CHAPTER THREE

Angel loved mornings. Mornings were her silent haven. As the sun stretched across the sky, it painted its hues of delicate pinks and soft golds. She closed her eyes and let the soft rays touch her skin. For a moment she felt as if her soul was awakened but deep inside lay an impending doom that was slowly growing. She pushed it down and let her mind drift away to the days before the internet shutdown. She saw herself in a classroom filled with laughter. Her friend Lilly who liked to record her for her Tiktok fans, was shouting at her to concentrate on the video because the lecturer unlike the other days would be twenty minutes late.

"Good morning, "the lecturer luckily interrupted. Angel was quick to hide her smile before Lilly could see it. Everybody seemed lively today. It was a day before the recess and everyone was overjoyed. She sometimes wondered about the significance of this small break. As far as she was concerned, it never made any difference to her. She was keen to chose her classes from Tuesday to Thursday and so when she got the email that the recess was to be from Friday to Monday, she wondered what it was all about.

Angel was the quiet type; she had not always been like this. She often wondered why she had suddenly changed after high school. Unlike Lilly, who was vibrant, every time after class she would hurry down to the hostels. In the quiet, she would pick a book and write. This particular day she took her notebook to write. This would be her third novel. "Was it really a novel?" She often wondered. She often got stuck at the second chapter of her novels. Today as she struggled to express her thoughts in words a title came into mind, "Written Footprints." She smiled in satisfaction. From today she thought she was going to write a novel based on her campus life.

She slowly drifted into slumber land. The next few days unexpected omens threaded Angel's life. On one particular day after class, Angel noticed high fee balance in her student account. She hurried down to the finance department office for inquiry. What met her was sudden shock. The finance lady informed her that, that was the correct fee balance. Angel was quick to respond that it was not the correct figure as she had a record of her fee payment on her school email. She quickly opened her phone to provide the evidence but it was no where to be seen. All her emails had been suspiciously lost.

She made some few steps from the office in order to call her father for guidance. Outside the atmosphere was different. The university crackled with unusual tension as murmurs went around of the sudden university website glitches. Each day before the fateful day signals were sent but only a few took them seriously. The world at large experienced connectivity issues and some banks announced software problems to their customers.

The glitches would come for half an hour in a day and so no one took notice. Lilly who was joyous type, was having the best week of her life. Most of her classes, which were online had to be postponed. Everytime this happened she would force Angel to the drama studio. As Lilly pushed the door open her eyes shown with artistic energy.

"Welcome," Angel felt a mixture of nerves and excitement as she stepped into this vibrant world.

"Close your eyes," Lilly with a mischievous glint on her face.

"What? "Angel asked in surprise. At this moment she felt tired of Lilly's games but she slowly obeyed and closed her eyes.

"Now I want you to imagine you are living in the eighteenth century. In this century there are no cell phones, no television, just letters sealed with wax seals, delivered by horse drawn carriages."

Angel stayed quiet for a moment and pretended to imagine. "Except I am in Africa and there are no letters with wax seals or horse drawn carriages," she replied in humour.

"Allow your mind to imagine Angel, this world is not limited to a place. The excitement is in the imagination itself," Lilly said.

Little did they know that this playful exercise would soon transform into reality. Now standing by the balcony, Angel felt the weight of disrupted connections. She missed her friend Lilly. In the midst of all this she could not even reach her as Lilly had travelled to her birth country, Uganda. If she had known how long the internet shutdown would take, she could have hugged her tighter the day the university gave them a break.