January Contest

Where is Daddy? Adsizi quizzed! With a stern expression. His mom hadn't looked quite as happy for long. A year ago she was the saddest angel he knew painfully ignoring most questions he mildly threw. She first had to wipe…

5AM “Chinedu, wake up,” Mama said as she sprinkled cold water on me. I groaned and mumbled to myself, half asleep. It was time for our daily morning devotion. I really wanted to sleep, but Mama won't let me. While…

It was my first day of resumption with an excitement to study in high school that year. Unfortunately, 2hours later, my class teacher came asking of my name and with a smiling face I answered here I am, thinking she…

Benjamin’s love was a taking. A litany of ripped blouses, smeared lipstick and damaged zippers. Our hours were spent with ravenous kisses, hands kneading backs, libido pulsing like a living, breathing thing. On a Wednesday, as Benjamin thrust wildly, the…

The girl who lives nextdoor is very very unhappy. Her family does not love her. I know her parents communicate their hatred through angry, bitter, words. I know that when everyone leaves the house, her father does things to her…

‘’well, i wish i could see Max again’’ Jane stiffened, but still, she wrote it down on a notepad. Max was dead, a dog. ‘’what else dear?’’ Jane asked her daughter. ‘’I wish I had a hundred wishes’’ By now,…

As she untied her ìró, she thought, "can there be an escape?". She covered her sleeping seven-year-old son, felt her heart throb and hugged him like it was her last time. A song of dejection: she sang to sleep. In…

I saw him for the first time in the first year of my secondary school. I was ten and he was my third crush. I had one in grade three and another in grade four. Don't blame me, I love…

The instruction from the British Council office in Lagos was curt and simple; "Go to Asaba and meet Mr. Woke Ejora. They called Mr. Woke the GATE to social crusade in the East. He was the go-to for counsel, support…

Hastily, she rose from her deep slumber and took an attentive pose. My niece was awakened by the next door loudspeaker that played the national anthems. "Nobody is moved by them" i muttered earlier to myself. She urged me to…

Man's concept of time keeps him alive, meandering through the endless huddles of life. As soon as the sun starts peeping through the curtains of the clowds, he begins to dream again. He wishes for good and feels at the…

Coup-d’état for the night was set; interrupted power supply and intense heat, as I struggled to get sleep. In a little while, cry of a baby added to the discomfort. My ears soon stand in attention as a melodious Ibo…

My best friend Izunna died in a horrible way when I was fifteen. His body was found deep in the forest with bruises,cuts and deep slashes. The news of his desth brought chills to many people.My mother and every other…

I'm in the forensic lab. My eye peering into the microscope as I examine a knife. It's been almost four years since I was chosen to unmask the imperceptible criminal. I grin devilishly as I hold up the blood-stained knife…

Shirley greeted me as she passed by, holding Feyi's (her younger sister's) hand. I smiled and gave her two doughnuts-- one for her, one for Feyi. She extended one to Feyi and began eating the other. Few minutes later, I…

"Don't cross my legs", Aunty Wunmi barked at me. Growing up, I went through a series of Intellectual transition. Aunty Wunmi, my Primary one class teacher was pregnant. As a tradition in Yorubaland, a pregnant woman gives birth to a…

Kevin ran across the field as fast as he could to meet his sister. "Aza!" He shouted while trying to gain his breath."what?"she asked frustrated,it was the fifth time he had come to meet her that day."I did it", he…

The cold water on her feet felt refreshing, the sound of the waves calming her. She looked up at the sky, the sparkling stars and full moon soothing her soul. She raised her arms and the breeze picked, tugging harder…

LOVE- love is a beautiful thing. The spice of life, I realize now more than ever. “ Joke, where to?” Cynthia just walked in and sees me getting dressed “ I’m off to John’s”. I replied smiling. I decided that…

For a vacation, I landed in Ethiopia, Sofiya was the first living creature in the country who got my awareness. Immediately I set my eyes on the Angel, me being a playboy, I couldn't resist, I gave her few of…

"I am a lost child, in an unknown land, take me, use me, so that those who own me, would surely find me." This was the note found beside the pool of blood where Miss Hannah laid. She was rushed…

Every night I waited for him to appear, he usually arrived around 11pm ,his clothes gave off the usual smell of "burukutu" and his hairy belly, sweaty and sticky. But tonight, he smelt like firewood and the poorly covered sewage…

Ukeme hurriedly dropped his bag and made his way to the bathroom at an amazing pace, he was going to engage in his most treasured ritual "gaza gaza" he called it. Like a Viking on a raid, he searched every…

She watched the fire, consumed in thought. Dancing flames shot upwards and downwards...mocking her. Unsettling, trapped in the state of indecision. Her life in brevity. Tolu, Emeka and Ayo. All were handsome and godly, except Ayo and Tolu respectively. Emeka…

