₦airaland Forum

GRACE AND MERCY




The man looked around. The thick air was heavy.
The air was drenched with the stench of sickness:
so many sick people in one place. He felt heavy
too. He looked down at himself, and shook his
head. He had become so used to this habit that it
had become some sort of conditioned reflex — to
look at himself and shake his head.


He looked at himself again, and let out a wistful
sigh. He thought about how life must have been
for him, thirty eight years ago, before he got sick
— vibrant, energetic, brimming with confidence…
Now he was stuck here, by the sheep market,
doomed to have the pool as his eternal neighbour.
He had sat here for thirty eight years, watching
days fade into nights, and nights into days, and the
cycle continued.


He had lost all his strength when he became sick.
Hope seemed to have ebbed away. He was, in
truth, a pitiable sight to espy.


Everyday he sat here; there was not much to do
except sit. Sit and watch, and wait; wait for the
pool to be moved.


He looked around again at the familiar faces, faces
of the same people he saw everyday, waiting
anxiously, patiently, expectantly, for when the angel
would come around, to trouble the water.


He lay back on his mat in listless resignation. He
probably would never be well again, for each time
he tried to get up to get into the pool, his legs
would fail. He would need help to get into the
pool. And for a little less than four decades, help
was not forthcoming.


He looked around yet again, at the impotent folk
scattered around the pool, at the pool itself, and at
the five porches…



Bethesda!



He thought about the frenzy that always followed
each time the angel troubled the water; the great
multitude of impotent people, struggling to get in
the water — pushing, shoving, upending one
another, in a bid to get in there first. About the
frustrated sighs and expressions of grimace, of
those who could not make it, thereafter.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


He looked up as he saw a stranger walk in. He had
never seen this man before. The man looked
ordinary — like anyone else, like a normal person.


The stranger was walking towards him. He
suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline into his veins, of
hope. Could help be finally approaching, at long
last? Perhaps, he would beg the stranger to stick
around and help him into the water when next the
angel came.


The man kept coming, and with each step closer,
the sick man’s heart thumped violently with
excitement, with new found hope, with new found
faith…

“Wilt thou be made whole?” The man asked him.


For a moment, he was confused. He probably
must have thought the man’s question risible. He,
however dismissed all negative thoughts as soon
as they came. He was in no position to play judge.



“Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to
put me into the pool: but while I am coming,
another stepped down before me.” He made sure
his reply was polite. He wasn’t going to mess this
up.


His heart kept thumping, he could almost hear the
sound of the blood gushing through his veins.
Unknown to him, it was He, who sent the angel,
who made the water, that had come by Himself.
What would follow was totally unexpected.


“Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” The stranger
said, impeccably calm.


The sick man suddenly felt strange. Was it what
this strange man just said, or was it strength that
just rushed into his body? His feet felt brawny. His
breathing rate increased rapidly in anticipation. His
upper body felt firm. He had not felt this way for a
long time. Was he feeling things? Was he hearing
things? He wanted to ask the stranger to repeat
himself, just to be sure he heard correctly.
Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. The words kept
ringing in his ears.


He looked down at himself once more. There was
only one way to find out. He rolled out of his mat,
bracing himself, taking a deep breath…



He walked.


This is an adaptation from a popular Bible story
found in John 5 : 1-9

EMa binu oh. I'm told this is how it's done here
oh. say if you nor do am like this, people no
go see your work.
LOL, abeg m'una no vex, read the story above.
I'd like to get your thoughts, criticism, and
corrections. Err, and I hope to write more, when I
get chance
I invite :
Chuksyd1
ogwee,
temiz70
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ESIXLOVE
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Cuddlemii
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No blame me oh :/ I need traffic

Good day folks!

First story
Tagged under: Crime, action, Violence, Love, loyalty, betrayal.


Copyright 2015
Amadieabasi Udofa

All rights reserved.


LAST REQUESTS

C.J was a man in a difficult situation. He had chose this life, and a large chunk of it had been spent on the run. Ever since that fateful day that he
assasinated Uncle Slim, founder of the now defunct
Transcorp International, he had been running and hiding from Law enforcement, gangs, drug barons, company executives, et cetera. He had built a
reputation as the nations’s deadliest freelance hitman. He had been arrested on several
occassions on counts of murder, treason, intellectual and property theft, robbery, and
many other crimes. Each time, however, evidence
implicating him would get missing and he would be acquitted of all charges on the grounds of lack
of evidence.

