CHAPTER ONE170Please respect copyright.PENANA9qJ334ePLC
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANAeqoxEjNDXC
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. 170Please respect copyright.PENANAArRDSmimYY
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. 170Please respect copyright.PENANApKvGR1TJqJ
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANAfjfepoDOjj
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANAAzuvrqUR0o
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANAv67zx0cyjm
Curious, Kim tugged it free and unfolded it slowly.170Please respect copyright.PENANA4yTCl7Ehlv
Paper.170Please respect copyright.PENANA1Qk7k0nxxt
Kim hesitated, glanced around. No one was watching.170Please respect copyright.PENANAFLemtLWi5g
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANAiPF7j09AN4
The handwriting was beautiful—elegant, swirling loops and carefully crossed t’s. It read:170Please respect copyright.PENANAQaR1Lu0BNP
"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.170Please respect copyright.PENANAjN6gSLthES
I know this will probably never reach you. But writing it feels like opening a window where there was only a wall.170Please respect copyright.PENANA8SKA3wHB2n
If, somehow, you see this… leave something blue in the bougainvillea. I’ll know."170Please respect copyright.PENANAUpY1mDvti4
—S
Kim read it twice.170Please respect copyright.PENANAhiRyBpb9mk
Three times.170Please respect copyright.PENANAffzhytFlyb
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?170Please respect copyright.PENANAAv6XhJzdfI
Who had she written it for?170Please respect copyright.PENANAf48Bl2HcQb
And more importantly—why?170Please respect copyright.PENANAlIXOGkXWOg
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANACuObXbgMQi
What was S hoping for?170Please respect copyright.PENANANBXBTcP0JR
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?170Please respect copyright.PENANAPNV47iGADX
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?170Please respect copyright.PENANAnBXgfHPLBU
Was it longing? A quiet rebellion? A challenge?170Please respect copyright.PENANAJiEMsO7Vds
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANAFxUB0Wjaz3
And that was the thing about unanswered questions.170Please respect copyright.PENANAgKHbdxm55d
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANAuy3JhqXE0t
She felt a strange flutter in her chest—not jealousy, not quite excitement either. It was something older than that. A question.170Please respect copyright.PENANAfppA9qUdcR
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANAks5lyPdp3U
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.170Please respect copyright.PENANANNnANutSqE
It felt like a secret.