Tag: Fiction
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The road to Damascus -page 8
It’s Friday night. Tired of being indoors with annoying roommates so I step outside to catch some fresh air, and suddenly remember the little park on the campus of a university behind my hostel. Lovers and benches. Singles like me are certainly not welcome into such spaces, yet I impose myself. In a far corner…
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Temptations awakening
I decide to not knock on his door before going to church. I shouldn’t be the one to always remind him to go to church. He’s an adult. And he knows the route to church. I hear him on the phone in his room. Perhaps talking to another of his many girls. I wonder what…
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The road to Damascus -page 7
Finally, I get to campus. And just as I predicted, our presentation was a disaster. I think of great football teams. They don’t win every match they play. But the good and bad days add to the collection of memories that unite them, and serve as reservoirs of hope and lessons for the future. After…
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Jérusalem
Can’t remember who died. But what I do remember clearly was that it was a big funeral that brought many of our relatives in neighboring Togo to our village. The ceremony extended from dusk to dawn. Even the generator that powered the mics and lamps all night became hoarse. The funeral grounds was the only…
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The road to Damascus -page 6
So many things on my mind this morning. We have a presentation, and my group is poorly prepared. I am thinking of all the things that could go wrong, and psyching myself for them. My group members had other assignments and couldn’t give their all to this one. Lectures starts at 9am. It’s 8:30 and…
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Temporary escape
The tourist site we were to visit was changed at the last minute, a day before the D-day. Naturally, our youth leader was furious. He was making the final announcements in church on Sunday afternoon when suddenly the changed destination was mentioned by a woman in the congregation, confirmed by the mother of the assistant…
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The sign
I couldn’t wait to get home, to showcase my new cooking skills, the various local foods of diverse African nationalities my travels had made me discover, and the genres of African music we were not used to hearing in our country. I have always thought a home should be a place of love, where family…
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The road to Damascus -page 5
I used to attend one of the top senior high schools in the country. Everything there was unlike its reputation. Many teachers were mostly absent from their post, and whenever they showed up in class, half of their teaching hours were dedicated to sharing jokes that had nothing to do with the lesson at hand.…
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Sandra
As I descended the narrow hilly road leading home, I tried to imagine the scene behind me. The shop that was always open and yet I never saw any customer buying anything from it, the fenced land overgrown with weed, the house where funeral canopies, drums and decorations were rented out, and the main road…
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The confinement
I did not know the couple were childless. I had assumed they were recently married. And so when I got the mild rebuke to stop being friendly towards the children on the compound, it made no sense to me. “This is my spiritual father. He came all the way from Mali to attend my wedding.”…
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The road to Damascus -page 3/100
I still remember the first day of class. Used money I was supposed to save, to buy myself fine clothes and shoes, and a new phone. I hadn’t updated my closet in years. That was what I told myself. And it was true. But the real motive sitting at the bottom of my heart was…
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strange times
It all started with village folktales. Of ghosts loitering in the silence of midnight, stalking a wandering stranger or a lone recalcitrant youth returning home late. As mother lowered the wick of the lantern, the darkness in the room loomed large. I shut my eyes tight, careful to not think about dark tales of the…
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The road to Damascus -page 2/100
News from home. Father has been transferred. To pastor a new church. In another town many miles away. Perhaps we should be happy. But we have no reason to be. It’s just a change from one problem to the same problem wearing a different face. In accompanying our father on his missions, we see how…
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Sunday night drama
I turned to find mother crying. I did not understand why. But I always kept the incident in my heart, together with the storyline of the movie we were watching that day. When I was a child, every Sunday night there was this programme on television by name “Akan Drama”. It happened that on one…
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Her name is Samira -part 2
Genuinely, I meant every promise I made. But fate was bent on testing every alphabet in my words. It all started with the withholding of my salary over some friction I had with the secretary. He made some deductions from my salary because I was absent without permission. I explained that I was too ill…
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Her name is Samira
My weakness was that I couldn’t be discreet. Which was why when I fell in love with the cook, the affair was like an open secret. Was it love? I couldn’t tell what label to put on a mixture of lust, loneliness and desperation. She didn’t resist my advances, neither did she give me the…
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fishing in new waters
Flies. They wouldn’t let the sores of a dog be. And the poor dog is forced to stay in motion to ward them off, all along jerking, flicking, tossing its head -all the frantic head shakes its creative mind could conjure. And yet, the savage flies pursue with renewed sadistic zeal. The dog stops and…