* * * * * * *


CJ got off the bus at Niniola Junction, briefcase in hand. The briefcase contained a Beretta M9, a silencer, and a lot of ammo. He walked briskly past
unsuspecting pedestrians, towards the headquaters of Organon Holdings.


Nenye, his girlfriend for two years had expressed
reservations about this mission. She told him she had bad feelings. There was too much at stake. He promised her that this would be his last hit. The contractors had already paid him sixty percent upfront. It should be a walk in the park.

The mission was pretty straightforward. Get in, ice the
scumbags, and get out, leaving no trace. When this was finally over,he would travel out with Nenye, to Miami, to a new life, to enjoy the white sand
and blue beaches. They would live happy ever after.


But something felt wrong.


“I don’t want you to go.” Nenye pleaded, with teary eyes.

“I have to. Just this once babe. We’ll be stinking rich after this.” He paused. “We’ll live happily forever, like in Disney."


* * * * * * *


He remembered the conversation now. He admired Nenye’s charisma, her courage, her assertiveness. These attributes drew him to her. He’d first met her
in an alley, at night, after she had told off a middle aged man who had tried to harass her sexually. Tough girl huh? He’d always had a thing for
hard girls. He admired this one too. They immediately clicked, and had been together ever
since.


He was standing just outside the automated doors of the main building. The hit would be easy, provided everything went according to his gameplan. He
had attached a special anti-metal detecting device to his briefcase. He would
disguise himself as Jordan Semenya, the Ghanaian broker who had a scheduled appointment
with the CEO of this firm,
fifteen minutes later. Poor guy, the innocent dude was going to be the fall guy, but hey, life’s
unfair.

He took a deep breath.


This is for you Nenye.


He took off his Louis Vuitton sunglasses and walked into the building. Once inside, he walked
to the receptionist and handed over his fake ID card.


“Jordan Semenya. I’m here to see
the boss.” He was nervous, but his voice was calm. He
was a pro.


The receptionist glanced at her appointment schedule.


“You’re fourteen minutes early.”


“Do you people have anything
against punctuality in this
firm?”


“No sir, a moment please.” She picked up the phone.


“Mr Semenya to see you sir.” She spoke into the receiver.

Pause.


“O.K. he’s coming right up. ”She said and hung up.
“That way sir. 21st floor” She pointed towards an elevator in the left side of the lobby.


CJ nodded and headed in. Three
minutes later, he was walking into the CEO’s office on the 21st floor of the
Organon building.


“You’re not Semenya.” Said the man
behind the table,
frowning. He had a little red piece of cloth tied round the
little finger of his left hand as did all high ranking members of Southside Hawks gang. The man had several drooping folds of fat around his large neck.
CJ’s eyebrows furrowed.


So the asshole was a hawk!


“Mr Semenya sent me.”



Fat Neck looked confused.” Okay where’s my money?” He said with a voice that indicated he was the boss here.


“In my briefcase.”


“Open it up. Lemme see.”


The other man shifted in his seat as CJ approached the table, as though he could perceive
what was about to happen. Quick as flash, CJ dug the gun out of the briefcase
and shot the man in in in the forehead.


“Wh… Wh… Who tha Bleep are you?” Fat neck squealed, horrified. His eyes round as saucers. “How tha Bleep did you get that in here?!”


“You shouldn’t talk to visitors like that.” CJ was still calm. He was used to this.


“What the Bleep are you talking about?!” Fat neck was
sweating now. He stood up.


“Little Tiger wants you dead.”


“Who tha Bleep do you think you
are? you goddanm
sonovabitch!”


“You can google that in hell.” CJ sneered an squeezed the trigger, shooting him in the chest.
Disbelief spread across Fat neck’s face as he doubled over and fell.


Good job CJ. Good job.


No, wait a minute! Something was wrong. This was all too easy.


CJ wiped his gun and started to pick up the shell casings.
He had a five minute window to get the hell out of here
before the real Mr Semenya arrived…


He froze when he heard movement
behind him.


“Drop the gun and turn around
slowly.” CJ obeyed.


“Bloody hell!” He stiffened in terror
as he faced the intruder.
He had been in such situations countless times, staring into the barrel of a gun pointed at him.
This time, though, it was
different. He clenched his teeth in.disbelief as his mind wandered back and forth over a million things.


