CHAPTER ONE31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPGPnD6t1L
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡow4KbaQjpM
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. 31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfYcoLbEkL
She drifted toward the northern edge of the compound, where the stone wall stood—Dunda, 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, Dunda 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. 31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETAlEUc1PZ
Girls learned early. They didn’t ask. They didn’t approach. They simply obeyed. Dunda 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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0rV6gWv9y
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEUDeG5nay
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeLCqKEQGd
Curious, Kim tugged it free and unfolded it slowly.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMiCcPqOd6m
Paper.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpn9NVWFF7
Kim hesitated, glanced around. No one was watching.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWpTEQXNLo
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGlv8N3X36
The handwriting was beautiful—elegant, swirling loops and carefully crossed t’s. It read:31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhoVcRl2G5
"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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBO5Qms8my
I know this will probably never reach you. But writing it feels like opening a window where there was only a wall.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNyAv4iAYR
If, somehow, you see this… leave something blue in the bougainvillea. I’ll know."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnEYh4gn1f
—S
Kim read it twice.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIN06Bwhrx9
Three times.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMeDVL7HGR
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?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0PPOJID2w
Who had she written it for?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Pb5WALpOj
And more importantly—why?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRGHki89V7
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ140Er4gvPt
What was S hoping for?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmGCKETLVs
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?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaefi63IVCL
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?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxQsa8mdn7
Was it longing? A quiet rebellion? A challenge?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTe3pvG4YP
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xnzysg8QB
And that was the thing about unanswered questions.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdnfRFd8tp
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRxnMlxNv1
She felt a strange flutter in her chest—not jealousy, not quite excitement either. It was something older than that. A question.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8mKFFnmRS
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcx2W8xufU
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUI7cXKLnOG
It felt like a secret.
