Ten years at the same stage
Nia was early for once, so she slid the map back and met everyone who had ever waited at that corner.
A story2 min read
The stage outside campus is not beautiful. There’s a kiosk, a puddle that has outlived three governments, and a conductor who shouts “Tao! Tao!” at people who are clearly not going to town.
Nia was early, which had never happened before and will not happen again. The others were “karibu”, which can mean anything from two minutes to the end of the month. So she did what people do at that stage now. She opened the map, and slid it back.
Ten years ago
The first thing that came back was a voice note. Someone’s mum, recording for someone’s first day, in the voice people use when they don’t trust the phone.
0:41Nobody knows whose mum she is. She left it to the place, so everyone who has waited here since has met her.
Five years ago
Tasha left a photo
Her first day of campus · Left to the place
Tasha, looking at the stage as if it had personally lied to her about the timetable. And next to it, something Nia couldn’t open: a whole class had sealed something here for their ten-year reunion. Five more years, it said, politely. That was all it said.
A year ago
A guy called Kevo holding a cardboard sign that said “UMEMALIZA!”, for a girl called Mish on the day of her last exam. From the photos, the whole stage had cheered. There was also the day it rained so hard that everyone stood under the kiosk roof together and pretended not to know each other.
Now
Then the map came back to the present, because Demma had arrived, and the Drop they were meeting for said 2 of 4 here. Leila made it 3 of 4. Brayo was, in his own words, niko karibu. He was at home.
Someone had also left a song that morning, for whoever was waiting. Nia played it. It was exactly the right song, which is a thing that happens at that stage.
Ten years from now, somebody will be early here too. They’ll find this.
Made you want to go somewhere?
