CHAPTER ONE28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡra9SVmWPhA
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLMm3w8wt9
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. 28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOjDn5wpCf
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. 28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZl30hCIrN8
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwp9aLLarFR
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQwvvhgql6
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP25vdtESuy
Curious, Kim tugged it free and unfolded it slowly.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNVUazZqAO
Paper.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVV6Mfc7ppm
Kim hesitated, glanced around. No one was watching.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUOf1UGUEd
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnoEUalafL
The handwriting was beautiful—elegant, swirling loops and carefully crossed t’s. It read:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohuT0r02YF
"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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7FhD8G2rv
I know this will probably never reach you. But writing it feels like opening a window where there was only a wall.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZ62tiTtNQ
If, somehow, you see this… leave something blue in the bougainvillea. I’ll know."28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwBSjzSwJO
—S
Kim read it twice.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41D7wC3auX
Three times.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8utZZW9nc
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?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblPovbpdHw
Who had she written it for?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQy2n9Vv1s
And more importantly—why?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnaQKHB1ouk
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKbMY8mr7m
What was S hoping for?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvUku3BLBs
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?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxYqBXE73k
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?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzqVb72qwz
Was it longing? A quiet rebellion? A challenge?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbMxsyzsjV
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFC3K4Ee0S
And that was the thing about unanswered questions.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFWm6SCPvi
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrQFG3RP3o
She felt a strange flutter in her chest—not jealousy, not quite excitement either. It was something older than that. A question.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7OiZsrtVnk
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwXJMs9CU6
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzUUgxmTRk
It felt like a secret.
