Meanwhile, in my part of the world, a pleasant breeze swept into Macawi, a small town situated on the banks of the River Wawa in Zambezi. Tall, coconut trees grew at the edge of the river banks. I was living in the suburbs of Macawi, in a big bungalow.

The river was near my house and I enjoyed going there to be with nature.

It was a bright, sunny day and as usual, I was taking a stroll in the grassy park, near the river. It was the first day of my Summer Vacation and I was wondering what to do. Last summer, I had gone on a holiday to a beach and had had plenty of fun with my cousins. Thinking about the beach and the snacks there made my stomach grumble..

 So, I opened my little snack box and munched on a few biscuits. I was ravenous and so, finished a whole apple, a sandwich and a bottle full of orange juice!

I was just thinking about the previous year. My friend Omoro had gone to the magical land of Calypso. Oh! I’m so foolish! How are you going to believe in magic when I didn’t tell you anything about it?

You see, all the children around the world who believed in magic knew about Calypso It was a magical land that existed in the sky. Parents did not know anything about this. It was a secret between the children of the world. We did not know about magic or Calypso the moment we were born, the only word we knew that time was - “Waaaaaaaaa……..h!!!” But as soon as we turned eight, we started to know about the land of Calypso. I don’t know if it used to come in our dreams when we were small or it was something that we came to know or realize only when we were eight. But yes, the feeling that magic existed in the world, and that Calypso was real, was true. Maybe it was the magical powers of the wizards who made us understand about their land after we were eight years. Amazing isn’t it?

Every child in the world knew about this land and their dream desire was to visit this magical land at least once in their lifetime. I had been waiting patiently for five whole years but in vain, I had never been selected. I seriously did not know what their selection process was, how they actually selected the five chosen ones.

A few children like my friend had gone to the land of Calypso as they had been chosen. Omoro hardly told me what he did there, as the wizards  had told all of the kids to keep it a secret!!

But I was the one who had been truly and dearly wishing to go to Calypso. But did I ever get a chance? No.

It was such a sweltering day. Luckily I had brought my cap. All this while I was relaxing under the shade of a tree with dense foliage and had not realized how sunny it had become from the time I first came there. I checked my watch. Oh no! It was 4:50 pm and I had arrived at 2:50. How time flies! I got up, dusted the grass off my jeans and wore my cap. Unexpectedly, a small note slipped out of it. It was a chit in a handwriting that I immediately recognized as my girl friend Kiko’s. She was in my class and my best friend. I read the note in my mind. She had asked me to come to her house at 5:00 pm. Oh no, only 10 minutes left. Luckily, the park was quite close to her house too, and I reached there in a jiffy. Kiko’s house was a few blocks away from my house. We met each other whether there was school or not.

As I approached her gate, I could see her grinning at me with her milky-white teeth. She said “Have they started….”

I cut her short and answered her question even before she could finish it as I knew what was coming- “No Kiko, they haven’t started selecting yet.”

 “Ok!” she said.

 “By the way, wouldn’t you also like to get selected; wouldn’t you also like to visit the magical land of Calypso?”

 “Sure, I would, Siso, but you were the one who was keen on it. I would give it to you if I got selected.”

 “Oh! You are so sweet!! Thanks so much!!!”

“What are friends for?” she said pulling me towards her playroom where she had set up a board game for us to play.

I returned home at 8:00 pm. It was the first of April and hardly four more days for the selections. I couldn’t control the excitement building up inside me. I ate my dinner and had a good night’s sleep. I woke up the next day, brushed my teeth and did all the usual things I would do on a Wednesday morning. I even wrote a poem as I loved writing rhyming poems and it was, well, one of my talents. So I took my favourite little notebook and and my lucky pen and began writing on Friendship

. I started it like this-

Friends are hard to find

Friends are always kind

Small fights with close friends

Can be mended in no time…

Then I continued in the same vein and very soon finished my poem.

There is one more very important thing I forgot to tell you!! How the wizards inform the children. To you it might sound very silly but believe me (THIS IS THE MODERN GENERATION), they informed the children through a normal telephone. The only difference was that the telephone ring could be heard only by a child. Strange, isn’t it?

But, children don’t always remain children and they too, grow into an adult, don’t they? Yes, the moment any child turned eighteen, their memories of Calypso( if they had ever been there, or anything to do with magic) would be completely erased by the wizards, using their magical powers. That’s why parents never believe in magic.

Oops!! By the way, do you know my name? Yes, I mentioned it once while Kiko was talking to me. But to be sure, I’ll give you my short profile in an I-D card below. Know me more, then I’ll move on with my life.    

   Name: Siso Macoti

Age: 13 years Grade: 8th standard

Address: 5th block, Mulberry Lane, Macawi, Zambezi

School: Wanchock Higher Secondary School.

 So now you know a little more about me. Is there anything more I’ve to tell you? No, not really, but seriously I can’t stop here, there is more to my story.

 The next three days went by very quickly after that, waiting in anticipation! Have you heard the saying that “Time flies but no man can catch it” I just felt like time was flying and guess what?..........

It was the 5th of April and I was up as an early bird at 5:00 am even though it was a Saturday. Normally I wouldn’t wake up so early, but today I did and you know why!!