Dawn broke with cries. It wasn't unusual. Yet I sat up on my bed and listened to ascertain where it rang from. The undulating cries resonating from half a mile away distorted the peace the mid-night rain had brought.

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Charlene Aduma stood in Dariah, her younger sister's, living room with her hands clasped behind her back and her eyes staring at a picture of her and her sister some 20 years ago.

Winston had a habit of waking me up without words. Two mornings ago, I awoke to the aroma of mid-toasted bread with corned beef and fried eggs. It was enough sensation for my brain, and in no time I was awake. Yesterday morning, it was the curtains.

These events span through the length of a Sade song on repeat. She is dotting us on to cherish the day.

I am recalling the memories from a day I should cherish.

My first boyfriend wasn’t mine. He belonged to my best friend. When he was with her, I passed the time in chat rooms, telling men I was naked beneath the covers while they defended their lust by telling me I was mature for a kid my age.

A bucket of water tips from the open window, its ochre contents emptying on the man in white shorts.

Wake up. Or don’t. If dreaming is what you need, please see to it that it is done. If reality is where you want to be, see to it that you are awake. Let your feet touch the cold floor. A second sign you are alive. Sing a song when you are in the shower.

(And One Million Boys came...)

the helicopter dances in the air

àkàrà balls fry in a pan

I don’t skate, it excites and scares me

I shouldn’t break bones for sport

My mama fi go break some more

Not too long ago, and by that I mean last year, I wrote this here article on envy/jealousy. I spoke, with a somewhat accusatory tone, wrapping myself in the defense of also putting myself and my experiences and actions of envy, on blast.

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Free societies in their truest sense are rare. Most places across the world have not known such an arrangement for as long as we have actively recorded history. So it is easy to assume that it has never been.

Today, I got an order totally mixed up. It was better than yesterday, though. Yesterday, I couldn’t even bear to talk to a customer, I had all work lines on flight mode and so, business was unofficially closed. It was a really bad day.