isters, Elsabe and Katrina still lived in the same house they had grown up in, in the Namaqualand; a hot, almost desert-like region of South Africa that stretches from the Northern Cape to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Both had never married. Not that they were ugly mind you; some people even said that if Elsabe took the effort she would be quite attractive. Katrina on the other hand, resembled the dry, harsh landscape, but nothing that a little makeup couldn’t fix said others.
For those who dared ask as to why they remained single, Katrina would quickly point out, ‘Because we prefer not having to answer to anyone, hey Elsabe?’ And even though she disagreed with her sister, Elsabe would just go along with Katrina as always. She had learned a long time ago it was easier that way.
The backdoor and the windows were open wide, but inside the small kitchen it was scorching. Elsabe sighed as she glanced up at the ceiling fan. ‘We should ask old Danny to come over and fix this thing … I can’t take much more of this heat,’ she grumbled.
Katrina nodded, ‘Just a few more weeks and then the spring rains will come, that’ll cool things down nicely.’
Elsabe nodded. She loved the spring rains. It was as though Mother Nature waved a wand over the earth and then the ground would be almost magically transformed into a wondrous explosion of colours. And, for a time, the earth would be covered in a blanket of flowers and the air filled with its fragrant scent.
Wiping her face with a damp facecloth, Elsabe wondered how come the heat never seemed to bother her sister who always managed to remain unflustered
‘Hurry up with those sandwiches, they must go into the fridge before they spoil,’ ordered Katrina as Elsabe lethargically spooned the egg and mayonnaise mixture between the slices of fresh home-baked bread.
For as long as she could remember, she and Katrina were responsible for preparing the eats for the Church’s monthly picnic for the underprivileged coloured children of the community. However, recently, Elsabe had been feeling restless. Hardly anyone stopped by for a visit, not since their old pa had passed away some eighteen months earlier. She longed for male company, but it was more than that, she wished for someone to come along and sweep her off her feet, like in those romance novels she read. Of course she dared not mention this to Katrina as she’d be horrified to say the least.
Just then there was a loud knock on the front door and Elsabe, glad to escape her melancholy thoughts, rushed to see who it could be. She gasped as she opened the door, for standing before her was the most beautiful man she had ever seen, almost like Elvis in a way.
‘Morning lady,’ he flashed a wide, friendly grin.
She shyly smoothed down her dark, unruly curls as she gazed up at him. He looked as though he had walked for miles; his shoes, trousers and jacket were covered in a layer of red dust from the gravel road that passed their house.Drops of sweat clung to his forehead and she couldn’t help but notice that the first three buttons of his white shirt were undone and exposed his smooth, pale chest. Her cheeks burned as she tried her best not to stare.
‘Um, my car’s gone and broken down a few miles down that way,’ he pointed vaguely towards the bleached grass plains that surrounded their house.
‘And this was the first place I happened to stumble across … I wondered if you have a phone so I can call the garage?’
Elsabe reluctantly raised her gaze from his chest and stared into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen; just like the colour of the wide African sky.
‘Ja, certainly, come inside,’ she replied, somewhat breathlessly. That he had not bothered to shake the dust off his shoes or any of his belongings, including a guitar, didn’t bother her in the slightest. The fact that she’d just let a complete stranger into their house also slipped her mind. She was far too excited to have someone other than Katrina to talk with.
