The tale is as old as time – our health is our wealth! And while most of us understand the suitable proteins to consume, the importance of carb moderation, planning out our meals in tiny portion sizes, drinking special teas fostered from the finest herbs in the Brahmaputra Valley of northeast India, or halting meetings to […]
Continue ReadingDaD.
I always imagined what my father had been like, the things he liked and didn’t like. Whether he was cool or not, was he light-skinned like me or dark as mum? I daydreamed about what it would have felt like to have him in my life and often wondered what my friends who had their dads […]
Continue ReadingTHE CALL
My hands are shaking. I am petrified as I listen to the rushed words of Mummy Amanda, my neighbor back home, “— I am just telling you because you are my fellow woman,” she concludes, “If you want to catch them, hurry now, they are still inside,” and the line cuts off. Curiosity merges with […]
Continue ReadingKARMA
“Hei, mama I am finished!” Ezinne freaked, flapping both hands and stomping across her mother’s bedroom floor, “I am finished! what do I do, mama what do I do?!” she panicked. Mrs. Okoye said nothing. She sat at the edge of the bed, bouncing her right foot worriedly, her head dropped in jumbled thoughts. “I […]
Continue ReadingUNREAL.
I am late! I hop towards my front door, tugging impatiently at the loose strap of my red stiletto sandals. I yank at it hastily, hissing under my breath at the sheer difficulty it feels to secure the tiny straps. By now, everyone would be seated in the conference room, waiting. How do I, the […]
Continue ReadingHABIBAH
I looked out through the narrow window of our thatched mud house. The rain was heavy, cascading onto the sandy ground in a heavy downpour. It seeped into the soil, forming puddles of wet brown clay that flowed in no particular direction on our bare compound. Across the streaks of rain that clouded my vision […]
Continue ReadingIt Was My Father.
I was ten when it happened. I hadn’t been asleep for long when the noise and clattering began. It crawled into my subconsciousness, lingered distantly until it finally tugged me out of sleep, and I laid there, half-asleep in my yellow pajamas, besides my sister, who had marked her fifth year in the world just […]
Continue ReadingTHE LOCKDOWN.
I watched the empty streets from my bedroom window; it was as quiet as a grave, except for the whistling of the soft breeze. White papers littered the deserted tarmac streets. Dry leaves that had fallen from the trees above fidgeted on the ground. Torn sachets of water flew carelessly with every sweep of the […]
Continue ReadingMY WIFE’S FRIEND.
I met Seun through my wife. Light-skinned, petite, and pretty, she seemed to like my wife a lot, and my wife appeared to feel the same way. Both women shared quite a close bond. She would come around the house now and then, but I never conversed with her beyond the usual hellos and hi’s. […]
Continue ReadingRIVER CHILD.
The thatched mud hut was dimly lit by a rusty old kerosene lamp. A woven mat spread out on the bare cemented floor held a relieved Dooshima. The agony she felt moments ago now seemed like a distant memory as she eagerly waited to be handed her baby. “This baby is not normal,” mama Mbapuun […]
Continue ReadingUPSHOT 2 (18+)
Shola quickly wiped at her cheeks. She turned around and forced her lips into a smile. “Hey honey” she cooed, walking towards his bed. ***5th July 2017*** “Babe I’m so sorry for the inconvenience….” Apologized Shola. “Shut up jor” replied Adaora, “what are best friends for? You’ve only been here three nights and you are already […]
Continue ReadingUPSHOT.
14th February 2014. “Hmmn, so another man will marry you like this?” he teased her, basking in the thrill of satisfying lovemaking, “The most beautiful woman, sweetest of all.” She laughed, shifting under the white sheets. Their bodies were still bare, rubbing each other. “If you didn’t break my heart, it would be you and […]
Continue ReadingRANCOR.
“Kunle!” Shola called frantically, breezing towards her husband who was sitting and smiling at the TV screen, obviously enjoying the film playing before him. “Kunle!!” she repeated, closing in on him. “You want to pretend you didn’t hear me calling you abi?” She planted her left hand to her hip and began bouncing angrily on […]
Continue ReadingTHE Client.
The first time I saw Donald was in my office. I was running late to work on that day which was unusual as I try to keep up with time in every area of my life. But as unscripted as life could be, my car tire went flat barely twenty minutes after driving out of […]
Continue ReadingALEXANDER
Touché! That had to be his favorite word. I remember him saying it more times than he said any other singular word. “Touché!” He wrote to me when I accused him of being too direct in his texts. That word and nothing else. But that was Alexander; that was the way he communicated. He wasn’t […]
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