Tag: Fiction
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The Outcast (Page 22)
There was a digital clock in the bus. It told the time in red fonts. 1:15 Am. I had set off on this journey high on excitement. Now my tank was low. The journey to Accra was becoming longer than a journey to an illusion. “We are at Suhum….No….yes…say, fifteen to thirty minutes time we…
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The Outcast (Page 21)
As our bus left Pwalugu, the arid, scotchy north was growing dimmer in the driver’s mirror. We raced through stretches of desolated grasslands, meeting fewer and fewer cars, tractors and donkeys. Slowly, we were fading out of wastelands, the whirring of our bus tyres timing our progress. Occasionally, we bumped into police checkpoints. Sometimes, it…
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Sophie
Her job drives her nuts! She tries to keep calm, tries to act normal, tries to blend in with the others, but the cracks in the pretense are too visible. No wonder those who worked there for over thirty years were tight friends with alcohol. At night, it’s hard to stay awake at work. And…
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The Outcast (Page 20)
I sat by the window. Drawing the curtains slightly, I caught the final glimpses of our town as the bus snaked around the station before landing on the highway. The STC station was a collection of nim trees with a shed under which tickets were sold, where passengers and visitors could sit. Behind the shed…
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The Outcast (Page 19)
Our cousin Pomaa lived with us. Mother felt Pomaa had grown too big to be kneaded into her perfect model of a good girl. So, she sent her away. We were going to the city and a lot of old things and old ways had to be left behind. Unknown to us, Pomaa did not…
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The Outcast (Page 18)
Whispers. I awoke. Sitting up, I looked around. The windows were open, cold winds ruffling the curtains. The lights were still on. Can’t remember when we dozed off. I rose to turn off the lights, and in the act caught a glimpse of the clock. 12:15am. The whispering must have been in my dreams. Or…
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Mission Impossible
Sarah and Cliff. They’d only been apart for a week and Cliff already had a new woman hanging off his arm. The news was hard to swallow, but it came from a reliable gossip. Cliff must be out of his mind! We set off to his house to give him a piece of our mind.…
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Pages flipping
An album, pages flipping as its owner narrated the stories. Of how they met, when he proposed, how many times she turned him down even though she liked him, the games and finally the trophy, which is her ring she got for winning. “What about you, Paul”?“Me? ” I asked, stunned.” Yes! “” Tell us…
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The Outcast (Page 17)
Whatever invisible hand that was behind the mysterious incidents had an audacious motive: crush the head, render the rest of the body powerless. Our father was the breadwinner of the family. Mother did odd jobs to support, but the income was fickle. I and my siblings were still young, and even most of the extended…
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The Outcast (Page 16)
We had a new headmaster, a retired district education officer. It seemed the most important lesson he’d learnt during his active years of service was that pupils ought to know hymns. “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild!…” he intoned. He sang it like it meant so much to him. I and my friend Karim would look…
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The Outcast (Page 15)
One day, I was in class seated beside the window, reading a book, when suddenly someone appeared behind the window. “Patrick! Patrick !” a voice whispered, slipping a little paper into my hand as I turned. It was a boy. Before I could open the paper to read its contents, he vanished. A love letter.…
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Renewable marriage contract ( Published at The Writers Club)
I am pleased to announce the publication of my fictional piece “Renewable marriage contract” by The Writers Club. I am deeply grateful to the Editor and the team at The Writers Club for showsasing my work. Here is the link to the story : https://greythoughts.info/clubpieces/renewal-marriage-contract
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The Outcast (Page 14)
School resumed today. We resumed to dusty classrooms clogged with cobwebs. To old friends who couldn’t wait to share their Christmas experiences. To newcomers around whom we had to act civilised till we were comfortable enough to display our savage side. There were petty quarrels here and there about who owned what desk. But Master…
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The Outcast (Page 13)
New year morning was quiet. Many were tired. School would resume in a few days time but already, I had heard a lot of rumors. That the headmistress had a heated argument with the school proprietor and was sacked. That Willie’s parents had been transferred to the capital Accra, hence he wouldn’t be joining us…
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The Outcast ( Page 12 )
