Vignettes

Stories of people, told and untold by them.

Vignettes

May 10, 2026

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4 min read

The Unmothered

You can assume correctly that birthdays were never a thing for her. No candles. No small rituals to make her feel cherished. Worse of all, no cake. Instead each year seemed to arrive with the same reminder hanging in the air: that her birth was tied to the worst thing that had ever happened to her mother.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Feb 25, 2026

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2 min read

Familiar Faces

Whispered conversations rarely carry good news.

Juma Reagan

Letters & Lovers

Feb 4, 2026

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6 min read

Daughter Of Scorn, Part II

She comes back to die with her people. She does not want to die in the streets of Nairobi, stepped on and eaten by stray dogs. She wants to be buried like a human being. A human being who, unlike everyone else, dared to look beyond the waters of Nam Lolwe.

Juma Reagan

Letters & Lovers

Feb 1, 2026

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5 min read

Daughter Of Scorn, Part I

Zuri drank greedily. The village began to feel smaller for her each day. She grew tired of their mud houses and of old men whose breath carried rot and authority. She felt the dresses sewn for her did not bring out her bunda the way a girl would want. Worst of all, she dreaded the certainty of her future.

Juma Reagan

32 Days of Christmas

Dec 5, 2025

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2 min read

There’s A Voice In Our House

Ever since the voice began echoing through our rooms, dad’s photographs have vanished from the walls. The only image I still carry of him is the one preserved in my mind, now a fading memory sharing space with that other voice.

Juma Reagan

32 Days of Christmas

Dec 4, 2025

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6 min read

Tattoo On The Left Boob

The tattoo was simply another way to define who she was, to cement her defiance against everything she despised in this patriarchal society. To defy the gods who took her parents too early. To challenge her grandmother, who was still too steeped in religion to understand that even gods, surely, had tattoos.

Juma Reagan

32 Days of Christmas

Dec 2, 2025

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4 min read

Ginger

She was there when Belinda was depressed for weeks, when she cried herself to sleep every night in their hostel. When trauma made her start locking her hostel doors at 6 p.m.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

May 18, 2025

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6 min read

The Sky Forgot Its Colour

He laughed when he saw me in jeans. We both laughed. Back then I was known for my loyalty to shorts; thanks to the high school we both remember too well. He’d even hoped I’d show up in shorts again, just like him. But the jeans were a symbol that things do change, slowly.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Apr 27, 2025

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6 min read

Until You

Aisha didn’t even decorate her bedroom walls. What was the point? They’d only be stripped bare again when the next move came. She didn't keep close friends, because she knew she’d leave them behind. Her relationships were worse; long-distance never worked because boys either abused her trust or treated her as a fleeting adventure.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Mar 23, 2025

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10 min read

Akinyi

She never spoke up. She never told anyone in the family what really happened in Auntie’s house. She didn’t trust her other uncles and aunts, convinced that moving in with any of them would be just as bad, if not worse. So she endured it all in silence. She suffered through the praises.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Mar 16, 2025

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8 min read

The Iniquity of My Father

Mzee’s last wishes

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Mar 2, 2025

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8 min read

Running With The River

The river was magnificent that midday, winding its way through the dense bushes and tangled thickets that stood guard along its banks, flowing purposefully toward the vast embrace of Victoria. Its surface gleamed under the unforgiving sun, turning it into a shimmering ribbon of gold. Yet beneath that brilliant sheen lay a murky, untold depth—brown and impenetrable.

Juma Reagan

Letters & Lovers

Feb 16, 2025

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2 min read

Laughter & Water

I don’t want clichés wrapped up with a bow. I crave a love that’s unscripted, you know? Surprise me, confuse me, make my heart race! Not just playing along in this love holiday’s chase.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Feb 9, 2025

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2 min read

I Know A Guy

I'm also just a guy who listens more than he talks.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Feb 2, 2025

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4 min read

A Random Day In December

The first time someone young and vibrant dies, someone you looked up to, confided in, it blows you back, right off your feet. Right off the feet you thought you were forever grounded in because your best friend was still there. And lying on your back you think, ‘Oh sh*t, we’re all gonna die! Nobody knows when. Nobody knows how!’

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Jan 19, 2025

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5 min read

About Millena

Millena is always armed for war. She takes her studies like war. Her desk is a battleground of open textbooks, detailed notebooks, and an inexplicable pink or yellow slip of paper. A fluffy pink tote bag hangs by her side, brimming with whatever paraphernalia she might need at a moment’s notice. Millena doesn’t waste time searching for tools; this is war! A war against ignorance and against being an uneducated girl child.

Juma Reagan

Letters & Lovers

Dec 1, 2024

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5 min read

Love, Lies, and Lobsters

Kasheri is a part-time poet, her own lyricist if you like. She becomes a poet whenever her boyfriend breaks her heart or he does something that doesn’t necessarily make her happy. She’s also a full-time cat parent, a master of misplaced priorities and endless insecurities.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Nov 24, 2024

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4 min read

Street Down Below

It's hard for me to explain how humans find the pleasure of causing people pain.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Nov 10, 2024

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4 min read

My Wife’s In Labour!

This is what he feared. This is what he wished didn’t have to happen. But Jimmy had broken the icy atmosphere, and now the aim was made bare, to the disgust of Odiero. In Jimmy’s defense, this was his last and only resort. No one else could lend him, leave alone give him, such money.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Oct 6, 2024

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4 min read

Lamentations of a 23-Year-Old

Wisdom says that sometimes, just sometimes, people have to find their own way.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

The Unmothered

Familiar Faces

Daughter Of Scorn, Part II

Daughter Of Scorn, Part I

There’s A Voice In Our House

Tattoo On The Left Boob

Ginger

The Sky Forgot Its Colour

Until You

Akinyi

The Iniquity of My Father

Running With The River

Laughter & Water

I Know A Guy

A Random Day In December

About Millena

Love, Lies, and Lobsters

Street Down Below

My Wife’s In Labour!

Lamentations of a 23-Year-Old

Brainwave Musings