filled with hardship and beauty, the story of Amira, her father, a Johnny, and their remarkable journey of love and overcoming will resonate deeply with your heart and soul. Their story is not a happy one, but that’s precisely what renders it beautiful: a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of love.
Beyond life and death, our story takes us to a faraway little African village where our protagonist, a Johnny, a young man born and raised in Ethiopia, grew up witnessing his father’s unwavering dedication to his art. A Johnny’s father, Mr. Manu Yop, was a magnificent artist who painted and sculpted authentic pieces of art inspired by the beautiful African landscapes and people.
However, in such a poor country with such a high level of illiteracy, being an artist was not a job that could make you rich, far from it. Therefore, despite being a great artist full of talent, a Johnny’s father was forced to look for other jobs that had nothing to do with art but with which he could at least bring home some money and support a small family.
However, even though little A Johnny knew how difficult it was to try to make a living from art and pursue his dreams, he never gave up. His greatest ambition was to be able to continue his father’s legacy and fulfill the dreams that his father never had the chance to achieve. Unfortunately, life was not kind to him either. Although his parents were loving, they struggled financially, and the weight of this struggle weighed heavily on their home.
Determined to break out of the cycle of poverty, A Johnny embarked on a long journey to realize his ambitions and lift his family out of the poverty and misfortune in which they’d always been forced to live. ‘I will fulfill your dream, father. I promise you. I don’t know how long it will take and I don’t know how many sacrifices I will have to make to achieve it, but I will do it. I will make you and mother free.
I know it was your dream and that you gave up to take care of a family. Now it is my turn to sacrifice myself for you. It is my duty as a son,’ A Johnny confessed to his father, very excited, the day he decided that he would make all his dreams come true and free his family from the most absolute misery.
Of course, A Johnny was well aware that the road ahead would be arduous and full of obstacles, but his resilient spirit pushed him forward. To do so, he took on various odd jobs at first, working tirelessly to make ends meet. Despite the economic hardships, they were miserable jobs, typical of the poorest areas of Ethiopia, with pay too low for the effort and hours the job required. But there was nothing better, and he had to accept them to start earning money fast and help his family.
Still, despite the fatigue and frustration, A Johnny continued to dream every night of being free. He was a young man noted for his fighting spirit, and no matter how difficult life was for him, he refused to come to despair. One of his first ventures led him to a construction company where he hoped to earn a steady income that would allow him to maintain his aspirations. Unfortunately, the company’s promises of fair wages were empty words, and time and again, he was not paid what he was owed. Discouraged but not defeated, A Johnny decided to change course.
Two months later, thanks to a family friend, he found work at a local bakery. A Johnny began working in the hope that he’d found the solution to his problems. But once again, the cycle of unfulfilled promises was repeated. The money was insufficient, and the work was unfair, which meant that within a few weeks of working there, Diop ended up quitting the job and leaving in search of new opportunities.
A Johnny suffered countless setbacks and disappointments, and each job presented its own challenges. Nevertheless, he never lost sight of his ultimate goal: to become a successful artist. It was precisely during this difficult period that A Johnny realized he needed to pursue his true passion: drawing. However, the young man also knew that in order to do so, he needed someone who believed in his talent and would finance his dreams.
This led him to search for a patron for weeks, until finally, one summer afternoon, he found one, and his and his family’s fortunes began to change. A Johnny’s work so impressed the art representative he met that within just a month, he was running a small studio where he showed his work and at the same time taught others to draw and imbibe the beauty of painting, gradually transforming it into a sanctuary of creativity for all.
With unwavering determination, he poured his heart and soul into his works, capturing the vivid beauty of his surroundings and the emotions he carried within. People began to marvel at his art, and by his paintings, luck had returned to the Diab family. For the first time in their lives, A Johnny and his parents were able to live off the money that art gave them. A Johnny never felt so happy; all his dreams were coming true, and he was doing what he loved the most.
However, his happiness would not be complete until the day he met Salana, a young woman with radiant dark skin and a charming smile, who stumbled upon A Johnny’s studio during a trip. Salana, who is an art lover and a great collector of works, was intrigued by the depth and ambition of A Johnny’s drawings, leading her to enter his studio to meet him and congratulate him on his work.
Sana was so impressed by Johnny’s extraordinary art that after seeing the studio and meeting him, she asked him to draw her. A Johnny’s heart pounded with excitement when he agreed. In her drawing, A Johnny captured the essence of Solana’s beauty with every brush stroke, and upon completion of the portrait, he enthusiastically presented it to her. Sana’s face lit up, and a radiant smile broke out on her lips.
From that moment on, she became a regular visitor to A Johnny’s studio, and their friendship slowly began to blossom into something more, something that would change everything all over again. Love had been quietly growing between them, and six months later, they joyfully exchanged vows. They married and began life as a traditional couple with a dream of forming a large family.
