In a small village off the coast of South Africa there was a small girl who had raised herself. The girl went by the name of Sarah, a name she had given herself at the age of five. She was an orphan. She never met her father and when Sarah was born her mother died in the process. She managed to live off of stealing from others. Sarah was a master thief; she was cunning, agile, but her greatest gift was what she was born with, her beauty. She scavenged around the village looking for scraps of food and whatever clothing she could. She also pick pocketed and was able to purchase more food that way. When she was the age of 10 all of the adult men had their eyes focused on her. It was traditional that the men marry women much younger then themselves.
Sarah had very dark yet radiant skin. Her eyes were as blue as the sky on a perfect day. She had long luscious hair the color of sand. She was everything that a man was interested in except for one thing; social status. Although the men had strong lustful feelings for her it would be hard to marry someone who was on the bottom of the social latter. Sarah was on the bottom of the food chain. She had many admirers from afar because of her looks but that was the only thing that got her attention. The village men only knew her for an orphan and a beautiful girl. No one knew her personality or how she had managed to live all alone throughout her life.
There were rumors around the village of someone who had been stealing money. It was usually small amounts so nobody cared too much and some did not even notice. Sarah was able to do this for many years. Some rich and wealthy man would go talk to her and every time she managed to take money. It was not a very large sum but it was enough to live by. At nights she would sleep under the roof of some villager’s house outside. Sarah woke up at the crack of dawn to make sure nobody knew where she slept. She would go and bathe in the creek nearby and wash her only dress. Before undressing she could always hear the satisfying clashing of the coins she had earned together. It always made her smile. Sarah continued to follow her routine until the age of 13; the age girls get married.
As her beauty grew the old and wealthy men seemed to care less about her social status. They were impressed by how beautiful but they were also curious as to how she had been surviving her whole life. All of the men did their best to court her and learn her secrets but they only ended up with less money. None of the men ever put one and one together to learn that they had unknowingly helped her.
Sarah did not care to get married to some old, wealthy man. She wanted to find love for herself. She wanted to have a family and have beautiful children that she could raise with the man she loved. She wanted to watch her children grow and have the opportunity to help them when they were troubled. Sarah doubted some old man could do that. Money was not going to make children happy. They needed love.
On one bright afternoon Sarah went to purchase some bread with the money she had stolen. After she purchased her bread a man with a nice suit walked by and said hello. They talked and after they started to part ways Sarah reached in to the man’s pocket. She thought she was going to score big today but there was nothing but lint. She walked away showing no emotion and eventually wound up near the creek again.
Sarah got ready for her daily bath. She may not have gotten any money from that man but she still had enough to survive for a few more days. She began to undress herself when there was something missing from her usually routine. She could not quite put her finger on it. It was an odd feeling but she proceeded to bathe and just ignored the thought. After bathing Sarah was hungry again. She usually only ate once a day unless someone else was purchasing a meal for her. She walked back to the bread store and asked for a loaf of rye bread.
“Here you are dear,” The old woman with the bread said.
“Thank you,” Sarah reached into her pocket to find nothing.
“Do you not have the money dear?”
“I…I thought I did. I guess not.”
“Here dear, take it anyways; you need some meat on your bones.”
“Thank you. When I have the money I will pay you back.”
“No worries dear.” The woman put on a great smile and Sarah walked away eating her bread.
She was confused as to why she had no money. Sarah thought about it and figured out that the thing she was missing before her bath was the clashing sound of the coins. While walking back to the creek the man with the suit approached.
“Why do you look so sad ma’am?” He asked, almost in a taunting way.
“Someone took my money. The lady at the bakery was kind enough to give me bread though.”
“Ah, that is a shame,” a smile smirk formed on his face. “It is not the greatest feeling to get robbed, is it?”
“No it is not,” Sarah responded instantly. The man’s smirk grew and Sarah understood what had happened. “You took my money!”
“No, I did not,” the man in the suit responded in a very casual way. “I merely took back what was mine.”
Sarah did not remember this man’s face. She usually remembered everyone that she took money from but this man did not ring a bell.
“I do believe I was your first victim.”
“Excuse me?” Sarah remembered very well the first man she stole from, it was a middle aged man with a small boy, and he was not that man.
“Am I not the one whom you first stole from?”
“I never stole from anyone!” Sarah screamed.
“Now dear, there is no need to yell. I know that you have been doing this for a couple of years to survive. I know that you sleep outside under a stranger’s roof and then go to the creek to wash your body.”
Sarah blushed. She was a little bit flattered that someone had paid so much attention to her but she was also so very upset that this man had been paying so much attention.
“Are you a stalker?” Sarah started to back up; she had no idea who this man was.
“No, no. I am just another villager.”
Sarah walked forward and took a closer inspection upon his face. He was the son of the man whom she first stole from. Sarah’s face came to life with realization.
“Ah, now you remember me. You stole from my father. I was just a mere 12 year old child then and I noticed something but for some reason I did not say anything. My family was poor and the money you took was for our meal. My father died a week later from starvation and gave me the last of the money to make sure I did not suffer the same fate.”
Sarah had no idea how to respond to this. She always thought she stole from wealthy men and so what she took did not make a large difference. This was shocking news to her.
“I…I am so sorry.” Sarah started to tear up. She had never met either of her parents and she could not imagine the pain of having known one and then losing that parent.
“It is okay. I do believe that you actually are sorry for your actions. The truth is, after that I followed in your footsteps. I took money little by little and eventually I had enough to start a small business. Now here I am as one of the wealthiest men in the village.”
Sarah just looked into space blankly. She had no clue what to say.
“I would like you to be my bride,” the man said without any hesitation. He got down on one knee and pulled out a small black case from his pocket and incased was a small ring surrounded by sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and even diamonds.
“Why would you want to marry me?”
“I became very fond of what you did. At first I was very sad about how you hurt my father’s chance of survival but I understand now that it was all for your own survival. You grew up alone with no help. After watching you I have seen that you are such a beautiful and intelligent girl and I would like to spend more time with you.”
Sarah started laughing. “Are you serious?”
“Very much so,” the man responded in his smooth tone.
She took a minute to think about this. Maybe it was hormones from growing up or maybe she admired this man but she could not put her finger on it. There was something about him that was different from all of the other men and she liked it.
“So do you care to be my wife?”
“Yes.” Sarah had no clue why she said yes. She did not plan on getting married; she planned on continuing her life the way it had been. Something about this man just changed her though, and she wanted to be with him.
A week later the two got married. It was a happy day for those two but the other village men were upset that they had lost their chance at Sarah. A few years after Sarah and the man with the suit had been married Sarah bore two twins and they were raised with a luxurious life. Both Sarah and her husband remained with their children constantly. They did not only shower the twins in gift, but in love and happiness.