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they’ll see you rise
like the sun they’ll see you risethe fake, foes and fraudsters who sawyou weep, crawl and beg will falltheir faces abraded likemetal gods scrubbed with wire gauze here, no vest is bulletproofjust bodies taking in bulletstill they feel tipsy and staggeran unsettling truthmakes the most vocal stutter but this is the furnace in which the…
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We always smell it from afar
Back then, we knew nothing about sexual harassment. All we knew was that teacher Musah loved Mansa and we all envied her whenever she walked about the school head high like a princess. Many ugly girls in the school winced at the thought of not having half her beauty. That Mansa was a minor, we…
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Red wine
For me, red wine is symbolic of pleasant memories. It was a windy Sunday afternoon in late December. I did not go to church that day. My habit whenever I didn’t have money for offertory. Or felt guilty of a secret sin. Feeling bored, I lay in my room on my little mattress spread on…
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Noise
She keeps talking and distracting my thoughts, and doesn’t seem to notice the cues I keep dropping to indicate it’s not a good time for chitchat. My approach has always been indirect when it comes to telling people things they won’t be comfortable hearing. But in my mind, the message sits there, in its crude…
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The watch uncle gave me
Mother had traveled. And upon returning, she brought me a toy phone and a wrist watch. Gifts from Uncle T. Normally, uncle would be called on the phone for me to say ‘thank you’ to him. But phones were not common those days, and my parents didn’t have one. Imagine my joy having a phone…
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Mouchidath and Yasa
From our conversations, I inferred that she wanted to marry someone older than she was, someone more financially stable. I was surprised she thought of giving Yasa a chance. Yasa was much younger. Perhaps it was because he had money. I wouldn’t say she was materialistic. Yasa had helped her a lot. He got her…
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I will get there
I munch food noisily. Not deliberately. Naturally. I did not know this. I’ve been living alone and I had never paid attention. Until I found myself at a dinner, in the midst of respectable people, with no music to mask anything. The discovery was embarrassing. There and then I had to practice eating in a…
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The new preacher
I stared at the WhatsApp post for a while. Of course I recognized the face. An old classmate. Lost touch with him since we completed school many years ago. Here he was, on the WhatsApp status of a close friend, posing as a preacher. I found it hard to accept the change. That boy has…
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Last time I saw Uncle Maduk
The last time I saw Uncle Maduk, he told me he knew he wasn’t going to survive the operation, and that by the time I am back for the next holidays, he might be no more. He thanked me for constantly paying him visits, bringing him fruits despite the rumors that he was an evil…
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The restaurant at the foot of a hill
The restaurant stood at the foot of a hill. I had passed there several times without noticing it, partly because I was new to the area. Initially, I was skeptical about the quality of their meals. But they gave me good reasons to become a regular customer. Lunch time, you were sure to find me…
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The Communion
Majitey suggested it first. No one thought of it as a possibility although a few members of the board heard of it as a joke by one Nigerian comedian. Make the Lord’s Supper a full meal. Sounded funny and absurd. They all thought Majitey was joking when he mentioned it. But he wasn’t smiling while…
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The Outcast (Page 53)
Not getting what we desire is sometimes a blessing in disguise we do not know. It took a lot of looking back on the past to realize what a blessing failures in certain areas of my life would have been. I was too desperate to always be a success. It doesn’t mean being ambitious is…
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The Outcast (Page 52)
I wasn’t used to studying in groups. Partly because I thought working with a group was slow. And partly because something in me made me to think I was wiser than my peers and didn’t need their assistance in any way. The fool that I was, pride wouldn’t let me see. It took a bold…
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The picture of a deceased wife
The picture of a deceased wife, on the wall. Seems to stare at the new woman in the home whenever she passes by it. It’s like a living picture, a window through which the dead the old wife could still monitor the affairs of her home from the underworld. It seems to frown whenever things…
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One Sunday evening
It was a Sunday evening. I was alone in the room. The lights were off, and I lay on the floor, half asleep. Then came a knock on the door. Wasn’t expecting anyone, so I wasn’t particularly bothered about waking to see who it was. Besides, my roommates had gone out. But the knocker was…
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Married to the Game
I saw him everyday. In the mornings. Very early. Between 6 and 7am. The place I met him varied depending on the time I left the house. But so far as I stepped out around those hours, I surely bumped into him. He seemed to have no holidays, no breaks. Always in same clothes, soaked…
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Married to the Game
I saw him everyday. In the mornings. Very early. Between 6 and 7am. The place I met him varied depending on the time I left the house. But so far as I stepped out around those hours, I surely bumped into him. He seemed to have no holidays, no breaks. Always in same clothes, soaked…
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A visit to Lomé
