Stories and Poems

Archive | Stories and Poems RSS feed for this section

Features, Series, Stories and Poems October 31, 2019

The Dinner Date & The Battle Line: Episode 6 and 7 | The Witches of Auchi Series | Anthony Azekwoh

“We have two rules at the coven. The first is not to kill. Doreen says that life is a precious gift from the gods and should not be wasted. The second is this: break the first rule if necessary. Doreen says that while life is precious, there are decisions that must be made. Whether the […]

The Initiation: Episode Five | The Witches of Auchi Series | Anthony Azekwoh

“There are secrets in this world. Secrets you were never meant to know. Secrets that would bend your mind and twist your tongue. These were secrets that were there in the beginning, and will be ever present, in the end. And the end will come to her, in time.” — Baba Exodus. *** To become […]

An Open Secret | Mary-Brenda Akoda | Fiction

THE COMMOTION AND shrill rumble of tyres against the pavement were the only indicators that they had come. Quickly, I woke from a nightmare not too different from this one and willed myself out of bed, floating through our bungalow as silently and swiftly as I could. Our Swiss-made steel backdoor and front door were […]

Haute Couture | Aaishah Mayet | Poetry

There’s a piece that defies this collection: grotesque as an accessory, ill-fitting in form, gaping, lack-lustre, scratchy, suffocating. . . How does one coordinate Vulnerability in an ensemble, when it stumbles on a catwalk lacking all finesse? Masquerade, maybe? Dramatically sullen colour palettes? Billowing fabrics? To soften where it jars. Such armour […]

The Council of Five: Episode 4 | The Witches of Auchi Series | Anthony Azekwoh

At midnight, when a new moon appeared, when the night is darkest, the witches have their meeting. [12:00 am] Eve Akpabio had been sleeping. She didn’t dream anymore; she had killed all of her dreams a long time ago as a sacrifice to the gods. Her body was jolting with energy now, and she […]

The Queen of Dahomey: Episode Three | The Witches of Auchi Series | Anthony Azekwoh

There was an old woman with a ragged scar on her cheek who lived alone on the outskirts of Dahomey. The people all knew of her and would gawk and whisper when she passed them in the market square — the only time she entered the city — to buy fruits and vegetables. At night, they said, as if […]

The Frozen Heart: Episode Two | The Witches of Auchi Series | Anthony Azekwoh

“To you, oh Goddess, we give our dreams, To you, oh Goddess, we give our faith, To you, oh Goddess, we give our breath. Guide us, heal us, lend us your power. We are your daughters, do not fail us in our need.” Prayer to Oya. *** Sharon Uyai was meant to be happy. She […]

Son of Affliction: Episode One | The Witches of Auchi Series | Anthony Azekwoh

“I was there in the fire, the flames that kindled the world. There was darkness, there was emptiness, there was nothing; except me, that is.” — Doreen, Private Journals 1806. *** On 71 Adelabu Street, Surulere, is a two-storey house split in half. Above is an apartment that gathers dust, mould and cobwebs. Underneath is […]