CJ started to speak but the words wouldn’t form. This was impossible. How could this be? He
stared at the red strip of
cloth wound around her left little finger as she held the gun. It was a Colt Python .357 Magnum.
For two whole years, he had missed it. For two years, he had been living with a lie!


He stiffened as Nenye raised the gun to his forehead with her two hands and clicked the hammer of the pistol into place, moving into shooter’s stance, legs apart.


“You should not have come here.”

I am amazed at the class that NL literature peeps display here. Truth be told. I've had a lovely time.

I want to add my own contribution to moving Literature Section to the permanent site.

I will be posting Short stories at intervals. I will appreciate feedback : Comments, constructive criticism, and whatnot, as these will make me get better.

Come walk with me.

Courtesy of MyThoughtsToScreenBlog



I have tried to refrain from
commenting on the issue of people (especially
men) and infidelity in relationships/marriage simply
because I feel the issue has been really
overemphasized over time. I feel the question
“WHY DO MEN CHEAT?” is now somewhat similar
to the question “WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS
THE ROAD? ” (when I was being asked in nursery
and primary school). But in my heart and soul I
felt this was worth breaking my restraints for.
I decided to turn on the car stereo on my way
home from work a few days back and there was
this “relationship” show on. Listeners with
relationship issues to share or seek solutions to
called in or sent messages.


The first call I listened to was from a married man,
he said he had been married for about four years
and he has been cheating on his wife since the
first year of their marriage and that he’s aware its
wrong (oh yes he actually called to report himself).
He went on to say that it wasn’t technically his
fault. Apparently in the first year of their marriage,
the girl (who happens to be their neighbour) came
on to him (yes, she did know he was married; I
shall address this other issue some other time)
and he couldn’t resist the temptation. He
concluded by saying that his wife knew about it
and she knows “THAT’S HOW MEN ARE” and she
has been hoping he’ll CHANGE and as such she
hasn’t taken any DRASTIC measures.


The second caller was a lady who I termed to be
quite very stupid (forgive my language). According
to her, after dating the guy for about four years, he
asked her to get pregnant for him before he could
marry her, out of love stupidity she agreed. After
she got pregnant he left her for someone else, and
she didn’t hear from him again. She had the child
and on the child’s second birthday, he came back
begging. My question is “ where he go since?”
After 2years and 8 or 9months She concluded
by saying she thinks he has CHANGED and as
such she’s considering taking him back.
The third call was from a woman who said she had
been married for 35years (since 1979) and her
husband had been promiscuous one time or the
other but she had always looked the other way
because she knows “MEN ARE BOUND TO CHEAT”.
But then he started dating their daughter’s friend,
she then had to confront him, but he still didn’t
stop.


I listened in till the end of the show and all
through, only one guy called in to share a situation
with his ex girlfriend. It’s either men weren’t
interested in pouring out their issues on air or
women aren’t cheating on their men (which is an
absolute lie by the way, so I’m picking the first
option). The movement and awareness against
men cheating has gained even more voice than the
fight against HIV/AIDS and EVD combined and
yet……


After a little pondering, I coined a conclusion in my
head; MEN won’t change or have refused to
change because of WOMEN. Yes WOMEN. In recent
times, anywhere infidelity on the part of men is
mentioned, you hear women go “ Na so them be ”
or “ Men are meant to cheat” or “it’s in their DNA”
or “If your man doesn’t cheat, then he’s not a
man” . The same women will still come and be
crying up and down and acting all suicidal when
they catch their men in the act; what are the tears
for biko


Women have succeeded in making men some sort
of untouchable lot that should get away with
anything when it comes to infidelity (Go out there
and cheat kinda situation). Biko where is it stated
in your bible that men are meant to cheat? (sha
don’t quote old testament for me except you are in
2014 BC) or has a gene that codes for infidelity
been discovered Why have we come to accept
men as cheats?


The fact that we have come to the “All men should
be cheats” conclusion has over time fueled their
tendency to become cheats and as such almost
ruined any chances of infidelity phasing out of
relationships/marriages and having an infidelity
free generation . We need an ideology shift!!!!!

Shaxee:
all you've to do is post anything you like on their rightful sections on NL

I know this already. I was only confused about the splitting of Lit section into subsections.

Uh, so, if I want to post something, how do I go about it, as regards sections.