They say maltreatments at one’s current place of abode or work is sometimes the mighty finger of God disguised as a mean boss or guardian, nudging one to upgrade, break camp and advance to some new place, higher heights. Usually sounds a nice philosophy to share but hard living it. I had plenty of misunderstandings…
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The Outcast (Page 50)
Exams time. First exams in uni. On various notice boards were displayed the exams timetable with the various venues. Something new to freshers like me. The key challenge was locating these venues. To avoid missing a paper due to the difficult of finding the venue, I noted the dates and venues for each paper and…
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Village river
I remember the river in my village. It was on the outskirts of the village, behind stretches of thick bushes beyond which lied no man’s house. Our house was among the last leading out the village. From our house, you meet a shrine belonging to one uncle, and from the shrine was one old man’s…
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The streets of Accra
Why did she call? I contemplate while hurrying home, checking the time on my phone every now and then. Would be odd to have her arrive there ahead of me. Those roommates of mine, we are at loggerheads so they won’t bother to let me know someone came looking for me. In my direction is…
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The Outcast (Page 49)
I had no brother older than me to orient me properly on university life and how to properly place my steps to make the most of my student life on campus. So, I sat myself down. “This is a new environment and this is your first time in uni.” I told myself. I convinced myself…
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Gloomy night
I heard her. Splashing water into toilet seats. Kicking and knocking washroom doors to be sure no one was in there. Rolling mop buckets. I could smell the scent of detergents, and her grumbling. “So a human being really did this!” she blurted. I’ve always complained about the poor maintenance of the washrooms. Here was…
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Love finds you
She said love finds you. Perhaps it hasn’t found her, worthy, yet. We didn’t know why she wasn’t married, yet, at her age. We dare not ask. She wasn’t the approachable type. Besides, we wanted to live long. Didn’t want any tigress pouncing on our young lives. She was well advanced in years. And we…
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The Outcast (Page 48)
The first time I saw the University of Ghana was the day I was headed to my high school to get further details about my admission. It was always the main entrance I saw, nothing more. Each time I passed by in a public transport, the main entrance was always all I saw, with people…
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The world doesn’t pity the poor
The sun was scotchy, and as its heat intensified, so did my fatigue and hunger. I doubled my steps, my mind working out shops to pass by and what to purchase so I wouldn’t get home and regret purchases that should have been made. Occasionally I would turn to be sure some reckless driver wasn’t…
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Lazy morning
I wake up, unsure what time it is. Can’t remember where my phone is. I doze off a little, waking again not knowing how many minutes extra I’ve slept. I look up at the windows. Slightly lit. Must be 5am thereabout. I grope in the slightly dark room, on my bedsheets, for my phone. There…
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The Games
It was a family fun day. But the arrangements under the canopies were not according to families. This was the Body of Christ so every person under each canopy was seen as family. I knew no one. Threading cautiously, I entered the venue, a park. Things were done differently in this new church. There was…
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The Outcast (Page 47)
It was one late night. We were sitting in the dormitory, chatting. This was after preps, a time all students revised their lessons or did assignments. I was no longer a student. But I stayed in the school’s hostel to help a staff with evening lessons for adults. It was the time Blackberry phones had…
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Trouble, brewing
He did not say it, but it was written all over him. If the visitor pushed, Marlon would break from the mother church. The Archbishop was ill and this was not a good time to stir up trouble. There were already rumors that after the Archbishop dies, the church would split. There was a lot…
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The Outcast (Page 46)
Double standards. Same people who educated us about examination malpractices were asking us to make contributions to bribe invigilators because same invigilators who reminded us before the exams rules we were not to break, realized some broken rules could be mended with money. It was a chain and only the dumb ones were fed the…
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It’s a long story
I can’t remember what sent me there that morning. I had assumed she was awake by then. Many of her next-door neighbors were still asleep when I got there. There was one worker who was leaving early to work. He told me he heard her voice so I should knock a little louder. Perhaps she…
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The Outcast (Page 45)
Finally I traveled back to the city to prepare for my final exams of high school. It was the first time I was living on my own. I was to stay in a new hostel. The joy of living as I please without any parental control was overwhelmingly intoxicating. Joy beyond description, beyond measure. Little…
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The Outcast (Page 44)
Our parents’ job requires being constantly on the move. And now that I had reached my final year in high school, they were transfered again, leaving the city for a town I had no idea where it was on the map. Never heard of the town before. There were many popular towns in our country…
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Mark and Tiffany
