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Showing posts from 2020

Two Flames on a Candle (Episode 5)

Chima found himself in an abandoned Primary School peeping through bullet holes in a wall. The late afternoon heat seemed to be exacerbated by the ratatat of rifle gun fire. Beyond a broken fence in the distance, Chima could observe insurgents with their kaftans scurrying about with their heads bent. None however attempted to go through the broken wall. "Bastards, try and cross it now" Chima dared in his mind. Some foolhardy insurgent at the moment seemed to hear Chima's thoughts. He bravely crossed the wall and began to run towards the classroom where Chima was. Chima's rifle coughed twice and the insurgent slumped like a sack of beans. Other insurgents who were already charging saw what happened and retreated. Captain Damola who was was just transferred in from Damboa to head the unit stepped into the classroom.  "Well done, well done" he growled. Without saying anything more, he stepped out. Captain Damola was not a man of many words. Chima who had the du

Two Flames on a Candle (Episode 4)

The events following his meeting with Bayo took a wild dimension. The country was rocked by the EndSARs protests. Chima who had had a few run ins with the dreaded SARS operatives before was emotionally invested. Despite Miriam's objections, Chima made effort to participate in the protests. With time, Miriam no longer worried about Chima's presence at the protests as it appeared the protests had a therapeutic effect upon him. He didn't even need to see the therapist his boss recommended. His nights were peaceful and his nightmares ceased. Miriam was pleased, especially as she was finally getting some good loving on most nights. Life was getting back to normal ironically as a result of the abnormal circumstances.  When the Lekki shootings occured, Miriam was scared Chima was going to lose it and go into a downward spiral. Chima surprisingly held it together. He even suggested that they tried to make a baby. This pleased Miriam and she was already thinking of baby names. She h

Two Flames on a Candle (Episode 3)

Chima's nightmares did not stop. On some days he slept peacefully, other days were rough. His productivity levels were dropping and he was afraid someone at work would notice. His fears were too late as Bayo noticed and called him for a chat. Bayo was Chima's supervisor and they were almost friends. They'd have been friends if Bayo was not a maniac. Bayo was unpredictable, on some days he was cool but most of the time he was a raging furnace. Word had it that his descent to his present state began when his fiancee left him to be with another man. Bayo was nice to Chima when he called him to his office. He even flashed Chima a smile. The first since the year began. He pointed to a seat and when Chima sat down, he cleared his throat and began. "I noticed you have been down these past few days. Anything the issue?" he asked, surprisingly gently. "No, not at all" Chima lied. "You know, I would understand. Yours is a young marriage, is the wife troubling

Two Flames on a Candle (Episode 2)

Miriam lost her peace since her husband Chima first had a violent nightmare. More nightmares followed in the subsequent nights and Miriam was all the worse for it. Chima on his part said little about his nightmares, but from the little he said, she could guess they were all gory. All Chima would say was that he had nightmares about war and would ask that they pray against war.  The nightmares took their toll on Chima, sudden sounds startled him and he winced whenever he heard gunfire on TV. Miriam was surprised when Emeka his younger brother called her to report Chima. Chima had visited their mother and then seized his game console because Emeka was playing violent games. Surprisingly, it was Chima who had bought the particular game for Emeka.  "I don't know why he is acting that way but it is strange" Emeka complained. "I think he is just stressed. I will talk to him" Miriam replied. Emeka was a mild-mannered young chap who was like the brother Miriam never had

Two Flames on a Candle (Episode 1)

The wristwatch on dresser lit up and beeped.   It was 1AM. Miriam sighed. The room was was washed with the soft glow from her laptop's screen. Everywhere was silent save for her continuous tapping on the keyboard and Chima's snoring. A few months back she would have worried about how she would fall asleep amidst such noise. Now with two months of marriage under her belt, she didn't bother. The noise seemed to be music to her ears. She had gotten used to it so quickly that it surprised her. Chima mumbled something from his sleep.  "Honey did you say something?" Miriam asked not expecting any answer.  "Please don't kill me" he replied. She turned in panic, she could see Chima stretched on the bed. His breathing was laboured but he snored nonetheless. He seemed to be in some sort of struggle with something. She could see him turning his face left and right in the dimness. "Please, please. Haba mana, ka yi hakuri" Chima pleaded. Fear gripped Mi

Two Flames on a Candle

I have promised a lot here and most times I hardly ever make good of my promises. Well, I promise to start and complete this series no matter how long it takes. It is something I have had in mind for a very long time, in fact it is complete in my mind. All I need to do is to spit it out, and that is the work. I feel lazy and lethargic and bored. I wish all of it could just jump out of my mind and splash on your screen. Sigh, nothing good comes easy. Since this is good, it will have to come through the not - so - lazy way. The best way to write is to start writing, here we go. The first episode of the series drops on Friday. Subsequent episodes will drop subsequently with some form of frequency. Special thanks to Jerry and Jessica who in some way encouraged me to get past my lazy self. Here we go... God epp us. Happy reading. .

There is a Reason

This is an excerpt from a project I'm working on. I don't know much about how it will turn out anyway all I know is I'm working on a long story and very different things are coming together to form a part of it. Enjoy We do everything for a reason We obey the law that guides everything There is a reason There is a reason for everything We tie a ram on the neck The goat is tied from the neck A monkey has a neck yet we tie it on the waist There is a reason The chicken doesn't know which path leads to the river Why do you ask her It is the duck we ask There is a reason

Lockdown Palaver

I just wanted to put it out that in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty, a deadly plague fell upon the face of the Earth. It was terrible and thousands of people died. The disease was popularly known as the Corona virus. it also was known by several names such as Covid19, Colonial Virus, Wuhan Virus (a bit racist though), Corona Various, Convict 19 and Covik 1-9. The governments in many cities imposed a lockdown. I for one, was locked down in Jos. The first phase of the lockdown was a boring experience. I spent it on Instagram and Twitter mostly checking out fine girls. It passed away uneventfully. We were given a few days break to stock up before the second phase began. I came out of this one looking like a cave man. Surprisingly, one little girl I know put her hands on my face and said "Hmm. You're becoming a man". My boyish charm had vanished and I was looking like some neanderthal. The second phase was a bit better, I spent it developing some content for my c

My Pain

I’ve put in my whole heart to make this work Giving out love getting none in return Never expecting it will take this long In the eye of the storm I know morning will come I feared my tears were sown in vain But then again these are growing pains

Shoot Your Shot

There is a lot of content out there that encourage you to "shoot your shot", "take that step", or "just do it". I am here to endorse and reinforce these concepts in a few words. A lot of barriers may pop up and things may look bleak but then give it a shot. If you don't think you'd get it (or her) then shoot your shot for confirmation. At least you get an E for Effort. I would be signing a big deal in the coming months. Considering that I thought I would be in the educational sector for longer, I almost did not give it a thought when I saw the adverts but then, here I am on the verge of a career switch. It did not take much effort, I just needed to shoot. Whatever it is you have in mind, you don't kill it with what ifs . Give it a shot. It is better to try and fail than not to try at all and then wallow in coulda, woulda, shouldas and regrets. All I am saying in other words is, just do it. Please prepare hard before shooting. Oppor