Bob Marley was right, you can’t run away from yourself and I have wasted enough time trying to achieve the impossible.

I should tell him that peace is not there for the finding in a place, it dwells on the inside. Or it doesn’t. The truth is that there was a time when I would have stayed, not to be with him, but just to pass the time until I got bored and decided to travel again to somewhere else far away. Always catching planes, running from one flight to another. I was afraid to stay still. 

PARENTHESIS BY MELISSA TANDIWE MYAMBO 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 12

Saint Louis, Senegal, 06:16, le 31 decembre, 1998

His arms are wrapped around my waist, holding me tightly. He kind of hums in his sleep, dolphin sounds, as if he’s swimming underwater in his dreams. His shallow breathing combines with the sound of the pounding waves outside and tickles the back of my neck. I shiver. I don’t want to wake him but I must leave now. I have to get ready to go to the airport but I suppose there’s still plenty of time till my flight tonight. For some reason, my brain feels like it’s drowning, gasping for air. I am lying…