Raeesah Awan
@raeesahawan783899
1 year ago
The last time I went to Mombasa was when I was five years old and the seashells that I had collected at that time store my memories, so that every time I put them close to my ear and hear the nostalgic waves of the ocean, I'm taken back to relive them.
From my memory I can remember that the ocean was blue like a mirror image of the sky but closer to the shore it was aqua and as it touched the sand a gentle blue green colour could be seen. I remember walking along the beach collecting seashells, as the sea water kissed my feet and eventually snatched my slippers but luckily my grandad retrieved them for me before the tide could run away with them.
Speaking of my grandad, I remember a time when he sat on a chair shaded by the palm tree above him and me seated on his lap as we discussed about the lizards that were traveling across a wall. Nowadays I am quite afraid of lizards but when I see one, I am reminded of this fond memory.
Another memory is of me visiting Fort Jesus and an old mosque which despite its age, the view and the interior were really beautiful. There was a cliff in the area and from it, one could see the ferry and few shops. In one of the shops there were people seated on what seemed to be mats on the floor and they were selling various things that either came from the sea or things that they had made. It was there that I had bought a red starfish that later made an additional decoration at my home and it stayed with me until its colour faded away and became a shell of its former self resulting in it being gotten rid of.
It was that same shop that my grandad brought me three beautiful necklaces and one that came with a matching bracelet and ring. Unfortunately later on in life, they broke but I never threw them away because just like humans when they break, they carry their pieces with them even though they can never truly be fixed but they do it since they are still apart of them just like my necklaces.
During my time in Mombasa, I slyly used the starfish to scare my cousins when we were all together on the cliff enjoying packets of crisps made of mhogo/casava and each time I took a bite it made a satisfying crunch.
The salty smell of the sea mixed with the smell of wet grass brings back memories of camel riding, swimming in the hotel's pool, building sand castles, which I devised a drawbridge for it using shells of a coconut and lastly being in the shade while sipping on the sweet delicious liquid that comes from coconut
#Nirclestories #Neighborhoodunveiled #Africaunveiled
