Maria slept peacefully, grasping for warmth and clutching her sheets to her skin. Suddenly, she felt a thick blanket cover her head, her body drifting away from her bed and the roughness of several hands around her. Her body shifted up and down every few seconds and she knew she was being carried down the stairs.

“Mom! Dad! Help me!” Maria cried. Her mouth was quickly sealed and her hands restrained. She was violently shoved into a reckless, raving car. Her heart pounded vigorously against her chest every time she was propelled forward.

“What do you want from me?” Maria murmured through a gap in her sealed mouth. The vehicle came to a sharp halt, causing her chest to hit something hard. She naturally brought her hands close to soothe the pain. She was whisked out of the vehicle like a sack of potatoes!

The force caused her to land on her knees and there was nothing but breeze and pin drop silence for a moment. The blanket was removed from her head and her mouth was unsealed. She finally felt a gush of fresh air go up her nostrils. Maria clenched a fist behind her back as beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

She hesitantly looked up at women wearing beaded traditional regalia. One woman held a tight grip to a knife exposing her veins. She approached Maria, all the women following, closing in on her. The woman held the knife, shoved Maria to the ground, starred pensively into her eyes, and reached into her skirt. Maria immediately came to an epiphany. Her mother stood quietly in a shadowy corner, watching as if giving a green light to the woman.

“Wait!” Maria yelled. “Don’t do this, please,” Maria begged. Tears of melancholy cascaded down her bony checks, “My neighbour died because of FGM. As women, we don’t have to go through this. It’s unnecessary stain on our bodies!” Maria protested.

“Stop!” A woman shouted. ‘She’s right! My daughter bled to death during circumcision.” Another yelled, “Mine died giving birth because of FGM.” Someone stood up, “I’m still suffering from infections to this day.” Another added, “We are all suffering from this, let’s end FGM!” Maria’s mother emerged and embraced her, tears flowing down her cheeks. “Never again, will we let our girls go through FGM.” She cried. In unison, all the women gathered and cried, “Please forgive us.”