She held the bloodied handkerchief in her right hand, looking over her uncle's body as it jerked noisily all over the parlor floor. she didn't want it to be a quick death, she wanted to savor every single moment and…

At exactly eleven pm, there was a harsh impact on the door. It was Mr Bassey just as I perceived, keeping up with his usual convention just few hours after his wife had retired for the night. I saluted him…

She sat close to the window, morose, watching the dancing dust particles illuminated by the ray of daylight coming in. The door creaked and she looked up, Pastor Yemi had finally arrived, she looked over to the other side of…

It was eight pm when the pains started. By nine, Derin was in terrible pain. He stumbled through the door of his room, headed to the bar where the hefty maid with the pinched face was. He couldn’t make it.…

Benjy loved Atse, in that foolish drunk way they sang about in songs. For a long time, he knew that love would kill him. There could only be gloom at the end of this love, too good to be true.…

And I was forced to write a real application letter for the first time when the ASUU strike struck. Bolaji assured me I was going to be accepted, but it was an entirely different story after two weeks when I…

I looked into his hazel eyes, his smile bright like the morning sun, so cute. His dark curly hair made me fall in love with him over again. I wanted him to be in my Arms all day,Seven days a…

The last time I went home, my father said to his friends and foes, "...can't your sons behold my son as an exemplar. He will soon graduate with a first class degree in Business Administration, at OAU for that matter."…

She was nervous and excited as she paid the uber and made her way towards the restaurant. None of the day's hardships showed on her face as she smiled graciously at the headwaiter who led her to their reserved table.…

Bright lights , laughter and music constantly celebrated His beloved majesty. His praise pulsated through every sense of the human body. Slowly she moved towards the gilded gates, no-one noticed or cared. She slundered in with her family of emotions.…

'Wolé!' The conductor bellows. People 'drop' and enter buses, traders hawk wares. A soldier gets into the front seat as we wait for the bus to fill. 'Nah my person be that o!' A policeman bosses the conductor. 'Oga, one…

Intense heat throbbed me as I woke, energy indescribable pulsated my being. Then an old kind voice behind me said, "Morning!" The sun's voice was soothing. Looking down, being so close yet so far, tears rolled down my cheeks. A…

Waking up this morning filled me with the same leftover dread from yesterday, I lift my tired self off the mat and make my way to the window; I have no battery life on my device so I’ll have to…

Nothing's in the kitchen; everything sweet is out of reach & sight, and all things delicious cost more than I can afford, but smelling my neighbor`s food will not fill my own stomach only my nostrils. Day old rice has…

She was in pains and struggled to reach the phone to call her husband. The baby was coming and she had to get to the hospital. The doctor said she has to undergo a Caesarean section. They prepared her for…

My African woman, black and gorgeous in nature, in her lies true beauty. She walks with so much royalty and grace. She is bold and mighty, courageous and brave. Hunters would go deep into the seven forests and cross the…

"Nna, nye m the list. I will show it to nna anyi ukwu myself", Mama said that night. It was after two weeks Mama came to my shop for the first time since Papa suffered stroke. As her fingers stroked…

A hall , unreal in its ambience, one literally booming with multitude of feet thundering down on hard marble, caused by a barely supernatural tune,one as old as time itself. Music. Hundreds, thousands even jumping and shouting, screaming and smiling,…

The air was thick with tension. The village dibia sat in the middle of the compound reciting incantations over a calabash of water. Someone had stolen Father's valuable staff and the culprit was unknown so we were all going to…

Two hours after my aunt had battered my body with her koboko, I noticed the visible marks of the koboko on my body, I couldn’t stifle the tears that came out of my eyes, as I ran my hands through…

I have always found beauty in things of the most grotesque nature; a strange and unconventional beauty, but perfect nonetheless. There is something about mangled or distorted objects that appeals to a dark, hidden abyss in my mind. This is…

"Take off your glasses!" A blind man usually sat at a corner, praying for passersby and begging them for spare change. In front of him today, was an angry-ooking man dressed in an ill-fitting suit, holding a bible. "Take them…

Papa never ceased to remind me that I had a brother. A brother who was more caring, more loving, more sensible, and more loved than I ever could be. I always wished that I was my brother. I remember very…

I watched as they trooped the streets, sweat pouring down their bodies, placards being waved in the air like the national flag. They were huddled together, eyes red in melancholic defiance, screaming: “Aluta continua, victoria ascerta”. Boom! One man down!…

Some call it attack, others say it's what comes with being sick.... Who knows?🤷‍♀🤷‍♀ I had just closed my eyes to sleep, then it all happened, my spirit left wandering into the world of the unknown, with scary images all…