This tale is about my first trip to Zanzibar, It was a beautiful and sunny day. It was the day my family and I were going to visit our sick uncle in Zanzibar. We were all excited because we had not seen each other for some time.
We usually spoke on phone and would wish him a quick recovery. Little did we know that our parents had secretly planned a trip to see him. Truth be told I expected it. But I was not as excited as my two sisters who started packing 5 days before the planned trip.
The day eventually caught on and before we knew it we were on the plane heading to Zanzibar. It was a 24-hour flight so most of us enjoyed the plane’s TV entertainment. Those who could not keep up decided to sleep.
When we got to Zanzibar, our parents told us that we would be surprising our uncle at the hospital. As we never told him that we were coming to visit.
We immediately went to the hospital and when we asked for our uncle’s room number, we were surprised by the information we were given.
It turned out that our uncle had made a special arrangement with the hospital. He usually got to the hospital by the time we video-called him pretending he was really sick and in need of medical assistance.
My parents could not believe what they heard and could not wait for him to get to the hospital for his ‘daily check-in’. He needed to explain to my parents what he had been doing!
It turned out that all my uncle needed was for my parents to send him money. Because he lost his job sometime back and he could no longer afford to pay rent or buy food for himself.
He didn’t want to tell any of us that he got fired so he started pretending he was very sick instead. We forgave him but my parents were especially mad because he made us fly all the way to Zanzibar.
Technically though, we flew there on our own. Let us just say my parents were so mad they didn’t speak to him for some time. For me though, it was now an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of my first trip to Zanzibar without having to take care of my sick uncle.
Moral: Be truthful. Don’t lie to get what you want.
