MY WEDDING DAY NIGHTMARE

“Wake up! Wake up! Today is a very special day for you, remember! Look how beautiful the day is outside. It shows that my beautiful lastborn daughter is getting married today!”Those were joyful words from my mother, very proud and shouting while opening the windows wide open. I could feel the early breeze hitting my face very softly which woke me up.

It was a warm Saturday morning. I could feel that it was indeed a special day. People were already busy moving up and down outside on the yard. Some were singing while doing their respective chores, doing final touch-ups for the big day ahead. Others were getting 

everything ready with their beautiful outfits.

I could smell and see the smoke outside. Cooking of a large feast was in progress.

I was so excited but nervous at the same time. I could not stop thinking silently about a lot of things that might happen. Wrong things. I could not stop asking myself so many questions: What if he doesn’t show up? What if someone stops the wedding? What if we end up not getting married? Those questions were all I was thinking of.

My mother just came into the room to wake me up and to help me prepare for my special day. I just woke up and jumped to the shower. I thought I was running late. “Today is a special day for me. Like seriously, I am getting married? I don’t believe this. Well, dreams do come true...” I talked to myself, looking into the bathroom mirror. I was already imagining myself walking down the aisle with my brother, seeing my handsome husband standing next to the pastor waiting for me. I even imagined the well-wishers singing traditional wedding songs like “Umakoti ngowethu, siyavuma”. Oh! What a day!

Two hours later, everybody was ready for the wedding. The house was surrounded by many people within our rural community, waiting to see me. I had not yet heard from my husband-to-be since the previous morning, and I was so worried. I tried calling him but his cell phone was off. I called his family, but none of them knew his whereabouts. It was not like him. I started crying. Maybe he had changed his mind, I imagined worryingly. I could not tell anybody what was going, but when my mother saw me crying, she called my man’s family as well. They explained what they had told me earlier. My mother tried to comfort me and say all positive words she could say. But because I felt fears were actually confirmed, to the astonishment of many, her words didn’t help.

I thought about all the emotions I had invested on the months leading to the wedding day. I did not even come out of the house because I was so ashamed and just couldn’t face embarrassment. Through the window I could see some people already gossiping – well, I believed so. Others were standing still, seemingly not knowing whether to proceed to the wedding or not, some were shaking their heads. Some even started feasting on the wedding food! I cried until I fell sick and fell asleep.

My ringing cell phone woke me up. “Good morning, my wife-to-be. I hope you are ready for your big day? I can’t wait to get married to you. Wake up and get ready”. I looked at the time on my cell phone, shocked and surprised. It was half past four in the morning. “What is happening with me?” I asked myself while trying to figure out the answer. “Was I dreaming all this time?” I asked myself those questions while rushing to the window to see if there were any people moving around. Just when I was still standing there, my mother entered the room intending to wake me up. I was so excited and it was not long before I was ready to get married to my husband.

I have heard many stories about pre-wedding nerves, but I never knew they produced such intense nightmares!