CHAPTER ONE29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Oyl4W11fV
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1caGw3xZu
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. 29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmoE42Jjho
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. 29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCR0QWG0tjD
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQhmqnkQL0
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMg9DpAjAv
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyIy7nq4Eo
Curious, Kim tugged it free and unfolded it slowly.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVAxh7cYBX
Paper.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcgLOGFUf8
Kim hesitated, glanced around. No one was watching.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc34a8Yc8Aa
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpCuku9xkV
The handwriting was beautiful—elegant, swirling loops and carefully crossed t’s. It read:29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkk95OWuLQn
"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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRil0m35Kj
I know this will probably never reach you. But writing it feels like opening a window where there was only a wall.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXIPc02VBkr
If, somehow, you see this… leave something blue in the bougainvillea. I’ll know."29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpuRgfUeF2
—S
Kim read it twice.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0xprlV4XM
Three times.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApQCLgnrTZ
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?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhORtw0j7kr
Who had she written it for?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO782Xc5A3r
And more importantly—why?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qTVomnhcN
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2INgueN8lj
What was S hoping for?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEBYz1zuFt
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?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlspgtJ6C4O
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?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lGnLgsV1m
Was it longing? A quiet rebellion? A challenge?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAL9AcYc12
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWOnnW22Mv
And that was the thing about unanswered questions.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4R7hsPLrHC
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdTp1veTaq
She felt a strange flutter in her chest—not jealousy, not quite excitement either. It was something older than that. A question.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UhHDXwlyx
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLFjfqtCUN
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3ZDjpwCFw
It felt like a secret.
