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Mwebe Morgan

Drama Tragedy Action

3.9  

Mwebe Morgan

Drama Tragedy Action

Homeless And Frightened

Homeless And Frightened

3 mins
274


A scraggy, old man limps across the damp, wet asphalt,

Carrying a shredded, emerald backpack on his loose back, 

It was once a well-travelled military backpack,

Crooked and dirty toes peep in his torn Nike trainers, 

He wears the blue Michael Jordan T-shirt, and he also wears black tortoise-shaped sunglasses, reminiscent of the Iddi Amin era. 

A mean, silver, old mongrel follows him religiously.

The old man is his master and guardian,

A staccato, a strong, dry cough resonates on the crowded street, then he spits. 

Passers-by jump away from the side walks, while others lift their masks and travel uncomfortable, far away from the old, deeply wrinkled man.

He is not disturbed, this is the life he leads now, in this merciless and unforgiving city. 


A few hours earlier, he had exited a cold sewage tunnel near the Fire Brigade headquarters. This was his realm.

Other homeless people envy him, but nobody upsets him, his legend is well known. 

Another homeless man once suffered a broken hand when he tried to steal from the old man.


His former military insignia and medals line up a wall full of algae.

An Israel camouflage desert helmet riddled with bullets rests on a three-legged wooden stool.

This old man used to be a decorated and coveted government soldier, a sharpshooter.

There are rumours that he killed an Israel commander of Sayeret Matkal's special forces during the infamous Entebbe raid in the 1970s to rescue 286 Israel hostages.

The fallen commander was the elder brother of today's Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The decorated soldier had dispatched several Israel special forces from one of the towers of the Entebbe old military base.


Now, grizzly rats scatter in all directions, leaving a trail of fleas, and a pungent odour.

The old man takes out his beret, places it on his oval head, and looks into the spider web mirror.

He smiles crookedly and then stares at his missing teeth.

He peeps through the holes in the rusty, metallic service door, 

Checks for any intruder and then crawls out of his putrefying hovel.  


It was his last day in this old, cursed tunnel, he was moving out to a new underground tunnel behind the railroad yard. 

His old bones grew weaker every day. He needs a warm and dry home, to cool down and reflect.

Sometimes, when he sees other homeless children playing in the rain, and rolling in the run-off,

He cries inside, his children and wife were massacred as part of new government response to its former enemies. 

His story is a classic example of the lion kingdom where the new winners kill the young cubs to consolidate their new position. 


Today, homelessness is a "social" problem for most governments, but no action is being taken to address it. The fewer and expensive housing is making the urban population homeless.


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