Abdoulaye Diouf lay stretched across his bed, one leg hanging off the side like it was trying to escape the responsibilities he'd been avoiding all afternoon. His room—his kingdom—was quiet except for the soft hum of his fan and the occasional TikTok sound drifting from his phone.
He wasn't doing anything important.
He wasn't planning to.
And honestly, he was proud of that.
Just as he got comfortable enough to consider this his official position for the rest of the day, a knock hit his door.
"Baba!" his little brother shouted from the hallway.
Abdoulaye groaned. "What now?"
Mamadou Rassoul burst in without waiting. "Come outside!"
Abdoulaye sat up. "And why are you calling me like I owe you money?"
Abdoulaye rolled his eyes, but the explanation was simple: he was named after their mother's father, and ever since Mamadou was old enough to talk, he'd called him "Baba" like he was the family elder. Abdoulaye pretended to hate it, but secretly? He liked the respect.
"Fine," Abdoulaye said, dragging himself off the bed. "This better not be about a lizard again."
***
The Backyard
The sun was dipping low, painting the sky orange. The mango tree stood tall as always, but something near its roots caught Abdoulaye's eye.
A dark, circular scorch mark.
He crouched down and touched the dirt. Warm.
Mamadou hovered behind him. "See! I told you something happened!"
Abdoulaye frowned. "What did you even see?"
"It was big and shiny and it flew over the house!"
"A plane?"
"No!"
"A drone?"
"No!"
"A bird with a gym membership?"
Mamadou stomped. "Baba! I'm serious!"
Abdoulaye smirked, but the scorch mark wasn't normal. And then he remembered something—something stupid he'd done two weeks ago.
He'd buried something here.
A weird, smooth, heavy egg he found in the forest behind their house. He thought it was just some oversized bird egg. He'd planned to dig it up later and show his friends as a joke.
But now…
He swallowed.
"Okay," he muttered. "That's… interesting."
***
Dinner
The family gathered around the table. His mom, Aissatou, served with her usual precision, his dad, Cheikh, scrolled through his phone, and his sisters, Fatou and Adama, argued about something that definitely didn't matter—specifically, who would get the last piece of bread.
Passing them, Abdoulaye quipped, "Stop being big, you guys. That's why you need a diet."
He sat for a while quietly, letting the chaos fade around him.
"You're quiet today," his mom said, eyeing him.
"Just thinking," Abdoulaye replied.
His dad didn't look up. "Thinking is dangerous for you."
The whole table laughed. Abdoulaye shook his head. "Wow. Betrayal from all sides."
His mom smiled. "There's more to this world than what you see on that phone."
Abdoulaye grinned. "Yeah… like chores."
His dad added, "And sometimes the things closest to home are the ones you overlook."
Abdoulaye paused. That line again.
He didn't know why, but it felt like everyone in the house knew something he didn't.
***
Later That Night
Abdoulaye lay in bed reading a random adventure novel he'd grabbed earlier. The words blurred as his eyes grew heavy. The book slipped from his hand.
He drifted into sleep.
Fire.
Wings.
A glowing egg cracking open.
A voice—deep, ancient—echoing through the dream:
"You buried destiny… and now it wakes."
Abdoulaye jolted awake, heart pounding.
He stared at the ceiling.
"What the hell was that," he whispered.
Then he added, "If this is about that egg… I swear I'm returning it."