After a while, I walked back to everyone, and we helped my mother and aunt to cook. My father and uncles were sitting under the tree, drinking, and even grandpa was there drinking with them. As for my brother and cousins, they were nowhere to be seen. Well, I didn’t blame them because the village had beautiful people in it.

Later that day, we had dinner and stayed up until late. It was a safe village, so I was not scared of any gangsters or anything like that. Eventually, everyone went to sleep, except for Thando and myself. She was busy on her phone, and that was when I saw someone standing under the tree.

“Hello, is somebody there?” I shouted, and Thando looked at me confused.

“What is it Sbahle?” she asked, still looking at me confused. I just kept quiet and looked at the tree, but there was no one there. “I think we should go to bed,” she continued.

“No, let’s stay a little while,” I said, and she nodded in agreement.

We continued talking for a while, then she suggested that we go up to our room. When we got there, we found Zinhle already dreaming. We found her talking in her sleep, but maybe she was really tired. I got into bed and covered myself with a fabric since it was summer. After a while, I felt like someone was looking at me, so I woke up and searched, but no one was there. I slept again and, after a while, the strange feeling came back again. I woke up and searched again, but there was nothing. The worst part of it all was that I couldn’t sleep, so I woke Thando up.

“What is it Sbahle?” she asked, sounding annoyed. “You should be dreaming right now, yet here you are disturbing me. What’s your problem?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t sleep, so I wanted someone to keep me company,” I said. I could see that she wanted to explode right there and there, but I needed her.

“Ok fine, I’m up, so what’s on your mind?” she asked with a curious look on her face.

I looked at Zinhle. “What if she hears us?”

“Don’t mind her, she’s on another planet,” she said with a smile on her face.

I laughed in response, but I quickly composed myself because I didn’t want to wake her up. “Nothing much,” I said. “I just wanted you to keep me company because I can’t sleep, cuz.”

“Do you want me to read you bed time stories?” she asked, and I burst out in laughter.

We continued talking until we eventually dozed off. In the morning, granny woke us up, and even though I was still sleepy, she said she wanted us to help her with her veggies in the garden. Zinhle was up already by then, and when we were done, Thando went to sleep and Zinhle went to our neighbour’s house because she had a friend there. I, on the other hand, didn’t know what to do. Thando was sleeping, so I was really bored.

“Go take a walk to refresh your mind,” someone said. I turned around to see who it was, and it was my one and only grandmother, and she had a smile on her face. I thought about the guy, so I figured why not?

“You’re right granny,” I said while standing up and smiling. Granny didn’t know anything, so she let me go.

“Have fun, and don’t come back late,” she said.

“No problem Granny,” I said, running.

After leaving the house, I decided to go to the forest. Besides, where else would I go except to my new paradise? I walked until I arrived at the huge tree, but there was no one there. When I saw this, I sat and looked at the place, and it was beautiful but different, and it was really peaceful.

“What a surprise,” he said.

As soon as I heard the voice, I turned around and saw it was him. “I thought I would never see you again,” I said, looking down and blushing.

“Your thoughts are dangerous,” he said, looking at me straight in the eyes.

“Why do you say so?” I asked.

“Nothing much,” he said.

“OK,” I said, trying to avoid his eyes.

“You’re so beautiful, Sbahle,” he said, complimenting me, which made me blush even more. I then turned to the side, but he made me look at him and came closer to him. I looked at his pink lips and, before I knew it, I was closer to him.

“Are you OK?” he asked.

I nodded in response while trying to avoid his eyes, but he still held my waist and leaned closer. We both closed our eyes and kissed, and the kiss was very passionate.

“I’m sorry for kissing you without your permission, please forgive me,” he apologized, still looking at me.

“No, it’s OK,” I replied, trying to avoid him. I knew that I, too, wanted it to happen.

Tell us: Do you think it’s safe for Sbahle, or anyone for that matter, to allow a stranger to treat them the same way she allowed the man to?