Christmas day arrived and passed as usual. There wasn't anything special apart from attending the never ending long mass and after that have a family union meal and then call it a day. To me the most special thing about December was never Christmas but the boxing festival that took place the day after Christmas. Normally on this day people would offer each other gifts and exchange pleasantries; however in the Malindi Community that was a small modern village located at the ocean bay celebrated this day in a more majestic but communal way that made it more exciting than Christmas itself. 

On this day all the families that lived in Malindi would cook their secret recipes and prepare various gifts that they would offer to the other families. Personally this was the only day that I could function without being constrained by a lot of Bible verses from my parents since I was a very good cook and many families loved eating my delicacies. Just as usual I wanted to make this day so special to everyone but who knew that someone else was going to make this day even more special to me.

I woke up early in the morning shared morning graces with my parents over a simple breakfast and quickly got myself to work. For this festival I wanted to prepare several spicy foods and with this being the case there was a lot to do in the kitchen. My parents couldn't help me since they were busy praying in the reflection room that was located at the back yard. 

Preparing the whole sets of spicy delicacies took me almost six hours but fortunately I was just on time to attend the opening of the boxing festival. Since Malindi was near the ocean; the festival was held at the beach with lost of tents hanging all over the place. I found an empty tent that was at the furthest but also strategic position. I had a lot of hot spicy foods and being near the ocean water would just make it cool down with the blowing winds so I had to get a tent that wasn't far from the beautiful ocean scenery but also not so near. 

The festival opened with several events before people retired to the tents for enjoying the available delicacies and as usual many people visited my tent since they knew I had a god-made hand when it came to cooking. I'm not sure who I took from but I was always thankful to God that I had a talent when it came to cooking. There was nothing I couldn't cook unless it was foreign food.

As I cleaned the mess left behind a young man presented a gift box to me saying "Happy boxing festival"

I looked up and my eyes met those eyes that were as beautiful as the morning sunlight when viewed over the horizon of an emerald green forest. He was a head taller than me with a slightly sturdy good body build that could be traced on the white t-shirt he was putting on. Due to the smooth windy breeze of the ocean, his brown-black shoulder length hair kept on flattering back and forth exposing his well shaped facial features that could render one speechless. Honestly, this was the first time I had seen a man this beautiful. His skin was well tanned that you couldn't tell if it was because of the sun or because he was born like this. From the looks of it all he had a Persian type of feel due to his facial features.

Seeing I was staring a lot, he gently his fingers in front of myself quickly bringing me back to reality. I unconsciously wiped off my hands on my white t-shirt feeling as if I could make the gift box dirty with my messy hands. I gently thanked him "Thank you" but I didn't know why but my heart was beating so hard at that moment and my whole ears had turned red

He smiled exposing those beautiful teeth that were as white as milk. he said "We briefly ran into each other yesterday but we didn't get to introduce each other"

I quickly flipped through my brain as I tried recalling where I had met such a beauty and then the small accident from yesterday afternoon came into picture. Looking at him I indeed thought of why I smelled some familiarity in those eyes. Indeed it was the emerald eyes guy that smiled at me and left a good impression on me. Seeing that he remembered me I couldn't help but feel in cloud nine but restrained my emotions from showing on my face. I've always been an introvert and it had been hard for me to make friends so I was so happy that someone had recognized me and maybe wanted to be my friend.

"I'm Medard" he introduced himself as he offered out his hand for a shake

I restrained my smile from reaching my ears as I shook his hand in a gentle manner "John"

His hand was so smooth and warm that I could feel a chill running through my whole body down my spine making me shiver like a little kitten who'd just seen his mother bring food. I really didn't know why my body was reacting like but I felt really really happy for being able to make a friend in this community. The Malindi was packed with lots of grannies and grandpas and so was hard to find someone who was my age-mate. I worked and lived in the next city but my parents made me come home every weekend for family prayers; so I never really had time to make friends. I had people I knew but I never had any friends. My parents always told me that the friends I make should be people who were of godly nature and because of this I never got to make myself a genuine friend since I didn't know how friends of godly nature looked like.

As I was still in my thoughts I heard him murmur my name in a very soft tone "John, John" he smiled brightly saying "Nice name"

I don't know where I got the courage but I found myself saying out loudly "Can we be friends?" I quickly looked away in embarrassment

He laughed out loudly as he put his hand around my shoulder and whispered "I came here for that"

I didn't have time to react when he turned around and walked away saying "We'll soon be seeing each other around"

I watched at his retreating back and was over-whelmed with many feelings but I was certain of something I wanted this man to be my friend even if he's not of godly nature