On mild, cloudy nights on the island of Gran Canaria, you can hear the call. Some say when you put a shell to your ear at high tide, or when a ship docks at port. The figure of a woman hovers above the shore, and like lighthouses in the distance, two green irises scintillate from [...]
I stare at the twisted remains of Lagos through the visor of my exosuit as I stalk down the hill. Buildings crumble and slide into the sea. Coils of fiery smoke curl up to the sky. So much work, so much craftsmanship. Gone in weeks. I'm panting as I continue down the hill — with [...]
We didn’t notice the storm as it gathered. We were too busy taking in the magnificent African landscape, my binoculars perched on my nose. Watching the elephants, I had been so intent on watching the animals by the river that I hadn’t noticed the darkening skies. When we set out this morning, the sun was [...]
Our Grandma Uzoma forbade us from going into her kitchen after midnight. She claimed the freezer was possessed. She said one time a bag of frozen mixed vegetables pushed a carton of vanilla ice cream out of the freezer and onto the floor—where the ice cream turned to liquid by morning. She said the two [...]
I never knew my mom and dad. I remember them though. I remember the way they felt, the way they moved, across silicon and light. The way they spoke to each other. Even the way they fought. ~ I remember so clearly how my dad felt the first time he met her. The first time [...]
Something stirred inside Duma. Something dark, restless and wild. It called to her from the depths of the jungle, luring her from a life where nothing ever changed. Her tribe had spent centuries dancing to the same old drum, lulled by the same old songs. But Duma longed for more. “There is nothing more,” the [...]
Abdulaziz sat on the floor and listened to the screams and the music through his window. Outside, everything was wild. He wasn’t old enough to remember the last election, but he couldn’t imagine it being as loud as this one. He was scared. All that noise, those colors… It was too much. When his bedroom [...]
