face smiled at me, I recognized her from all the photos I saw of her. It was Charles wife, Marta. I hugged her and told her I have no words for her, just a hug. Her English wasn't good, she pulled out a yellow packet from her handbag, the rain got heavier and I felt that everyone around was looking at us. She gave me this packet and told me 'Simmi, Charles asked me to give this to you before he died'. I opened the packet and for the first time in my life, I felt weak at knees, a cocktail of tears mixed with rain rushed down my frozen cheeks, there were three seashells in the packet. Taking the seashells in my hand, I started sobbing, I couldn't believe that he sent seashells for me, it broke me as I held the seashells in my hand but made me feel so great that I got the opportunity to meet someone as great as Charles. He kept his word even after he died, to bring me seashells from his country. Marta went back to Mozambique that evening...
