CHAPTER ONE50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ556m3eDtil
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xx9H3Ta14
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. 50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIH9tMOHwy
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. 50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6Ei8wa44X
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZ9bMX8cqe
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBLAean8ui
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisGYQjoGdX
Curious, Kim tugged it free and unfolded it slowly.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUvOBjlxCR
Paper.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGldkRoG09
Kim hesitated, glanced around. No one was watching.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0YDpBq5rq
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZjb0mrZaY
The handwriting was beautiful—elegant, swirling loops and carefully crossed t’s. It read:50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfv8hGyk4E
"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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1EkmIo0I0
I know this will probably never reach you. But writing it feels like opening a window where there was only a wall.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnng0yNVtf4
If, somehow, you see this… leave something blue in the bougainvillea. I’ll know."50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JXJrD19nK
—S
Kim read it twice.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzreOj6PYo
Three times.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyncB3g5H5
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?50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawFEoZCO2C
Who had she written it for?50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0X6ix3S8Qj
And more importantly—why?50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9JVjqYsNh
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVHA7qfZyk
What was S hoping for?50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFOV6giRVu
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?50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4BTwcXkqx
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?50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQksrsDU8W0
Was it longing? A quiet rebellion? A challenge?50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAE5hYoshsf
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqrumUeb2e
And that was the thing about unanswered questions.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZvC9H6Ok5
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeUrVXnMGx
She felt a strange flutter in her chest—not jealousy, not quite excitement either. It was something older than that. A question.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4w7QG3PMj
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0vZjM1Z4q
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.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvn483sPyGZ
It felt like a secret.
