Choosing life in the city
It took Susan some time to recover from the malaria. While she watched the hens and looked at the forest paths, she remembered her old life and thought she might return to it. She could tell that she wasn't suited to tropical life, and she longed for her children and the city. She needed useful work to do, and recognition for a job well done.
She told Jack that she had to make the journey back to her homeland - that she was unhappy here, with the struggle to survive, with his absences, with the spitefulness of the other wives.
Jack was sorry to see her go: he had loved her commitment to their life together, yet for him the work filled his heart and mind.
So she packed her favourite possessions, took a few precious books, and set off on the long journey away from her handsome husband and the clearing in the mountain forest.
She went in the Landrover with a driver to the capital, boarded a plane and left her mountain life behind. She was going to the city, to a new adventure all by herself.
The plane flew over the mountains and as she peered out of the window to look at them she caught sight of her reflection in the glass. "I look like a country cousin," she thought.
Next chapter Teaching in the city
