CHAPTER ONE238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQTM4C74X4
The sun lingered on the horizon, drenching Kisumu city in a molten glow, its golden light spilling through the jacaranda trees that framed the girls' school compound like a living watercolor. Evening prep had ended, but the air still thrummed with life—laughter weaving through conversations, the hurried rhythm of shoes scraping against gravel paths, the sharp command of a dorm captain’s whistle slicing through the dusk. Yet amidst the swirl of routine, Kimberly stood apart, her thoughts adrift, her feet unwilling to carry her back to the dormitory just yet. The world beckoned—soft, mysterious, and full of possibilities.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXC5d83a5L
The bell had rung, but her mind was still swimming—half in her Chemistry notes, half lost in that dreamlike place between fatigue and thought. 238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsoiGavOTKn
She drifted toward the northern edge of the compound, where the stone wall stood—BERLIN WALL, the older girls called it with a mix of reverence and warning. The name felt like a dare, borrowed from the streets, where it meant movement, revelry, life. But here, the wall was none of those things. It was still. Silent. A contradiction passed from one generation to the next without question. It was forbidden to get too close, but no one really enforced it. Still, no one really did either. 238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MK8XNV6dD
Girls learned early. They didn’t ask. They didn’t approach. They simply obeyed. The Berlin wall wasn’t avoided because of anything known—but because of everything unknown. It was a presence, not a place. A whisper in the fabric of the school, respected like an old superstition. Girls walked past it quickly, heads high, conversation dropping just for a moment—long enough to acknowledge it without acknowledging it at all. The place was simply... avoided. Like a haunted house no one believed in but everyone respected.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0OGUKjfG7
She wasn't trying to break any rules. She wasn’t searching for trouble—just solitude. She just wanted quiet. The edge of the school compound, near the wall, always seemed quieter, had a peculiar hush to it, as though the rest of the school had chosen to forget it existed. Conversations never lingered there. Footsteps rarely paused. The silence felt different from the usual kind, heavier, untouched. She liked it that way.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Zcws7sCze
As she walked along the wall’s edge, dragging her fingers lightly along the rough stone, careful not to stray too close lest one of the prefects spot her from a distance, something snagged at her hand. A small crack between two blocks—barely noticeable. She paused, leaned closer, and saw a folded piece of paper sticking out just enough to catch the corner of her sleeve.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF45vf5RzTt
Curious, Kim tugged it free and unfolded it slowly.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXx3RRp5RO
Paper.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyj31hf18W2
Kim hesitated, glanced around. No one was watching.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMT7AuF2I8
She knelt and pulled it out slowly, the paper damp at the edges, slightly curled from being hidden away. It was folded with surprising precision. She opened it, bracing for something ordinary—a stray receipt, maybe, or one of those hastily scribbled classroom notes that never quite made it to their intended hands. —but what she read made her go still.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjuzr6VYTA
The handwriting was beautiful—elegant, swirling loops and carefully crossed t’s. It read:238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAYVI08B84
"To the one who whistles when passing— I don’t know your name, but I know your rhythm. You always come after second prep; steps steady, familiar. Your laugh cuts through everything—even the teachers’ voices. It makes me look up.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yl4p5Oc77
I know this will probably never reach you. But writing it feels like opening a window where there was only a wall.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHeLY9CuiE
If, somehow, you see this… leave something blue in the bougainvillea. I’ll know."238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkxT0X87BK
—S
Kim read it twice.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzP0uJrKejI
Three times.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMZprPhKfN
The letter wasn't addressed to her—but it had been hidden here, on their side of the wall. That meant someone from her school had written it. A girl. “S.” Could be anyone—Sharon? Sylvia? Stacy?238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5H8ClPExD
Who had she written it for?238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDIOZibvVV
And more importantly—why?238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Nr7gobpor
Kim stared at the letter, her fingers tracing the edges of the worn paper, as if touching it might somehow reveal more than just the ink on the page.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYZyq4S7Ko
What was S hoping for?238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBItxWLPlrM
A message to a stranger—the kind that’s sent into the world without expectation, like tossing a bottle into the ocean? Or was this deliberate, a secret communication meant for someone who knew to look?238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjr08ppCdJ
The way it was hidden, wedged in the rough stone, careful yet not too obvious—S had wanted it to be found. But by whom? And why?238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJ2egMPwea
Was it longing? A quiet rebellion? A challenge?238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GwPm1z7Pu
Kimberly exhaled, suddenly aware of the weight in her hands. This wasn’t just a folded piece of paper—it was an unanswered question, waiting for her to make sense of it.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiqyKelO4Q
And that was the thing about unanswered questions.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIHyQGSO5G
Kim glanced at the bougainvillea. Purple blossoms sagged wearily under the weight of early evening, but no blue object stood out among them. Not yet.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TFrl70oJ5
She felt a strange flutter in her chest—not jealousy, not quite excitement either. It was something older than that. A question.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnL5vSZUfBu
She looked up at the wall, now glowing faintly gold in the sunset. It no longer seemed so cold or silent. Suddenly, it felt like something was watching from the other side. Or waiting.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmFnmQqzxL
Kim tucked the letter into her sweater, heart beating faster than it had all day. She looked up at the wall again. Tonight, it didn’t feel just like a boundary.238Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCG9UjMEnUm
It felt like a secret.
