A Sun-Kissed Misadventure

“Lu’u udufwe.”

Someone was knocking at the door.

“Shit!” I cursed, nearly toppling the precariously perched chair that I had been sitting on. My chair was not a chair, however, it was a metal container that had once contained some kind of chocolate milk beverage. I had found it outside one day in the trash and taken it as my own personal throne. The thing was rickety enough that I couldn’t even be mad at it for almost falling over.

I hopped off of my chair and scooted it back into the corner next to my bed where it belonged. I had been reading this massive book on Ancient Africa when someone began knocking on my door. They were pounding so loud that I thought they must have been trying to break it down. That would have sucked because that door was made out of chipboard and was definitely not sturdy enough to survive an assault from an angry person who needed to use the bathroom.

The book I had been reading was a really cool one about ancient African cultures in different regions like Egypt, Nubia, Kush, etcetera but also about how these cultures interacted with other civilizations like China, Persia, Rome, Greece, etcetera. It was super interesting and there were lots of great pictures of ancient artifacts and tombs and things like that too.

I picked up my chair so that I could sit down again but the book fell to the floor while doing so. This would never have happened if I didn’t have such a crappy chair but you know what? Who cares? No one is better than anyone else just because their furniture isn’t broken so you shouldn’t judge me for having crappy furniture either! That makes me feel judged just thinking about it! So just stop it! Okay?

The banging on my door resumed! Whoever was doing that needs to go away already!

"What do you want?" I asked in frustration.

There was a hush moment where I could hear footsteps scuffling away from the door and then they stopped. A woman spoke up: “Hello? Is anybody home?” she said. Her voice sounded like those voices you hear calling out in department stores saying “May I help you?” or something like that so I knew she was probably going to try to sell me something door-to-door like those people who sell used books or old clothes or home electronics or whatever. She didn’t sound like she was planning on selling anything yet though because she still sounded kind of far away from my door but it sounded like she might be walking closer towards it so maybe this time she would start trying to talk to me about whatever she wanted to sell me.

She began speaking again: “Do you need help with anything today, sir?” she said, and then she seemed to switch to another language for a moment before returning to English. It was odd, but it made me wonder if she was multilingual and perhaps thought she recognized my previous shouted question as being in her own native language.

"Hey buddy, do you need any help today?" she repeated, sounding really nice this time.

"No, thank you. Okay, goodbye. See ya later!" I responded, wanting her to leave me alone.

She sounds really nice, I thought to myself. Maybe I should go outside.

Just when I considered stepping out, someone started banging on my door again – louder and more incessant than before. It was as if the person behind the door was growing increasingly agitated or desperate, each knock reverberating through the house with an intensity that felt almost overwhelming. The situation was unsettling, raising questions about what could be happening outside and whether or not it was safe for me to venture out.