The Language of Jacarandas

A father grieving. A daughter out of reach. A city blooming with silence.

When Kemi lands in Pretoria, he brings more than a suitcase?he brings the weight of loss. A Nigerian widower and retired linguist, he's come to stay with his estranged daughter, Funke, a sharp-tongued architect who has built her life in glass and steel. Their conversations are polite. Functional. Almost foreign.

Outside, the jacarandas bloom?lavender and lovely, but not native. Much like him.

Then one afternoon, a detour leads Kemi into a local market alive with fire, food, and voices that blend like music. It smells like memory. It tastes like home. And for the first time, something shifts.

That evening, beneath Pretoria's purple skies, Kemi doesn't confront his daughter?he tells her a story. One from long ago. One she's never heard.

And maybe, just maybe, that's enough.

✨ A short, powerful literary fiction read you can finish in one sitting. Perfect for readers who love emotionally rich stories about family, migration, and the quiet struggle to reconnect.