Peter was very excited after getting a call from his long-lost father. The little one was all fired up. His father asked him to meet him at a Johannesburg train station. However, Peter was skeptical about traveling from the rural KwaZulu Natal to the big city of Gauteng.

Well, he was looking forward to meeting the man who abandoned him at two years of age. He couldn’t hide his excitement. His mother didn’t want to get in the way of his happiness, though she knew how unreliable Peter’s father could be. She didn’t want to cross the Rubicon about it and hoped for the best.

They started preparations and packing enough clothes for Peter. The night became slow and long for the 12-year-old boy. Finally, the day came, and happiness was written all over Peter’s face. He was weak in His knees because of joy. Before he left, his mother spoke a few words of wisdom, such as being careful, being safe, and not talking to strangers.

She did hint at the dishonesty of His father. They kissed goodbye and parted ways. Taxis were very fast because many people were traveling for holidays. In his taxi to Johannesburg, Peter’s mind started recording and deleting the questions he had for his father. He also tried to paint his picture in His mind. He is an old version of myself, my mother said.

He arrived in Johannesburg and went straight and sat in a safe place his father told him about. He then took out his phone to call his parents. He told his mother about his good journey, but sadly, he couldn’t reach his father. He was facing a tough break, but being the brave young boy, he waited patiently…

He worked tooth and nail to make it a reality, ignoring that it was raining cats and dogs that day.

It was getting very late, and still, his father was out of reach. Peter became a sitting target. He started panicking because of the darkness. After five hours of waiting in vain, Peter fell asleep there.

This was written by our contributing writer, Duet Mlotshwa.