Follow the Road is the second collections of children’s short stories to be published by Short Story Day Africa. Collected from their 2014 children’s creative writing competition, here are twenty-seven refreshing takes on the science fiction and fantasy genres from minds wide open to possibility. From time travelling parents to sparkly dragons in the Drakensberg mountains, these are African stories from Africa’s children. This is science fiction that will challenge the perception of what children are capable of thinking and creating.

This day is no more significant than the one before, or the one before that. Little progress, if any, seems to be made. Yet, I keep trying, pushing, as if working towards something, even if that something cannot be named. Loss has left Ella Spinner alone to care for her husband, Bart, who suffers from clinical depression. Their days now echo the tides: any progress made, rolls back. Yet Ella keeps pushing against the monotony. Set in Mossel Bay, Ella’s day begins like any other. But on this day the minutes begin to crack allowing change to filter through. As we cheer on her tenacity, we’re left asking ourselves what motivates anyone to try again.