Mark thought deeply about what he was about to do. Risky, no doubt. But it’s in trying you increase your chances of success. But this trial was no ordinary trial. Failing will be unbearable. He thought deeply, slowly. He and Tiffany had been friends long enough. At first, whenever he asked a girl out, the…
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Shame
The children were all looking beautiful. Even though it was a competition, the children were all happy to see one another, exchanging friendly glances and giggles. To them, it was just one of their usual fun times. To the adults, this was a warfare they were all determined to use any means possible to win.…
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The Outcast (Page 43)
I was about knocking the gate as usual when I noticed something unusual: Voices and laughter emanating from the living room. Then the motorcycle of Mrs. Annette’s husband who should have been away on a work trip. Then the bicycle of the watchman who comes in the evening. What was happening? I knocked on the…
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The Outcast (Page 42)
Youth and foolishness. I’ve noticed no matter how matured a young person looks, there will always be traces of immaturity in a number of things done. Sometimes the microscope just has to zoom in further to find the traces. They are always there. It takes time for many of them to wilt and fall off.…
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The Missing Keys
One Christmas evening, we were returning home after a visit to one of our aunt when I felt my pocket and realized the bunch of keys to our house was missing. “Oh! “ I exclaimed. ” I forgot the keys at Aunt Regina’s place. My big brother was the kind that hardly smiled. And it…
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Fatigue
Traffic jam. I check my time. Probably won’t be home as early as planned. The driver is contemplating changing his route. “Anyone alighting at Third Gate?“ he asks without turning to the conductor. ” One passenger, ” the conductor tells him. The driver seems annoyed by that piece of information. I shake my head staring…
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Ladies on a balcony
They were a bunch of female students, on the balcony of the last floor of our hostel, hooting and jeering at passersby. I hadn’t seen them until I was stabbed with a remark about my clothes. They said my combination was off. It was embarrassing. I took a look at what I wore. They were…
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A lesson well learnt
The first time Mina moved into her hostel, she noticed the cold attitude of her roommates. It was as if she needed to pay them to respond to her greetings based on the number of words in their responses. One was actually sitting on her bed and the reluctance with which she stood up was…
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The comeback
Was she sorry for what she did? A question that constantly roamed Joe’s mind and wouldn’t settle. Where could she be now? He hoped time will teach her a lesson. Time was a fertile ground on which character took root and bore fruits – some a hundred fold, some fifty. He prayed her harvest will…
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Kaiza
A limited market. That’s what this country is. The more people are pumped into the system, the the more the market becomes choked; everyone will eventually go broke. But these idiots don’t realize that. They claimed they’re giving the next generation a chance. Kaiza has always been in his corner, minding his business. He’s the…
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One windy night
It was a cloudy and windy night. The winds were swinging our wooden chapel windows like recalcitrant children determined to drive their parents mad with their foolishness. Even the presiding Bishop was in a hurry for the church service to close, he that never hesitated to tell people to not be in a hurry to…
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The new place
For a moment I thought she wasn’t going to pick up. Perhaps she’s not around the phone. As I psyched myself to give up on dialing her number, I was picturing where her phone could be. Maybe in the kitchen or bedroom, and she’s probably on the compound, busy with some activity. Oh! And then…
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After many years
“Wow. People change,” Samson thought, suddenly feeling proud of himself. Samson remembered the first day he saw Angela and the short see-through dress she wore that day. He still remembers her inviting glossy lips that he fought hard to not stare at. And that seductive perfume of hers he kept wondering what brand it could…
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Ask me where I want to go
Ask me where I want to goI’ll finish telling you before you’re done askingAsk what I’m doing to get thereAnd I’ll sigh, my head bowedAnd my unspoken response?DistractionsSome I createBut the majority come by themselvesFrom God knows whereSome are good after a hard day’s workBut on days my engine is coldAnd refusing to startWhile miles…
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Gossip from the village
Cousin Ama was on a visit. She’s from our village many miles away. It’s been three years since we left. And a lot has happened within those three years that memories of our past lives in the village were slowly eroding. Cousin’s visit revived many of those fading memories. As I overheard the conversation between…
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The Outcast (Page 40)
The most difficult part of life after writing an important exam is waiting for the results. Now that I had checked my results and they were exceptionally good, I could take in a deep breath, smile and eavesdrop on conversations on other people’s performances. Some students’ results were good, others were bad and a good…
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This too shall pass
Was like some sort of rebirth. Finding oneself in a new land, a strange land. Many of the strongly guarded values back home do not hold here. It’s like some new set of rules for living, tailored to the needs of the people, existed here. A stranger, Louis strolls through the streets of his new…
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In search of bread