Pastor Elvis realized that most of the congregation struggled to stay awake. A lot had gone into preparing a special sermon for the last night of the year. Prayer. Fasting. Waiting on the Lord. And it hurt to see people snoring and not paying attention after such efforts. So, in the middle of his preaching,…
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The Outcast ( Page 11 )
People talked about the current year as if it were some comet, slowly transporting us into a new year, a new planet where the sun’s rays switched from yellow to green, where perhaps poverty, sicknesses, and death were no more. A new year comes, and same old faces, same neighborhood, same life, same misery. And…
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The Outcast ( Page 10 )
Christmas day. The fresh breeze and the bright blue morning light of the tropics looked like a simulation of a fairy world. We woke up to fireworks, amidst “Feliz Navidad” and “Jingle bells” from different corners of our neighborhood. Our first task in the morning as kids was to sweep the rooms and our compound.…
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The Outcast ( Page 9 )
Christmas seasons were memorable times. There were a number of reasons why. Certain animation movies were only shown around Christmas time, and they were super exciting to watch. There were special family movies around the same time. I remember one Sunday we returned from Sunday school to meet an unusual film on Ghana Television. It…
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The Outcast ( Page 8 )
The day all pupils looked forward to after exams was the vacation, the last day of school popularly known as “Our Day”. When exams was over and teachers were busy marking and recording exam scripts, we used papers to design all kinds of objects to decorate our classroom. The good artists in class drew scenes…
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The Outcast ( Page 7 )
A few weeks after my election as class prefect, we had exams. End of term examination. All desks were spaced out. No copying. And we were to take our bags outside the class. Our teacher invigilated. Before every paper, he would write the subject and the duration of the paper on the board. In the…
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The Outcast ( Page 6)
The noisemakers in the class wanted someone lenient, forgiving and easy to persuade as the leader of the class. Their long awaited opportunity finally came one morning during ‘silence hour’, when the headmistress burst into our class. The class was alive with mischief, chaos and noise. Surely we were going to be punished. Severely. Make…
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The Outcast ( Page 5)
Tuesday morning. Time for school. After staying at home for some days, my fees were finally paid. My siblings were lucky, theirs had been paid before those who owed fees were dismissed from school. Now, a certain picture was taking shape in my mind. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it…
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The Outcast ( Page 4 )
Our hair was a little over two months, and even lice that had lived in the bushy hair for so long were growing weary of getting lost every now and then in the thickening thicket they once called home. We went to knock on the door of our parents’ room. Without answering, they knew it…
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Enigma
Her attitude towards me and the gift she gave me. An enigma. I was leaving the country. A rather embarrassing exit. Things hadn’t work out like I hoped. But life goes on. As I stood at the bus station, about leaving in a few minutes, I hugged her, said a few final words and got…
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The Outcast ( Page 3)
I was finally home. Without changing my uniform, I went straight to the TV. Thankfully, my parents were out. Serving myself a steamy plate of jollof rice and a glass of chilled Zonkom, a local drink mother had made the previous day, I sat down to enjoy my meal and the nollywood thriller on Metro…
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The Outcast ( Page 2 )
Teaching usually started after 8am, right after morning assembly. And the hours before classes started, they were called “silence hour”. During this period, pupils who were present at school were numbered. The teachers on duty for the week would then storm classroom after classroom in the course of the day, fishing out late comers and…
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A moving song
My next-door neighbor. She was humming. A moving song. Never heard her sing. I lay on my bed listening, wondering what trouble kept her awake this late night, singing to herself. Suddenly, something drummed against my roof. Rain! Without warning? I rushed out to take clothes off the line and in the process, bumped into…
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One starless night
Dark melodies, playing over and over all night from a nearby cottage. Anna sat in their little farmhouse, attention fixed on Grandpa recounting dreadful tales best left untold, and hoping that evil spirits will catch a whiff of the incense mother was burning and be warded off. “For years she had no news of her…
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Fertile connections ?
