1720 AD In the head of a cold-breathing dawn when early risers huddled near some fire, a sorry dibia led a whimpering mother and a doleful father down a windy way. They had left home in Agunese near Uvume’s settlement and were headed for Aguezi, a bush charged with deposits of uncontainable charms and catacombs … Continue reading Sunburst On Red Water Tree (1)
Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo opens up to Jeff Unaegbu about her latest book – Roses and Bullets. ABOUT HER: Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo is a professor and former head of the English Department, University of Lagos, Nigeria. She has published five novels, four books of short stories, three books of poetry, two plays and twenty children’s books. Adimora-Ezeigbo … Continue reading Never Be Discouraged By Anyone – Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo
The contest is now open for the above prize and closes on JULY 17, 2011. _Anyone (MALE OR FEMALE) from any country is eligible for this contest. _Entrants are to submit ONLY one TRUE flash story of not more than 750 words on the theme: WOMEN AS VESSELS OF HONOUR. _ Entry is free. _ … Continue reading The Cecilia Unaegbu Prize For Flash Fact Competition 2011
Not so long ago, on a scorching day, a woman was sleeping in her stall where she sold lisle and gloves and stockings. No customer had called yet, and it was midday already. “Bad market”, it was called. Now, this was no news. It happened everyday. What did not happen everyday was that her … Continue reading Girl On A Busy Rail Road
Dear editor, kindly correct that article with the false headline, ‘Mad Man Rapes Senator’s Wife in Public’. I have interviewed the suspect and here is the truth: Until a week ago, Ikenna thought his lot in life was a rarity. As far as he was concerned, it was only a matter of time before Nigeria … Continue reading You Are On Your Own
Here lie a mass of men- Casualties of realities, Celebrities of phantasmagoria, Bodies without persons. The sea of melancholia Had been navigated time and again By their pessimistic confusion In their quest for coherence. Ahoy! There their skeletons lie, Eyeing the dreams they never touched. Dark royal robes under gloomy sails Thrashing tears on the … Continue reading EPITAPH, THEIR EPITAPH: A Monody to Failures
Girls in skirts that open the way, Walk past us in a wily way, Try all we can to look away, What goes around, Sure comes around…
When you move your electric legs,
Men do mope at your terrific steps,
Making me give magnetic pecks,
Which then create frenetic yells.
When our eyes do linger in locks,
Your sweet smiles do glitter with love,
From that heart which shimmer with hope,
And my heart just shivers with throbs.
Deep down my heart Stands a dagger, Bright in the dark, Dripping danger…. From the huge glinting dagger, Blood droplets drop apart,
A gust of cold wind lapped onto his face. He inserted his determined hands into his jean trouser pockets. Then, he gazed at the panoply of panoramic lights crossing themselves out into a huge ambience of hues, even as the traffic lights on amber suggested to him the green light to act. Malta’s was just … Continue reading She Must Live! (2)
The honks from the taxi rose in a crescendo, causing a welter of pedestrians to move out of the way. Yes, they rose. And his heart was palpitating for his sister. His anxious eyes ran from her toes, the whole gamut of her twenty-three-year-old frame, to the golden weaves of her hair. She was of … Continue reading She Must Live! (1)
Suddenly a black goat darted into the road. Whether it was too bamboozled by what seemed to it an approaching behemoth or that it was playing out a black script given it by some malevolent spirit, no one would ever know. It just stood petrified, like Silas Marner, at the middle of the road. And … Continue reading You Never Know (3)
Soon, the driver jumped onto his partitioned seat. I noticed he was not the pot-bellied man. He was a tall muscular giant with very large arms. He turned the ignition on. The engines gave a loud roar like that of a wounded lion. He stepped on the accelerator several times and the engines bellowed in … Continue reading You Never Know (2)
Onitsha town flew past. It was noisy with the yawns of multi-directional motions. From where I was crammed at the back of a heady minibus, I continued to watch as its spinning form sped by along the expressway. After a while, it slowed down to a halt, took the shape of fiery motor park touts … Continue reading You Never Know (1)
People from different places,
Hustle for scanty spaces,
Spread out are Osha mazes
Below the Niger bridge!
The sense of smell is heightened
In winds that never frighten
Those souls in rags that sadden
This very soul of mine.
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