Ah yes … sorry … my mind gets carried away like that. I’ll be thinking of one thing and then as soon as I’ve thought it, I’m thinking of something else.

‘Day-dreaming’ is the name they use for it. People use that word a lot when talking about me. I don’t mind. I am a dreamer.

The author we were going to see was a man called Luto Fela. He’d written a collection of poems called The Ghosts of Cattle.

What an amazing name! I could already hear the cattle lowing in the veld as they grazed, translucent (see-through) as ghosts. I was beyond excited.

The trip was organised by the three education students from UWC.

I saw one of them eating a sandwich at break time, by the sports field. It was Tankiso. She was short and voluptuous (which means fuller figured) and she had thick braids. She was eating what looked like a toasted sandwich.

“Tankiso?” I asked, moving slightly forward.

“Hey!” she said, smiling. She had a gap between her two front teeth.

“Um…” I said. “How long are you staying?”

“We have to leave at the end of next week. But then we’ll check back in three weeks’ time. Why?”

I blinked, shy.

“Did you hope we’d stay longer?”

I paused. “Yes,” I said.

“You’re the reader,” said Tankiso.

“Who told you that?”

“Your teacher. Is it true?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Keep reading. Reading is how I got where I am.”

“Are you studying?”

“Yes, I’m studying. I have a degree in English, and I’m doing my Masters in Education. Do you know what a Masters is?”

“Yes, it’s a qualification.”

“And when do you get it?”

“It’s not compulsory,” I said, eager to get my facts straight. “You can choose to do if after you complete your degree.”

“What would you like to study after school?”

“I’m not sure yet. Maybe library and information science. I would love to work in a place surrounded by books.”

“What are you reading right now?”

“Intruders.”

Tankiso raises an eyebrow.

“Author?” she asks.

“Mohale Mashigo. It’s short stories. But they’re spooky. One of them is about a woman who has a child with a vampire. It’s like African folklore and normal horror movies, but mixed up. I think they’re very good.”

“Legit,” says Tankiso with a dry smile that says, ‘that’s cool’.

***

Tell us: What do/did you think of your school set works? If you got the chance to suggest a new book for a set work, what would it be?