One day he got some very sad news from his mother. He had just gotten back from school and was surprised to see her at home already. Their tiny home was filled with faces he did not recognise and some relatives that he only saw during the school holidays. His mother sat him down on the bed and spoke to him gently.

“Mashobane, your father has gone to the land in the sky. At the end of the week, we are moving to Cape Town to stay with your grandmother,” she said.

“Mama, but when is Baba coming back? If we leave at the end of the week, how will he know where to find us?” he asked with such confusion.

“He cannot come back from the land in the sky. But one day, we will go to him. One day you will see him again. One day we will be a happy family again, but in the meantime we are going to live with your grandmother,” his mother replied.

“Mama, Cape Town is so far away! Why do we have to live so far away from my friends?” he asked in tears.

“I work every day and there will be nobody here to take care of you when I am not home. Your grandmother is too old to travel and come live with us. Do not worry, you will make new friends in Cape Town in no time,” his mother said to him as she held his hand tightly.

He could not understand why his father decided to leave so unexpectedly and without even saying goodbye. He hated the land in the sky for taking his biggest fan away from him.

Mashobane did not like the move to Cape Town. The new city was bigger than Durban and he struggled to understand Xhosa. His grandmother’s house was much smaller than his previous home. The house was close to a train station and hearing the train arrive and leave the platform gave him such displeasure.

He liked escaping the noise by sitting in the backyard. The backyard was not as big as the one from his home, but it had a similar huge mango tree. It reminded him of the good times he shared with his father. From time to time he would sit under the tree and would imagine singing to his father.

His grandmother spent most of the time sleeping on the sofa. He tried singing for her but she would simply fall asleep. Every day he wished his father would return from the land in the sky and that things could be back to normal.

He walked all by himself to school on a sandy pathway and wished his father was there to carry his schoolbag. He sang to himself softly and wished his father was there to hear him. He stopped at the gate and wished his father was there to wave him goodbye.

He did not like his new school and found the class activities to be difficult. During break time he sat at the playground all by himself and ate in silence. He did not have any friends and the other children laughed at him when he spoke.

“What are you saying? Your Xhosa is very funny!” They said, pointing and laughing at him.

Some of the bigger children called him names and even took his lunch away from him.

“What do you have for us today pencil legs? Show us what mummy made,” they said circling around him.

“Stop it! That is my food,” Mashobane tried to take back his lunchbox.

He was too small to protect himself from the bullies. The other children were also too afraid to help him. They took the sandwiches out of his lunchbox and ate them right in front of him.

“If you tell any of the teachers we will wait for you at the gate!” they said to him as they walked away from him.

Mashobane ran to his grandmother’s house in tears. The bullies laughed at him as he dragged his heavy school bag all the way. He could not talk to his grandmother since she was asleep most of the time and his mother was always at work. He then decided to go the backyard and sit under the mango tree.

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Tell us: What would you do if you were Mashobane?