sunset saga

  The party lasted a little too long. We forgot that we had duties to attend to the next day and partied till sunrise. We sang songs, dinned and blew candles. Others got drunk and slept on the floor, others on the seats and others on the toilet seat. Some who were thoughtful enough left early to prepare for their next day. We who were soaked in the good moment were not bothered about what the next day holds. We lived for the moment. Good wishes for the 4 th anniversary held more water for me than the drinks we had. Other people called it the 4 th birthday. Whatever it was, it was amazing. We toasted our glasses under the diming lights.   It created a happy face and a warm heart in me. Many were present, known and unknown. Thru the dim lights, I saw one prolific writer Ndugu Abisai holding his glass high on air. He honoured the invite. A man with no face he is. You will rarely see him. However, if you read his rib cracking stories, you’ll start imagining what his face looks...

  There were some Nigerians in the house. They asked lots of questions. They wanted to know everything to the detail. What does Ajira digital do, how fast can one start earning from freelancing ? Are Ajira trainings free? For Christ’s sake Oga, you’re in the lecture hall attending a free training already. Day one had not a lot of activities. Getting familiar with the new faces and eating snacks. I was strongly hoping we were not just about to be told to refer a friend to start earning 20k per week – and in two months’ time we were supposed to have a meeting in the United Arabs Emirates. Happenings that make you wonder if transition is gradual or a road to Damascus experience. I was seated at the back with a friend. There is something about being a backbencher other than ensuring the back is noisy. You see how everyone behaves. We arrived at the hall for the second day of the training, once again to be enlightened on how freelancing can make you edge against your peers who are wai...

She first saw him in Malindi during a workshop organised by the company she worked for. He was a young entrepreneur looking for investment opportunities while she was fresh from college, still basking in the provisory world of sales. Somehow, he was intrigued by her project. He was tall and burly, with broad shoulders. I think he looked a Dick. Let's all agree to call him D, to minimise the debauchery of it. D had an imposing aura. He had the impeccable ability to claim his space and command his surrounding. When he talked, he did so succinctly and with utmost precision. His communication was lucid yet discreet. Well, discretion is a rare quality. When he approached her exhibition desk and shook her hand firmly, she knew he was the man. The bright pair of eyes he owned were like laser beams that penetrated her soul and exposed her vulnerabilities. He focused solely on business matters and yet, if her memory serves right, every word he said felt flirtatious. She fell for him head ov...

So this week I'm off duty. Duty can be anything, it doesn't have to be something.  I want to go home and see my people. When I'm free in the house I do many things, I cook, scatter things and arrange them, I listen to old music or I just lie on the bed and think. My neighbour Belle loves jazz music, I find myself listening to jazz often in the recent weeks.  Sometimes I plod all the way to the rooftop just to bask, see cars and people.  It feels nice when you watch people from their heads downwards. They look small and funny. You feel like you are on top of them in a way. You feel like dropping something on their heads. Something small though, hahh! Today was not a jazz day, it didn't feel like a jazz day right from sunrise. It wasn't a day for the rooftop either. It was a day to lie on bed in silence and think. I thought of a story I read in the wanderlust diaries. It was one hell of a story, one that you read and laugh like a drain. Till your jaws hurt. I couldn...

  February 2022. She laid on bed eyes glued to the ceiling, with her two arms across the back of her head. Her left leg dangling over the right one. The light was dim and the house chilled. Just a low volume afro pop from the radio at the farthest end of her small house. She hears it straight in the middle of her head, its soothing.  Thoughts are waltzing in her head. Like many other young people, she wants to make life better in this trying world. She tries, she want to do her stuff and make them count. She doesn’t want to just pop out filthy rich one Friday morning, with high end vehicles and a throng of apartments somewhere in kileleshwa.   They say the streets do not favour genuine people but that too has a limit. There is a notification pop up on her phone; she doesn’t bother because she’s thinking of how she will make her deliveries tomorrow. How she wants to reach all her clients before noon. There is another notification and it causes her vexation. She reaches...

I flicked through the pages of the little white booklet I held on my hands. The first page bears a portrait. A photo most likely taken with a selfie camera. I can't help but wonder how she felt when taking the photo. The organic smile that plastered her countenance as she pressed the shutter button. She has a smooth brown complexion. Light skin if you may. Her jaws hold a parade of pristine white teeth with a prominent gap between the upper front teeth; hallmark of beauty. The gap is wide enough to make me wonder if she can say the word 'samosa' three times in quick succession but not too wide to make one fret. Beneath the exceptional portrait are the words sunrise and sunset written in flowery font, perhaps to mitigate their effect. The procession from the morgue had about five cars and a hearse. John, the husband of the deceased, sat in the front seat of the hearse. His elbow rested on the window and his palm supported his head that seemed to be weighed down by grief. At ...

  One of them had a bad face. The bad face was a shy but happy face, warming hearts. She had the best heart. She blushed alot. The other was an alcohol addict. She was also a happy face. They matched in, dressed in yellow t-shirts and jeans trousers. They sang with passion when called upon to. Some of them recited in Spanish fluently. Others had no business besides just being happy. Some bad spirits should never descend upon you on a beautiful day. They should never come in between you a day like this! It is miserable to feel a certain way in certain days. I almost missed the event.  I stayed indoors to decide whether I should go or just call it off. It was one of those strange moments when you have nothing to do, but also you got to do something to pass time. My laptop that has been in a coma for about a month now was there staring at me and it was my perfect destination. Thanks to YouTube for the good tutorial, even though I did not do anything constructive after opening eve...