Their life seemed perfect; they had money, love, and health, yet they felt incomplete. Despite trying, Salana suffered a series of painful miscarriages that prevented them from becoming parents and forming the family they’d always wanted. Dreams of starting a family seemed bleak, but A Johnny remained a pillar of strength, assuring Salana that together they would get through these tough times.
‘I’m so sorry, A Johnny. I promised you I would give you a family, that I’d give you many children who would fill our life with love and happiness. Instead, I’m only giving you disappointments, immense pain for not being able to be a father. My heart breaks with every miscarriage, and I don’t know what to do about it. Maybe you should look for another wife, one who can be a mother and fulfill all your desires,’ Salana tearfully suggested to her husband after suffering another miscarriage.
‘Don’t ever suggest anything like that again, Solana. You are my love and the only woman with whom I wish to form a family. Have faith. I know that destiny will give us what we long for. If not now, it will come later, but it will come. I know it will,’ A Johnny said sympathetically to his wife as he hugged and comforted her.
Time passed, and finally, after two years of commitment and unwavering love, Salana managed to get pregnant and give birth to a beautiful baby girl named Amira, which means princess. Little Amira soon caught the attention of everyone who knew her. She was a beautiful girl, but beyond her beauty, what captivated everyone was her kindness and intelligence.
For her parents, Amir was their whole world. After so many attempts at parenthood, watching their little girl grow into such a special child seemed like a miracle from heaven. They knew they would have no more chances to be parents; the doctors warned them of the risks it could entail for Salana. So they focused on raising their only daughter and giving her all the love they had.
‘Amira will always have us, and she will be the happiest child because she will be the most loved. And I know that if someday I’m not around, you’ll take care of her. I know that my daughter will be very happy, whatever happens, because she was born for it. It’s our little miracle,’ Johnny confessed to his wife when Amira was only three years old.
Unfortunately, fate had already made its own plans, and the happiness they’d worked for so long to achieve would soon end up disappearing. Misfortune would strike in Johnny’s family on Amira’s fifth birthday. It was the day their world shattered. It all happened while A Johnny and the little girl were playing tag in the backyard of the house.
Suddenly, A Johnny felt a sharp pain in his chest and then collapsed. His face was pale and expressionless; he barely had a pulse and appeared lifeless. Quickly, a terrified Amira ran to her father’s side, calling out to him in a trembling voice, ‘Daddy, wake up! Open your eyes, please,’ pleaded the little girl as she tried to get her father to react.
A few minutes later, the ambulance took A Johnny to the hospital, where he was given a devastating diagnosis. ‘He has a terminal heart condition that requires immediate treatment. His heart has a congenital malformation that’s impossible to cure. We don’t know how long he has to live, but it could be two days or three months. It could happen at any time; we don’t know when. Now, every day he spends with his family will be a gift,’ the doctors told A Johnny and his wife upon detecting the cause of a strange fainting spell.
Unfortunately, his remaining lifespan was much shorter than they expected. Weeks passed, and A Johnny’s condition rapidly worsened to the point that one night while they were all eating dinner together in the living room, he collapsed on the table. That would be the last night of his life.
Salana, overcome with emotion, urged him to fight and prayed for his life. She spent the night beside him, but despite her pleas, A Johnny’s health continued to deteriorate. As the sun began to peak over the horizon, A Johnny’s life came to an end. He went peacefully, with the love of his life and the fruit of love, his little princess Amira, by his side.
On the day of A Johnny’s funeral, grief enveloped those in attendance. Salana was devastated, and tears streamed down her face. Amira, however, felt peace in the midst of grief. As they prepared to lay A Johnny’s body to rest, Amira approached her father’s coffin and hugged him one last time. What would happen next left them all speechless.
As the girl hugged him, her father let out a deep sigh that Amira didn’t miss. ‘He’s still breathing. I just heard him, mommy! Is alive!’ exclaimed little Amira, looking at her father in astonishment. Salana decided to approach her husband to check what the little girl was saying and discovered he was still breathing.
An ambulance was called, and after being taken to the hospital and examined by the doctors, Mr. Aani was pronounced dead once again. ‘How is it possible? I saw him breathing; his body moved. My husband was alive; I could feel him,’ Solana asked the doctors very anguished after declaring her husband dead.
‘It is possible that what you and your daughter have seen are the so-called postmortem reflexes. After death, there may be involuntary muscle reflexes that can give the appearance of movements, jerks, or sounds. These reflexes are usually the result of the release of residual neurotransmitters in the body. I’m sorry, Mrs. Dup, your husband is dead, and there’s nothing capable of bringing him back,’ concluded the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on A Johnny on two occasions.
‘Your father will never go away, honey. We are sad now and miss him, but later we will know how to meet him in ways we don’t understand now. The love he felt for you will make him never leave you completely. He is our guardian angel now, and he will never let anything bad happen to us,’ Salana explained to little Amira days after her father’s funeral.
Although the doctors believed that what the girl and her mother saw was a simple reflex action, Salana was convinced that this was her husband’s way of saying a last goodbye, assuring her that his love would always be with her and Amira, thus fulfilling his promise to always remain by her side beyond time and death.
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