Riding the Nile
The colors danced in the blue morning sky, the birds chirped and the leaves were carried away by the light breeze. Lyam always told his son how a breeze reminded him of God's confirmation to us when we make efforts. It comes steadily- sometimes without us even noticing, then it's that little breeze that gathers momentum and makes us soar.
This magnificent morning announced the beginning of school which totally scared the pants off Nile. In fact, Nile was still snoring in bed when his mom called out from the kitchen below: "Breakfast's ready!" In a rushed tone. Nile slightly opened his eyes and checked the time, it was six-thirty. He clumsily crouched up and scratched his eyes- maybe they would look so red, his parents wouldn't make him go to school... No! enough of the silly excuses, it was time to get going.
"breakfast," Mrs. Risenburn said, pointing to the fresh toast as if her son did not notice it. "breakfast? At this time? Please, I have breakfast at ten!" Lyam started to laugh and even Martha grinned "boys!" she exclaimed half-serious, half-teasing. Nile quickly got dressed and packed his backpack. Thanks God it was not filled up with books! Today was just a 'get-to-know-your-school day'
Martha and Lyam Risenburn wished their son all the best for school, Mrs. Risenburn was hugging Nile so tight, he couldn't breathe. Mr. Risenburn was proud and his parent's compliments were music to Nile's ear.
Ade, Imari, and Nile met up at their special place at half-past seven. "hi!" Ade exclaimed as she saw Nile approach, she was engraving something on a bamboo tree. "hey," Nile answered. Adelaide immediately sensed Nile's perturbed tone "are you alright?" she asked hesitantly "Where is Imari?" Nile tried to change the topic making Ade sigh and roll her eyes. "ok if you don't wanna talk, it's ok. But I'm always here to listen" She explained patiently. Nile didn't wanna talk. "I bet Imari only woke up at seven," Ade said and Nile finally smiled. "Ade... how is school gonna be?" Nile uttered, looking up. Adelaide smiled "If you want, I can help you with Lusoga," Ade suggested. 'How did she even know what was bothering me?' Nile thought to himself. He always had trouble learning languages, in the school he attended, most classes were in English but the kids always spoke Lusoga between them... Nile could understand some words but it was taking him a lot of time to learn the language! It was very frustrating when kids would jabber around in Lusoga, leaving Nile confused. Ade and Imari were really good at English and when Nile was with them, he never even thought about Lusoga. "yeah, that would be really cool Ade," Nile said "classes begin today itself, at quarter past four sharp! Right here" she pointed to the wooden table " aye aye captain!" Nile answered. That's when Imari showed up, it was already seven thirty-five "you're really late!" Ade called out when she saw Imari, "yeah, what time did you wake up?" Nile jocked and together the three made their way to the boats.
One thing that Nile enjoyed a lot was his journey to school; students had to take the 'school boat'. There was a part of the Nile where the river was calm and shallow, thus it was safe for the students to travel by boat to school. "There's a teacher!" Imari pointed out, indeed a teacher was giving a bunch of kids instructions. "hello, I am Adelaide, we were hoping you could help us get to school" Ade asked the teacher "well, of course, you three can take this boat, just go in the direction of the arrows and you'll be fine." the teacher said joyfully and pointed to a red arrow. "if you encounter any difficulties, don't hesitate to use the communication device in your boat. Rest assured that everything will be alright and we're all around to help." Imari, Ade, and Nile hopped into the boat and thanked the teacher, then Imari switched the engines on and started stirring the boat.
When they were settled, Nile put his bag down and gazed at his reflection in the clear water; maybe Jinja was an agreeable place to live in after all.
"what's our first class?" Imari asked "Actually I don't think we'll do a lot today. We'll just get into our classes, start knowing our classmates, receive our timetables, and maybe they'll show us around!" Ade answered "cool" Imari replied. Nile couldn't help but notice that other boats were surrounding them "hey, do you guys know these kids?" Nile inquired
"yeah, I recognize some of them," Imari said casually "they're fine" Ade added.
"Well... My day... Was pretty interesting..." Nile answered when his parents asked him about his day. "did you make any new friends?" Lyam inquired "no" Nile replied flatly "really!" Mr. Risenburn said sarcastically and put his arms around his head in a relaxed manner. "well, yeah, I mean Ade and Imari were around and we didn't really have classes today. Our subject teachers talked to us and told us what we would be needing for their classes. I liked the art teacher, he seemed cool. He told us how, for him, art was a way of expressing himself. How we should feel free to show our emotions through colors, to write our stories through lines, and discover our potentials. He was nice." Nile finished off and when he looked up, he spotted his parents looking at each other; they suddenly seemed so carefree.
"Nile, on the day that you were selected for the football team back in your old school," Martha said gently and Nile was all ears " I picked you up from school and asked you how your day was, do you remember what you said? You said that your day was 'pretty interesting'" she said then added on "quote-unquote" which made Nile smile. "and turns out -back then- you had a day packed with surprises."