On the Wings of the Wind

Riding on my motorbike was for many years my best experience. When I lived in Pietermaritzburg, although I only had a 50cc motorbike, I spent much time with my friends riding through the bush paths pretending we were on big off-road scramblers. I cannot begin to count the number of times I fell off my […]

Bloody Mist

One cold winter late evening I was riding alone on the road with my 50cc motorbike. I was going back home from a trip to Midmar Dam. I suddenly found myself in a very thick mist which was like a white wall in the bright light beam of the motorbike. I knew that road very […]

Building Teenage Muscle

During the early seventies I played a lot of sport at school. It was that which convinced me to get out of bed daily, to get dressed into an ugly grey school uniform and to make my way to the schooldesks which I really abhorred. Rugby was my favourite and I weighed a mere fifty […]

A Donkey Walk

The school rugby games took place in the winter season. During that time every Saturday morning, under the sun or pouring rain, every school had rugby teams playing matches against one another. Bugs and I together with our team mates, prepared ourselves body and mind and practiced very hard in order to tackle the games […]

A Lucky Day

One evening at dinner, when I lived in the flat, the old man was talking about his work, saying that he would have had the possibility to advance in his career. He would have had to submit an application form together with several documents. For the past days he and Hopsing had managed to get […]

Destiny’s Hand

Some months before going back to Italy to serve in the army, I was going out with a girl my age and we loved each other very much. We were both very sad as we were to part for one whole year. Nevertheless we thought that twelve months wasn’t such a long time and that […]

A Year In 190 Retief Street

Dear Hopsing, In your last story the hint of when I lived in your house for almost a year brought back many memories and I would like to share them with all of you. You will surely remember that at the beginning I lived in the flat attached to the back of your house. The […]

On The Banks Of The Dusi

The Dusi is the river that with its brown water lazily flows through Pietermaritzburg. Its wide banks are crossed by many foot paths that intertwine with each other. These paths are made by the constant use of the natives who go to their houses or to the bus stops or what have you. They were […]

What Family Life!

Growing up on a farm was the most enjoyable time of my life. Getting up early in the morning, with the cocks crowing and seeing the cattle being led into the shed to be milked was a wonderful experience. After breakfast my little brother and I went down to the river which flowed through the […]

Good Bargains in Downtown

My favorite district in Pietermaritzburg was the Indian Suburb in the Downtown. My friends and I often went there because it was possible to find shops with good bargains and where you could bring the price down. All in all it was fun shopping there. The Downtown was full of all kinds of shops selling […]