To passers-by, this was luggage. To Awal, it was his destiny wrapped in a box, carried on his shoulder. What he once called homeland is now a stretch of empty hopes he’s given up chasing. Initially, when the idea of abandoning his shop first occured to him, he thought it was his impatience speaking to…
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On the airwaves
It’s Earl Nightingale on the airwaves and his talks of strange secrets.As I listen, my mind wonder off. It’s been three years now since I left home for greener pastures. The pasture here is no greener than that of home. Damn! And I haven’t saved. Only once have I sent money home. Shame on me…
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Date
It was weird. The food, the music and her attire that evening. What was on her mind? There was something odd about her movements as she served the food. The food tasted nice. She didn’t use most of the spices on the market. Chemicals. And chemicals have become the bulk of what we eat these…
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She isn’t picking up
She isn’t picking up. Just like yesterday. Everything seems normal till it’s late night. That’s when it all starts. Is she seeing someone? He sighs. He shouldn’t be the only one calling and texting all the time. Yesterday she said her phone’s battery was empty. That was why when his call went through for a…
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Flash
Rain. Lightening. A glimpse of his foot in an old shoe trekking a familiar road. Reminds him of the old oversized overalls he wore, and his affinity to antiquity which the rain seemed determined to wash away. Flash of lightning. Reveals an approaching shadow that arrives and greets. No responds. This was no time for…
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Have you heard?
A boy of Teeth so big as if with secrets That two lips could not keep together Teeth so long They made the day of all kids that met them You can imagine the relief of the little boy When Babylon finally fell When Mother Nature fired those clowns Oh what joy! Those incisors have…
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Odessa – Chapter 3: Fire on the mountain
As the setting sun faded in the sky, it dissolved its yellowish colour and sprayed it into the faces of the arrogant mountains that stood up to it. On a small, wooden, black and white tv, the president addressed the nation. The president wasn’t angry. He only struggled to keep his voice down when he…
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Odessa -Chapter 2: Foreigner
The motorbike slipped and nearly spat him into the mud. He succeeded in escaping an embarrassing fall, smiling and scanning around to see if anyone noticed. His eyes met those of no one. He hoped to find an observer with whom to laugh at his awkwardness. Now, he found none and was only smiling to…
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Odessa – Chapter 1 : Cold war ( Continuation )
A new fetish priest was in town. As his way of announcing himself, he built his shrine on a controversial piece of land, a site along the beach on which the president sent soldiers to supervise the demolition of illegal structures, to pave way for the expansion of a road network linking China Town and…
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Odessa – Chapter 1: Cold war
The prophet was arriving soon. The living room was already full of family members. And friends. A few church members were standing outside. And Djhaké had gone to get some extra chairs. Dabali was in the corridor, peering through a cut in the window at the guests in the living room. He had no gift…
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The Widow of No.9 Street Chapter 1 : Close Encounter
There was silence after she spoke. I noticed her eyes were fixed on the table before her and she would not lift them to look at me. Her breathing was slow and hard, beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She waited for my reply. I was blank. What should I say? My mind replayed…
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18XX – Part 9 ( Final Chapter)
It is hard to believe Sharon is dead. If her rose flowers haven’t wilted yet, and continue to get mysteriously watered at night, she’s sending a message to someone. And the more I think about the narratives circulating her disappearance, the more mysterious I find that former classmate of ours. The last time I saw…
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18XX – Part 8
I am strolling through the walls of my former school, Martin Fisher Memorial. It’s been eight years now since I left. The school compound looks deserted and old and the classrooms and assembly grounds that used to look very big in my eyes now look very small. I am witnessing a distant present that seems…
Diary of a Wanderer 