I walked down to the river bank, darting my eyes around for any sign of human or animal presence. It was dusk. The breeze blew past my face into the trees, and the leaves rattled.I turned left and right again. I was almost at the […]
…of Lizards
Untitled Sad Tale
If you have ever been in those very rowdy markets in some Eastern parts of Nigeria then you’d know exactly what I’m talking about. I don’t mean the Ariaria Int.market’s kind of busyness, I mean the Ahia Ohuru-on-a-Monday kind of busyness. Ladies who buy and […]
The Tale of A Coward
A Coward Dies… On a street is my mother’s fufu shop. This won’t be the first time you’ve heard of my mother’s fufu shop. No, it’s not, but I’ve not described our shop to you yet. During closure of my mother’s fufu shop, we close […]
Kaduza
Something told me… I walked into the darkness flashing my torch light around. I needed to carry in the big kettle into the compound. I heard the hiss as I came out from the shade in the backyard. I flashed my torch wildly around but […]
I legit hate my sister now
Don’t judge me; you don’t know the trauma I’m going through. Don’t advise me; I don’t have need for it. The only solution to my problem is that schools reopen and she leaves the house for me. When I was in school I didn’t bother […]
Nightmarishly What Ifs.
If you heard gunshots at midnight… I wear my sweater on top my long sleeve, pink top. I pick the black trouser I stole from my dad. I search out for my flowery, baby pink, thick socks. Then I wear my pink headwarmer. It is […]
The Future
By Ottih Onyedikachi Are the gods to be blamed? What would you have done differently? May, 2020 Stella thrashed her legs about on the bed. A sad feeling of doom enveloped her. She lay still trying to recall her dream. A pair of big arms […]
We Have Secrets
©Ottih Onyedikachi Present day “Aunty Omotayo will be coming tomorrow.”“Yaaaay!” We scream excitedly and run round the parlour waving our hands. I stop and pick up my machine gun on the couch and point it at my brother.“Stay quiet and listen,” she admonishes. I stop […]
Mother
By Ottih Onyedikachi *** The lightning flashed across our grime-filled louvers. Mother was always too busy in the shop to notice them or to instruct my older siblings to clean them. The flash struck sharp against the dark sky, throwing light on earth as it […]
The Hands of Death Are Warm.
We have always referred to death’s touch as cold. We have always interpreted the pain and anguish written on the face of people as death being mean and wicked. What we forget is that at the hour of death, we might or might not react […]