Fumo and his classmates were in class. Teacher Beka was giving them a maths lesson. All the students were quiet, listening to Teacher Beka. Fumo was very anxious in the class. He turned back to look at the desk behind him that was empty. The desk belonged to Rehema, one of his classmates. While the teacher was teaching, Fumo’s mind wandered in and out of the classroom and the teacher noticed his anxiety.

“Fumo, now answer that question.”

Fumo was awakened from his deep thoughts by the voice of Teacher Beka. He didn’t know what the teacher had said so Fumo just stared at him with wide eyes like that of a crocodile.

“Fumo, I can see that your mind is not here in class with us,” said Teacher Beka.

“Sorry, teacher,” Fumo said.

“Is there something bothering you?” the teacher asked Fumo.

Fumo shook his head in denial and the teacher continued to teach the maths lesson. Then the tea-break bell rang and all the students ran out of the classroom and headed to the dining hall. Fumo did not run, he walked slowly with his friend Shaka.

“Shaka, there is something bothering me,” Fumo said, with a voice full of worry.

“What is it, Fumo?” Shaka asked, while looking into Fumo’s face.

“Rehema has not come to school for two weeks now. Do you know what’s wrong with her?” Fumo asked Shaka.

“Huh! It’s true, it is two weeks now and we have not seen her in school. I think we could ask Waridi, her best friend, if she knows anything about her disappearance,” Shaka said.

Then both of them went to the dining hall and drank tea with other students. While they were drinking tea, Fumo saw Waridi at a distance and followed her.

“Do you know that your friend Rehema has not come to school for two weeks now?” Fumo asked Waridi.

“Yes, it is true. I am her neighbour but I haven’t seen her anywhere, it’s like she suddenly disappeared into thin air,” Waridi said.

“Did you go to their place to see her?” Fumo asked Waridi,

“Yes, I went, but no one gave me an answer. They just stared at me with angry eyes without saying anything,” Waridi said.

“When did you go?” Fumo asked.

“I went to look for her on Saturday last week,” Waridi answered again.

Fumo left Waridi and walked out of the dining hall, his head full of thoughts about Rehema. He asked himself so many questions that he did not have answers for. Where had Rehema gone? Was she dead? But if she was dead, they would have known because her parents would have come to tell them at school. Was she sick? But if she was sick, why had Waridi not been given a chance to see her? Why had Rehema suddenly disappeared, her whereabouts unknown? Where had she been taken to?

Fumo asked himself a lot of questions that popped into his head. Suddenly, Shaka came to him and they all sat down to bask in the sun, which was shining brightly.

“I can see you are still thinking about Rehema,” Shaka said.

“Well, I really want to know exactly where Rehema is,” Fumo answered.

“So, what do you think we should do?” Shaka asked Fumo.

Before Fumo could reply, Waridi joined in to listen to what they were planning about Rehema. “Fumo, tell us what you think we should do now,” Waridi added.

“I think the three of us should go to Rehema’s house and find out where she is. She probably needs our help and we are just here studying calmly in school without worries,” Fumo answered his classmates.

“But we will have to be careful because her father has a very bad temper,” Waridi told her friends.

“Even if he has a bad temper, let’s just go, all the three of us. When we arrive, we will ask them to tell us where Rehema is and then also explain why she has missed school for two consecutive weeks,” Fumo added.

“Yes, I agree with you 100 per cent. Tomorrow is Saturday, let’s meet in the morning on the road and we can all go and look for Rehema,” Shaka agreed.

“And if we find her father, we will tell him that we have missed our friend for two weeks and we are very worried for her and we thought it was good for us, as her friends, to go and visit her.” Waridi said.

So Fumo, Shaka, and Waridi continued to talk, making plans for visiting Rehema. They talked so much that they forgot the passage of time. When the bell rang, it startled them and they all ran to class to continue with the lessons of the day.

When Fumo went back to class, his anxiety had completely disappeared. He listened to his teachers attentively with a smile on his face.

Tell us: What do you think has happened to Rehema?