Early morning. I have somewhere urgent to go in about an hour and half. Back from my morning jogging routine. Very hungry. Forgot to take my wallet. Had to to go to the room to fetch it. The atmosphere in the room is different. It’s quiet and a little stuffy. Outside, there’s so much fresh…
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Memories of home
It became the norm, sad as the situation was. It amazed her that one part of the world could live in such quiet, peace and harmony whereas another part of the world was in chaos, where hope was torn into pieces by bullets sweeping past the ears of fleeing children and mothers and fathers and…
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The New Chairman
It was offertory time. And before a song was raised for us to dance and give out our monies, the pastor read out some information. It was a breakdown of our offerings for each month from the various local assemblies. Apparently, he was pleased with the figures, adding that he didn’t want members to become…
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The Outcast (Page 39)
Back home, I was impatient to show the results to my parents. They had gone out and weren’t back. It was 7pm, then 8…9pm, still they weren’t in. Where could they be? Everyday they were always at home by this time. Today that I had something important to share, they were no where to be…
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The Controversy
It was everyone’s dream and wish that Akweley marries. For she was so kind, humble and generous. She was an interpreter at her local church, helping her town people understand what the English priest said. Even the priest prayed that she find a good husband. On one occasion while she was interpreting his sermon, he…
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The Outcast (Page 38)
Thursday afternoon. I receive a message : the results are in. I stood there still, digesting the message, growing nervous each passing minute.Checking the results of one’s final exams was like undergoing a heart transplant, a delicate affair. “Should I check that same day or the next?” I contemplated. Then I thought of an idea.…
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The Outcast (Page 37)
Slowly I was beginning to make profits. I documented my daily sales. But because I was young and had no one to guide me on making sound financial decisions, I enrolled myself in an ICT training program. Those were the days, ICT was new in our system and many were predicting that finishing school without…
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The Outcast (Page 36)
My parents didn’t want me to be idle while at home waiting for my final examination results. So they got me an old phone and some money to buy airtime wholesale and retail to customers. I went to Kwame Nkrumah Circle, where I bought what looked like a little desk and an umbrella. It took…
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The Outcast (Page 35)
The first few days of my stay at home with my parents were memorable. School reopened and my siblings were off to school. For the first time, I stayed at home watching other pupils go to school. The fun part was that, I stayed at home and no one complained. Usually, mom or dad would…
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The Outcast ( Page 34)
It was a long wait. Soon, hunger set in. I was given some money for my transport and thankfully, I had some change on me. I stepped outside to buy a drink from a shop nearby. A woman in her early forties, sat, doing some calculations on a large calculator mostly used by provision store…
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Boma
Boma doodled on the blank sheet of paper in front of him. He glanced left, then right, head still bowed as if engrossed in some paperwork. But it was all a façade. Deep down he knew, he was only fooling himself. He was illiterate. But he had suddenly been put in the spotlight and he…
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He thanked her, and walked away
Kezia looked at the gentleman in front of her, from feet to toe, toe to feet. A reminder of how low she had sunk. How rich and handsome guys used to pursue her. How she could easily choose them like wine, sip just a little and try the next. It was a privilege for a…
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The Outcast (Page 33)
It looked as if that day will never come. But it did come, slow as it might have seemed to me. During difficult moments, the end of the tunnel can be very blur even when we are standing next to it. It was one cool Monday morning, April 20. I remember the date very well.…
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Sumaru and Jango
At night the two maids retired to their room. Daytime they were donkeys. Nighttime, they were masters of themselves in their own room, where they could fart and sleep naked as they pleased, and eat whatever they could sneak out and buy. Or, if they were broke, confine themselves to whatever their Madam served them.…
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Job interview
Akwele was in so many WhatsApp groups. Nothing sensible ever came out of any of them. Only stupid messages. The goal for creating some of the groups was to remain in touch as coursemates after school, and perhaps help one another whenever possible with notifications of job openings, chances to further one’s education and financial…
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How it all started
I cannot remember what day of the week it happened. All I remember was that I woke up that day with absolutely no idea how my day was going to turn out. I was in my room that morning, probably thinking of what to eat as breakfast.Then I had a call. It was Channel. A…
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The Outcast (Page 32)
I was young. Not only physically, but also mentally, and emotionally. A costly weakness. Diana was into me. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t read. Perhaps because she was about five years older than me, my little mind never interpreted what she did as love. I had no emotional intelligence to play along till my time…
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Not my Africa!
