THE LAST CHANCE

The sun had barely risen, but the village of Kithanga was already awake with the sounds of life. Cocks crowed, children ran barefoot to fetch water, and mothers shouted from smoky kitchens.Among the noise, a young man named Brian sat silently on a wooden stool outside his small mud house, staring at the torn paper in his hands — a school rejection letter.

“We regret to inform you…”The words echoed in his mind like a curse.

He had failed the national exams — again.His dream of joining college to study engineering felt like dust blown away by the morning wind.

His mother, a woman of quiet strength, walked...