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Showing posts from September 1, 2024

The New Principal

The air at Thika School, Kisumu, was thick with unease. A new principal had arrived—Mr. Kamau from Thika—and with him came the heavy weight of uncertainty. The staff whispered in hushed tones, their anxieties simmering beneath forced smiles. For the Kisumu teachers, the sting of disappointment ran deeper. Not only had none of their own been chosen for the position, but the head office had introduced Mr. Kamau in the worst possible way. The chief finance officer had stood beside him on that first day, scowling as he declared, "The laziness in this campus ends today." And Mr. Kamau, rather than reassuring his new staff, had echoed the sentiment—his opening speech laced with thinly veiled threats. A New Semester Begins Two weeks of holiday had done little to ease the tension. On the first day of the new semester, Ochieng arrived early, sacrificing his cherished morning workout just to make a good impression. Yet, his effort was wasted. Mr. Kamau had already signed the attendance...

A Morning in Nairobi

David woke at 7:31 AM to the bite of Nairobi's cold morning air. The bed's warmth clung to him like a jealous lover, but life demanded movement. With a groan, he swung his legs over the side, his feet meeting the chilled concrete floor. Few things defined David like his obsession with exercise. Months earlier, he'd turned down a lucrative job offer—one that would’ve doubled his salary—because it threatened his workout routine. To him, no paycheck outweighed the rhythm of his disciplined mornings. The Ritual Bare-chested and in shorts, he cleared a space in the cramped room. Reverse lunges first—two hundred of them. Then push-ups, squats, burpees. Sweat beaded on his forehead within minutes. "This is how a body stays alive," he thought, relishing the burn in his thighs. At thirty-eight, his lean frame defied the potbellied fate of most African men his age. A girl at a bar weeks ago had guessed he was twenty-eight. The memory still made him grin. An hour and a half ...