Once, when the boy barely came to the man’s knees, when the man had to tilt to reach the boy’s tiny, soft hand, he would gently enfold the boy’s fingers into his own and guide him to the water’s edge. Now, after years of absence and interference - separated as other’s conflicts became theirs - [...]
I see Papa, lying on his bed. His round glasses make his face even rounder as he reads from his big Bible. I swallow my saliva, so I do not say the hurtful things my heart delivers to my mouth. I make my fingers into a fist and struggle with the urge to grab the [...]
Mixed feelings to her weren’t like curry and talcum but like sugar and salt, each element primarily indistinguishable from the other until—at least, another of the senses was employed. And even then, it would be silly to commence the task of separating each atomic grain of sugar from each atomic grain of salt—best leave things [...]
There was a forceful banging at the door. Gadi was up and getting dressed. He looked over his shoulder at his wife. “I love you,” he said. “Don’t worry. Stay in bed.” He whistled as he limped down the corridor, a slight sway to his gait due to a childhood accident that broke his right [...]
Jimi got off the motorcycle when it arrived at the junction that led to Jericho Villa, a sly smile plastered across his face, "Cheers to the first of its kind," he muttered as he enjoyed the charms of the odd hour. Whenever he came home in the past, there was always the stream of evening traffic, [...]
"You ill-mannered woman!" The yell that filled the room startled Adesua as she walked into her father's quarters. The woman who yelled pointed a finger at the other. "Why would you think my son stole the talisman?" The older woman didn't budge at the act. She only adjusted her crown before speaking up, "Do you [...]
Tales by moonlight are the archives from which our history is passed down through generations. One story after another, the old and frail gather their young and feed their minds with events that they too will pass on to their children when the cycle of life has greyed their hairs and hunched their backs. The [...]
I know what it means to set a time-bomb. It is your mother kneeling for the births of going-to-die children. That is what it means to be an Abiku; a sun that shines during the day and gets clouded by the spirits of the night. I walk in the streets like a squirrel, taking every [...]
The woman never looks at Nana. She is always bowing, her hands holding the hem of her black threadbare hijab and removing strands. Nana would ask if she slept well last night if the medication worked, and the woman would start shaking her head frantically. She would stand and pace about the room, muttering, littering [...]
I can never forget how I made my life fall apart. How I watched it tear, with my eyes bulging with anger and my legs walking to a path I never knew, without hesitation. I was amazed at the journey beyond my family walls until I finally saw how dark the world was, felt the [...]
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