As I held my school bag and stepped out of the house, listening to the sound from the birds singing, I couldn’t help but realise that this was one of the most beautiful winter mornings I had ever known. I wasn’t fond of waking up early but I had to catch the 7 o’clock train to school. My favourite things to do had always been: hugging mummy and eventually waving goodbye to her, seeing well-dressed people’s way of talking and their behaviour, and Mamsie’s delicious fat cakes.

Today, however something seemed strange!

The train station was absolutely empty. How come nobody was there? I decided to sit down and wait for the train. After a few minutes I found myself surrounded by a pond of mist, unsurprisingly for a winter’s morning. What was surprising, was the fact that the train was now almost twenty minutes late, something that had never happened before. The longest delay we ever had was about five minutes. This was strange.

I realised it was getting cold. I took the v- neck jersey I had carried in my bag and put it on for additional warmth. I decided to walk the few kilometres to school. Even though it wasn’t safe, but missing school for a day was like missing school for the whole year to me. I would never do that! Determined, I kept on walking. The ground and the emaciated winter-beaten grass and plants, including the tress, had all appeared white. Still, there was no one along the road, even after walking for a substantially long distance.

That too was very strange to me. I decided to change my strides to a jog. I was running for two reasons: to reach school on time and I was getting agitated by the fact that I was the only one around. I hoped that arriving at school, where unquestionably there would be many people, would put my mind at ease.

Twenty-four hours gone, I felt frozen, hungry and depressed. I just stood there, hopelessly and aimlessly, when suddenly I felt as if my whole body was melting; like ice on fire. I realised the white coating that had formed on me was now starting to peel off. At the same time visibility cleared and I could see all things around me. I could see a very tall building which had Khoi art on it. I was both attracted and opposed to history. In fact, I could tell which side I fell though I believed I was a genius when it came to history. Even though I was still confused, I connected the dots then I knew where I was, but I did not know which direction to take home.