Author Archives: Joe Aito
Real Threat
I decided yesterday’s death threat was a prank.
Got home late from work today and there’s a note on the table.
“I
Am a rose
Right, left, center
Behind and in front
You read the first words”
I read the first words: I. AM. RIGHT. BEHIND. YOU.
Immediately, the lights go out…
- Joe Aito
IN THE SHADOW OF DARKNESS //BY IGBOKWE ‘THE YAKADUDE’ EBUKA
I enjoy my smoke best while taking a walk around campus in the night breeze. My route takes me from the hostel to the old reservoir. Cold air plus vigorous walk plus nicotine hit makes your nerves really crackle.
.
The base transceiver station between the Chapel of Redemption and the old reservoir is floodlit so I edge as far away from it as I could. The light kills my buzz somewhat. I hum a tune between drags.
.
One cigarette down. As I try to light another, I hear a sob from behind me, in the darkness behind the tower that stood beside the reservoir. A girl’s sob. It sounds totally forlorn.
. Continue reading
Mud on the Rugs // By John Afere
I got married the day after I turned 30.
My husband, Hannu was 18 at the time.
It’s not that much of a big deal, the age difference. I thought it would be, but it wasn’t. He loved me and I adored him. To us, that was all that mattered.
My parents had money and when they passed on, I inherited everything.
Hannu was very comfortable. I made sure of that. He had a fleetof cars- 3 vintage BMWs, a couple of Ferraris and a Porsche. We owned a private jet, I got him a Yatch too, but he never really cared about all that stuff.
When I’d complain that he spent too Continue reading
The Sojourner.
Roger was tired. He’d answered many names and lived in many times. When at first he was spelled to live forever, he’d been joyful but he hadn’t thought forever could be so long.
From city to city he rode, his purpose clear as day but not even the deadliest of soldiers could give him what he desperately wanted.
On and on, he sojourned until he came by an old city where the legend of Lilith held sway. It was of this Lilith mothers said to their sons: “For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.”
At the forbidden end of the town where words were Continue reading
Fresh Fish
The sun scorches as I plow along the outskirts of Igando market. Lean, I find it easy manoeuvring slow-paced Continue reading
ALPHA-BUT
I used to think of words. I used to think of how invaluable they were in expressing emotions like pain, joy, sadness, boredom, you know, usually the bad stuff. I used to have an unparalleled faith in my uncanny ability to wield the craft the way I saw fit.
But now, words have left me out to dry, Continue reading
Do You See Things?
My name is Adesina Omolade Collins and I have the sight.
The first time it happened, I was about nine years old. My parents were vegans so I hadn’t yet tried meat or even fish.I remember that day clearly. I was nervous, so I closed my eyes as I took that first bit into nama.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t myself. I was in a different pla Continue reading
IT
****** I’m standing in front of the mirror. I see my reflection. It’s tossing on the bed. The lights go out and my window slams shut. I already closed that window a minute ago. ‘In Jesus name!!!’ I scream in fear. And then for the first time I hear it talk: ‘Amen’. ********
THE BIRTHING
The first thing Sharon Nwosu noticed about the mad woman, apart from her immediately apparent scraggly appearance, was her eyes. Narrow, beady and squeezed into their sockets underneath heavy lids and sparse lashes, they bore at once an intensity that gave her gaunt face a crazed mien, and an eerie intelligence that unnerved Sharon.
Another thing that unnerved Sharon was the grip the mad woman had Continue reading
Showdown In Hades
We all watched.
Waiting….
Hoping…
Anticipating…
And then we saw him emerge from the deep darkness. My eyes widened with surprise. I could hear the sound of his name echo thunderously all around. I went down on my knees and so did every other person watching.
He was closer to us now but the brightness he radiated still contrasted strongly with the very deep darkness. I joined the others in saying his name. Continue reading
SINNER
“Padre, I have sinned.”
The aging Priest, in his younger days, would have been very eager to hear the repenting sinner spill forth his sins and he would have administered the blessing of forgiveness on him/her. Decades of listening to hundreds of men and women coming to confess their sins to God through him had however taught him a few things.
One, man will never freely confess his sins to a fellow man – pr Continue reading
THE ECLIPSE: A Call For Entries
HOW THE FLASH COMPETITION (THE ECLIPSE) IS SCHEDULED TO RUN.
The Flash:Eclipse( FEC) is an online- Facebook based- literary contest that is billed to run for approximately 16 days, pitching 16 Nigerian writers between the ages of 16 and 37 again Continue reading
DeJaVu
Sarah McCain placed her hand on the wooden door to the dark room, it creaked open. A feeling of apprehension overwhelmed her as she made her way into it. Something was amiss
She had expected her family to come pick her up, upon her arrival from Barcelona, but no-one had showed up. Their phones weren’t going through either. The door to the house b Continue reading
CAIN’S OFFERING
Do you ever get the overwhelming urge to do something stupid or utterly unnecessary, like say wash your hands with antibacterial gel for the tenth time in a row or scratch and pinch at your skin where there is no itch; the urge so strong you’re certain you might lose your mind if you don’t indulge, if yo Continue reading
the dark notes 