In a small village in Gambia when a child turns eighteen he or she becomes a candidate for an arranged marriage. The unification ceremony takes place on the same day of the year for all the eighteen year old girls in the village. The parents of the girl meet with several parents of possible husbands and choose an acceptable mate for their daughter. The wedding takes place one week after the unification ceremony.


The sunset is such a meretricious phenomenon. The beauty of it only hides the fact that this day is almost over. The burnt golden rays illuminate the tent Musa and I sit beneath. We sit in silence as we notice the sun retreating into the horizon.
I break the silence. "What are we going to do Musa?" I do not want to think about tomorrow, but I have to ask.
"Tomorrow we're going to go to the engagement ceremony and we're going to find out who we're going to marry.” he laces his hand in mine. "Our parents can force us to marry someone, but they can't force us to love them."
Musa lifts his body from the patch of grass we lie on. I do the same. "Ida?” he says. "Yes", I answer.
“If you could run away with me right this second, would you?" I lay my head on his shoulder and whisper, "In a heartbeat".
“I want you to remember that every single day for the rest of your life. Ida, I will always be ready to run when you are."
Soon the darkness closed in and sleep captivated us.
***
The sound of honeyguides in the forest behind Musa and I suddenly brings me to realization. Today is the village engagement ceremonies. This year there are only five girls and five boys participating.
I'm astonished that the village hasn't sent a search party for us. The anxiety begins to build up inside and I yell, "Musa, you have to wake up". Startled, he quickly gets up and looks around to make sure everything is ok.
“What’s wrong? Are you ok?" he asks me.
I hastily put on my sandals. "I'm fine, Musa, but we need to go. We're going to be late for the ceremony."
Musa and I rush out of the tent hand in hand. I'm not sure what time it is, but given the position of the sun, it must almost be noon.
Once we reach the outskirts of the village, Musa stops running and I take time to catch my breath. He takes hold of my face, kisses me on my forehead and whispers "I love you Ida"
It is this moment that I realize I may be losing Musa for good, so I hug him. Unfortunately hugs can't last forever, so I reluctantly let go and run towards my house.
When I enter my house, my mother grabs me by my wrist and rushes me upstairs. I can tell she wants to know where I've been all night, but she is too preoccupied with last minute ceremony plans. She hands me a purple silk dress with a long train. As I put on my dress, I wonder what Musa's wife will be like, and if he'll end up forgetting about me and falling in love with her, but I can't think of those things anymore; I don't want tears to ruin my dress.
Once everything is on, my mother places the white veil over my head, and kisses me on the cheek. "You look beautiful, honey" she says. My aunt carries the train of my dress as I walk outside of my house and towards the village church where the ceremony is being held.
Outside of the sanctuary, I wait for the doors to open. My palms sweat even more with every second that passes by. The big brown doors swing open and I see my fiancé kneeling on the alter waiting for me. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and step forward.
I reach the alter and kneel down next to him making sure to keep my head down. The pastor does the prayer of unity and blesses the engagement rings. Now it is time for him to unveil me. I turn to him and keep my eyes closed. The veil lifts up from my skin, and I hear a gasp.
"Ida," he whispers. My eyes open and see Musa peering over me. A smile sneaks on to his face and he hugs me. I turn to where my parents are sitting and search their faces for any hint of surprise. There was none. I turn back to my fiancé and accept the engagement ring with a kiss.
Trumpets sound and drums beat as Musa and I get up and head towards the back of the sanctuary.
We reach the outside of the church, and Musa asks "Will you run with me?" I chuckle and say, "In a heartbeat". I grab my train with one hand and grab Musa's hand with the other one. When we start to run, we know we're not running away from anything. We are running towards something. Something that only Musa and I could see and that's all that matters.