Diamonds of Transition

There's one thing certain about life and that is that everyone who walks this earth will have to make a transition: Children have to make the transition to adults; the president, along with military men and women, have to make the transition back to civilians; the list goes on-and-on. Transitions teach us how to adapt; transitions also teach us how to prepare for the uncertain. This story is about a girl in the diamond fields who was rescued by the Red Cross. No one could've ever imagined how one life could get ordinary people in the mindset to save others who meant little to society.

"What's your name?" Martha kept repeating as she tried to bring a battered little girl back to reality.
Slowly reaching consciousness, the girl began to whisper her name.
"Zikka."
"She said her name is 'Zikka.' Did you hear her?" Brandon said, trying to make sure Martha was paying attention. Martha picked the little girl up off of the ground. She was so excited that she was responding.
"Get her to the van... Now! We have to get her out of here before they come looking for her. Go now we don't have much time."
"What about the others," Brandon asked.
Martha gave him a very frightening look.
"Just go, I will see you when the sun comes up."
Brandon ran through the open diamond mine with Zikka in his arms and hid her in the van. He stood watch over her until the sun came up and Martha returned.
"Any luck?" Brandon asked, exhausted in the driver's seat.
"Nothing. Just a bunch of dead bodies. Not a survivor left," she replied.
They then sped off to get the girl and themselves to safety. One life was saved out of hundreds of slaves in the diamond fields, but the hard part had just begun. Martha and Brandon had to find out how to get one little girl to make the transition from a battered diamond field slave in a third world country, into a citizen, in a fast pace high class country. The only thing that was certain in this case was that this little girl would have a better life. Zikka had to learn how to communicate, she had to learn how to read, and she also had to learn how to feel normal human emotions. After failing at so many things in the midst of the transition, it was hard to coexist with others in her new life. She was so used to malnutrition and digging that even when someone made her bed she didn't know what to say. As people began to see her grow they too started to change. They started to change for the better. Sometimes it's good to have everything and live day-to-day with minimal worries, but, in Zikka's case, she taught people how to show compassion for those who couldn't. She taught them how to try harder and appreciate the little things that most people take for granted. Looking into her eyes, people saw the strength to make other people's lives better. As time stood still for one little girl, Brandon and Martha gave something that not to many people would give, they gave people the images and emotions of what was going on in the middle of nowhere to people who could help. When a man cries watching a total stranger grow up after being rescued from a place where few made it out, this proved that the transition was worth it. Although life is not fair and so many fail to care, those who do, always remind others that things can get better if we're willing to make the transition.