Nights in Uganda

Microfiction

Photo by bill wegener on Unsplash

After three and a half years, Kamryn had finally come home.

It only took her three and a half weeks to fall into a rut and to realize “home” wasn’t New York anymore. Her new life consisted of job hunting by day and doom scrolling by night on social media. A part of her wanted to move on and fall into a rhythm, but the harder she tried the more she yearned.

One evening, instead of meeting up with an old friend who had reached out, Kamryn scrolled through pictures on her phone. She saw herself surrounded by her students in Uganda, the women at the market who danced with her, and the morning ritual of cleaning the dirty dishes on the back steps of her home with one of her young neighbors nicknamed Royo. Royo’s pants were too short, and his shoes were too big. Kamryn felt the cold water from the bucket as it cleansed her body every other day and heard the laughter, clapping, and dancing of the children in her classroom as they learned to love language together.

She remembered the still, pitch-black nights in Uganda: the hum of mosquitos, soft music playing from afar, and the peace of knowing what tomorrow would bring.  

Kamryn called her mother and tried to fight back the tears she knew would come the more she talked. “Mom? I don’t really know how to say this, but I think I’m going back…”

Thanks so much for reading “Nights in Uganda” today. I originally wrote this story in August of 2022. Whether you’re reading this for the first or second time, I’m grateful for you being here!

Though I plan to continue to share new short fiction with you all, I may from time to time pull stories from the vault to share with new readers. I will also temporarily post every other Monday, though I will still host Fifties by the Fire as usual.

The reason, you ask?

I’ve been busy behind the scenes writing a dark fantasy novel, Off the Trail, and I’m thrilled to be diving into this new world. My project recently eclipsed the 10,000-word mark, so at this point, I owe it to my characters (and myself!) to finish the task at hand.

Oddly, I’m using the idea of finishing the novel as motivation to get back to my weekly posts here at Along the Hudson.

Though I have no idea what I’ll do with Off the Trail once it’s finished, I’m going to see this one through for the fun of it.

Wish me luck!

Who’s ready to read and write some fifties by the fire?

Let’s meet up this Friday, January 26th at 3:00 PM EST to share in the celebration of the fifty-word form.

Prompt: Write a fifty-word story (fiction, CNF, or poetry) about arrivals and departures. Write your piece about an arrival, a departure, or both.

Happy writing. Hope to see you there!

Have a wonderful week.