Looming storm, Google Maps, Kampala, Uganda
He remembered when he got the results, or rather, he remembered the man who’d gotten them. A man in a button-down shirt, sitting in front of a computer in a New York high rise, just like a million other men.
Your DNA Ancestry Report, the subject line said.
He’d booked the trip immediately. Impulsively—before he could change his mind. It was a long way off at the time.
But now he was here. In the morning, he’d gone to Lake Victoria—Nyanza as the Bantu people called it. His people.
At the shore, he’d taken off his shoes and waded up to his knees. After that, he turned inland, feeling the gritty red soil on his bare feet.
He tipped his head back at the darkening sky and felt the weight of coming rain. And then he laughed at the wonder of it—to finally realize: he was home.
—
150 words
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For some reason, this particular location evoked so many images for me. It was really hard to pare it down into 150 words. Kampala, Uganda could not be further away from where I sit right now, but I could smell the lake, see the faces, hear the tongue, and taste the posho in my mouth.
Odd.
Anywayz…. no kidlets around this weekend, and I intend to chip away at my novel-in-progress The Kwan Factor. With effort, I could find my way to the end very soon. That would be sweet.
k. Rawson 
Fantastic. I think you have a novel here.
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Maybe a short story 🙂
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Always fascinating to learn where we are really from, and especially timely in America at the moment. Evocative piece, I was with him in the Lake at the end.
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Thanks for the kind words!
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Many of us don’t have a sense of our own history, where we came from, who our people are. I have such a varied history, I can go in a lot of directions, so it makes it hard for me to be attached to any one of them.
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It’s interesting what makes a place resonate. It makes me want to take a million journeys. Thanks for reading James!
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Wonderfully tactile imagery. Nicely done.
As for the reduced distractions, hope you make the best of it. Hunker down and knock it out. The winds of change are blowing; it’ll be spring soon. Give yourself a present for the changing of the seasons.
You can do it. I believe in you, your talent, and, more importantly, your words.
Write on!
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Thanks for the encouragement! It means a lot.
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This story did evoke the feelings you speak of. I am sitting about 300 miles from home, smelling, sensing, feeling the cold water of spring thaw flow over my feet. Smelling the deep smells of a damp deciduous forest. closing my eyes, I can almost be there, too. Thank you– thank you more than you can realize this day. 🙂 ❤
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I’m so touched by your kind words! You made me day.
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Dear Karen,
I can feel the mud between my own toes as well as his exhilaration at coming home. Well told.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks for your kind words & thanks for reading Rochelle!
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You describe that sudden sense of ‘belonging’ admirably. I have had a similar epiphany, and you have caught the feeling exactly!
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Thank you so much, I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for reading.
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That was very soothing!
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We all have our moments of epiphany.Very evocative story.
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Thanks Neel, thanks for reading!
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