Friday, October 10, 2014

Operation Dynamite

It was a hot night; summer in South Africa.

I remember stretching out in my bed, in my short summer pajama’s and feeling grateful for being surrounded by beautiful things; things that I had carefully chosen for my new home. I was happy and contented. My future looked peaceful with long life ahead of me, filled with infinite possibilities. I had nothing to fear and all was good in my world. I fell into a restful sleep, excited about the possibilities of the next day.

I woke with the doorbell ringing incessantly, urgently. I opened my eyes and saw that it was dawn. The sun was only just peeping out, the freshness of a new day filling my lungs. With uninhibited energy, I threw the sheet off my body and jumped out of bed. There was no let-up to the ringing of the doorbell. I glanced over at the bedside clock. It was just after 5am.

My mind was confused. I did not know who could possibly want me so urgently at this time of the day. My son had a key to my back door, so it could not be him and the telephone had not rung so I knew that it was not a family member in trouble. I stumbled down the stairs, not stopping to put on a gown or to cover my half-naked body that the summer sleeping shorts and skimpy top failed to provide. Now I could hear someone banging on the security fence and gate, the bell still ringing. I bumped into the coffee table as I moved with as much speed as I could to the sliding front door, and pulled the curtain aside. My mind was in shock. Standing around the front security gate was a dozen grim-faced and well-dressed men wearing sunglasses, and a half a dozen vehicles marked with the sign of the most feared police, the Scorpions.

"Open up! This is a search and seizure operation."

This is the opening paragraph of my new book: Operation Dynamite. To be released before Xmas.