THE COFFIN THAT TOOK A CHILD IN KAKAMEGA

THE COFFIN AT THE DOORSTEP

The Mutsonga family lived a quiet life on the edge of Kakamega Forest, where the nights were too dark and the mornings too cold for comfort. Before sunrise one Thursday morning, Mama Ruth stepped outside with a broom in her hand. She didn’t sweep. She didn’t even breathe.

A coffin lay on her doorstep.

Wrapped tightly in white cloth.

Three black crosses painted on the lid.

Flies drifting lazily above it like guardians.

She tried to scream, but nothing came out. She stumbled back into the house and woke her husband with shaking hands. “Someone has left death at our door,” she whispered.

Mzee Mutsonga thought she was dreaming, but when he walked outside, the shock hit him just as hard. The coffin wasn’t old or worn. It was new, clean, placed carefully—as if delivered by someone who knew exactly what they were doing. Yet the soil...