Lub dub lub dub lub dub dub, her heart wildly drummed, as she crouched under the bed. It was a dark, cold night in November, but she was drenched in her sweat, effusing like an angry geyser. Her palms were slippery. Those hands would soon fail to support her deadening weight. Jemima was shivering with [...]

“We are Creatures of our own inventions.  Possibly, we are inventions of our past, and of our times possibly even of some mad dream in the mind of fate, But in the end, we are our own Inventions. That is our tragedy and our hardest fate” -Julia Cleaver smith from the novel: MORNING GLORY “Not [...]

I There was a man who had no idea when he became a prisoner. All he knew in every sentient hour were the flaking walls around him, the hoarse sound of his breathing, the altering tropical climate, the patterns of diurnal activity, the constellations in nocturnal darkness. The surging sounds of creation. In the dissected [...]

PART I Out in the middle of a terrible forest a cabin door creaks in the wind. It swings suddenly open letting in a blast of rain that glistens weakly in the moonlight. The rain has not relented in four days. Inside the cabin a man shivers and huddles closer under his wet blanket. His [...]

  SWEET POISON The day had just begun and Tade was already tired and weak. He could not explain why the tide of life should be turning against him. His workshop where he sharpens cutlasses, Knives and other sharp objects for butlers and farmers had suddenly grown un-productive. The stipend which he gets from the [...]

The next morning, news of the death of my father gained ground. Bad news indeed travels faster. It was circulated in whispers almost in all parts of the village from stream to farm paths and then to the early morning hour market. It was the women who carried the news and pitied my mother who [...]

Reflection The death of my father caused mother many sleepless nights. She had emaciated and had a bad shape. She too had been asked by the elders to remain at my father’s personal hut all nights for a whole one year, to keep the fire smoldering with logs of wood. That was her duty to [...]

My mother heard my younger sister, who had just woken from sleep crying in the house. She had been peeling yams that afternoon for our lunch.  As she heard her voice, she dropped the yam tuber she was peeling, washed her hands, ran to the house, opened the door and carried her to the tree [...]

Sophia opened her eyes to pangs of ant stings all over her. She sprang up quickly and rushed to her siblings sleeping soundly on a wider raffia mat a few feet away in the hut. Unplastered and roofed with thatch, the mud house had holes of different shapes in its walls and floor. Sometimes, scorpions, [...]

As soon as his plane touched down on Heathrow, Andrew powered his iPad and navigated to his Facebook home page. A notification said: “Vin commented on Tessy’s status on Friday.” He clicked on it and was taken to Tessy’s wall, where he read the following words: “Perhaps the toughest challenge we have to face is [...]