Sipho walked to the edge of the river every day on the way to work. He walked slowly, biding his time, and rellishing in the surrounds of nature. His bare feet felt the grass tickling them underneath as he went. At times he would stop to dip his one foot in the river.
Cool and refreshing, it wettened his foot.
Sipho loved to pick up sticks en route... he would drag them along the ground and could hear the sound of the dragging stick through the grass and the earth. The early mornings were starlingly quiet and every sound was magnified. Most mornings there was a particular orange fish that would spring high out of the water and back in again. Its shiny, moist orange coat glistened in the radiance of the sun. By this time, the sun was already very high in the sky and shone with great intent. The purpose of this sun began in the very first moments of the break of dawn. Sipho squinted into the yellow-gold ball and raised a hand to cover one eye. The brightness captured him and held his gaze without relent. Again, Sipho picked up his stick and motioned forwards along the bank of the river. He wasn't like the other boys who loved to throw stones at the fish and never quite enjoyed walking along the bank of the river as much as he did. The river glistened, it shone and it moved in its own way and in its own timing. Slowly and regularly it continued to trickle and trickle and trickle. On it went, down the bank, with purpose and direction.
Sipho walked, shirtless, and with only one pair of shorts hanging loosely on his skinny limbs. His belly button was visible just above his brown shorts and was turned outwards. He used to think he could pop it back into his stomach - to look like the other boys. He was the only one in the district with a belly button that popped outwards. The other boys would laugh uncontrollably at him. Sipho shrugged, shook his head and headed for the river...
Sipho's mother loved him tenderly and with great depth. She would tell him the longest tales about his belly button... and how it came to be that way. He would laugh himself when she would tell him such tall tales of his bellybutton. Sipho laughed as he walked along and thought of it.