It was at the reading room I first met him. I couldn’t help but stare. At the dreadlocks. Dirty, unusually bushy, on his tiny, skinny skull. He stood out. In his shabby clothes. A sharp contrast to the atmosphere of decency and order and respect in a room filled with serious students. I wondered what…
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Bull’s Testicle
Times were hard. It was the kind of difficulty that forced enemies to collaborate and thrive. My friend Desmond and his roommates frequently fought. But during tough times like these, no one had energy for quarrels. Initially, Desmond phoned his parents. They were tired of his constant complaints of not having money. “What happened to…
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The Outcast (Page 31)
One day I returned from school and discovered that we had a visitor. But this visitor was unlike the others we’ve seen so far. This guest seemed to be everywhere…in the kitchen, living room, even in the bedroom of the head of the house. Who could she be? Then I heard the teenager call her…
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The Outcast (Page 30)
My new house was a relatively quiet one. The only mouth that spoke there was the head of the family. He speaks all the time and when everywhere was quiet, you knew he wasn’t around. It was a house of a man, his wife, a little boy (his nephew) and a teenager ( his niece).…
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The Outcast (Page 29)
I still remember the first day I stepped into that house. It was a Sunday evening. We had finished taking supper and dad asked me to pack my belongings, he had spoken to an old friend and I could stay with his old friend to write my final exams. It would be just for a…
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The last time we saw him
They said it wasn’t his time. That the accident abruptly ended his young life, and great dreams. They said the incident wasn’t normal. That was why the night he was proclaimed dead, no one could sleep in his house, as an invisible hand scattered bowls and plates in the kitchen, opened and closed doors in…
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The Outcast (Page 28)
It wasn’t long before our luxurious life in the city started dwindling. It started with our driver. They said he had attitude. Or perhaps our parents couldn’t afford keeping him any longer. What does it matter? The dog wasn’t liked. Did it matter what bad name he was given or what river he going to…
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The Outcast (Page 27)
On Monday, we started school. Our new driver drove us to school, but dad went with us to ensure that the teachers recognized us and allowed us into our various classrooms. Mom prepared some rice and beef stew. By now, we had new lunch boxes and she served us. We were to take the rice…
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Life humbles the young and foolish.
I knew a lady who operated a bar right behind my window. “If you make a complaint at the police station, they will shut it down. It’s against the law to set up a noisy business where people live.” a friend told me one day when he came to visit. The landlord overheard him but…
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The Outcast (Page 25)
We were returning home in the car of dad’s friend who had done a lot in the background to make our admission into the new school a success. While the two engaged in chit-chat, I surveyed the neighborhood in which the school was situated. Burma Camp. The name of the vicinity. Soldiers lived there. An…
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The Outcast (Page 24)
My first day at school. I repeated the words slowly to myself, wondering exactly what it meant while staring at the foolscap sheet on my desk. Could it be the first day I started schooling as a child, or my first day in their school? It could not be the latter. I was trying to…
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A lot has changed
Giovanni, a lot has changed since you left. Mango Street is no more what it used to be. Remember the spot where Alima and Saada fought one New Year eve? We woke up one morning to find a thief lynched and tied to an electric pole there. We did not know how the whole incident…
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The Outcast (Page 23)
Back in my primary school in the northern part of the country, at the beginning of every academic year, there was always news of a close friend that had relocated to some big town or city with their parents. The relocations often happened so sudden that there was hardly time to say goodbye. I and…
Diary of a Wanderer 