DUST AND DESTINY 🔥 EPISODE 1: The Ash-Girl of Umuchu In the quiet village of Umuchu, nestled between rolling hills and deep green forests, lived a young girl named Olamma. Her mother had died when she was barely five, and her father remarried a woman with two daughters of her own. From the very beginning, Olamma was treated like a servant. While her stepsisters wore fine wrappers and braided their hair with beads, Olamma worked the farm, fetched water, and scrubbed the compound until her hands bled. Her skin was always dusty, her feet always cracked, and she smelled of firewood and sweat. Her stepmother often said, “No man will look at a girl who lives in the ash pit.” But Olamma had something they didn’t see — a heart as kind as moonlight, and a beauty that even hardship couldn’t hide. She sang to the birds, helped the elders, and never stopped dreaming. One day, news spread like wildfire: the prince of Amaudo was seeking a bride, and all maidens were invited to a grand festival where he would make his choice. Olamma's stepsisters prepared for days. They bathed in scented oils, wore wrappers of shining silk, and mocked her the entire time. “You? Go to the palace looking like a bush spirit?” they laughed. But Olamma, wiping tears with her dusty wrapper, whispered to herself, “My story isn’t over yet.”