If I knew what day I was going to have, I would have worn dentures.

See, I only have one tooth. A canine, on the left side of my upper jaw. I have learnt to love and live with it. At 88, it has become a part of me, but I digress.

On April 20, I boarded a vehicle from Eldoret to Nairobi to visit family and to get help with my research work. On a good day, I refer to myself as an anthropologist. At my age, researching about my culture as a Kalenjin man keeps me going.

It is 8:10am. The sky is partly cloudy, a breath of fresh air considering that the weather in Eldoret the previous day was quite dull. My phone beeps and vibrates. I dislike the ringtone. It’s a little too loud for my liking but I am yet to find my way around it to change it. I have a smartphone alright, but I only use it to receive calls, read messages and listen to the radio.

I reach out to my back pocket and get the phone. The screen protector is broken. I can still see through it, though. My phone has fallen quite a few times in the cow shed back at home. Some other times, as I bend to pick something from the ground, it falls, and the crack widens. It still works fine though. I like that.

I unlock my phone.

This story was first published on nation.africa.

Watch Mzee Kiplangat’s story below.