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Showing posts with the label Fiction

Mteja 2

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Let's rewind to 1:00 PM when she had texted:   “Souley,  go to this place in Ngara,  ask for a guy called Musyoka.  He has the samples.  Just call me when you get there,  I’ll guide you.” Simple, right?  Now it’s 2:44. I’m here. I’ve found Musyoka. He’s chewing miraa, eyeing me like I’m slowing down his evening high.   “Oyaa,  niko na samples.  Si useme venye madam alisema.  Ni hizi ama zile?” I freeze. I don’t know. I was told to wait for her instructions. I try to call her again. Mteja. I text. Double tick. No blue. I even WhatsApp call her, desperate moves, you know? Musyoka is now shifting his weight like a man about to disappear. I try calling her again, muttering under my breath,  “This woman will be the end of me.” Then the rain starts. Nairobi rain doesn’t fall, it attacks. Boda guys scatter, hawkers scramble to save their goods, and I’m there, hunched under a mabati shade, holding a phone that won't ring, wit...

Thoughts on (The Catcher in the Rye)

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                         It's a classic but with a heavy dose of notoriety within American culture considering the period it was published. You can Google or ChatGPT the controversies around it.  I had my own share of its intrigue when I first came across it, way back on campus. I still remember that encounter quite vividly like it was yesterday. There were the three of us around a table having some drinks after a difficult CAT. Sharing the table was my room mate, best friend. I will call him Y. To complete the table was X, a mutual lady friend whom I perceived to be a deep thinker.  Lying on the table was a collection of three books Y had just acquired to dilute the stress of academic reading. The first book was The Fountainhead. That's the first time I knew Ayn Rand was a lady and not a man. I can't seem to recall the second book but the top one was definitely, The Catcher in the Rye. Y was more into philosop...

Friday the 13th

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          A lone figure, cloaked in darkness,  stalks through  a foggy and deserted part of the Nairobi Central Business District.  A chilling wind howls, and the only sound is the lone figure footsteps puncturing the eerie silence. A dilapidated building looms in the distance, its windows boarded up and its door ajar. Inside, the air is thick with the scent of decay, dust, and the faint sound of two heartbeats.  On arriving at the dilapidated building, the figure pauses briefly at the entrance, it's breath misting in the cold air. A sense of unease washed over them as they peered into the darkness towards the entrance of the abandoned building from where they are hiding.  The wind howled louder, carrying with it a chilling whisper that sent shivers down their spine. Their blood ran cold as they realized that they were not alone in this desolate place, but with a deep breath, they muffled any sounds they might have made, trying as hard a...