₦airaland Forum

hope I'm not too late? Thank you dear

Gloryejims:
Mr Alfred, don't come and jump into conclusions ohhhh.... Ask that ur sis what she's up to..
I strongly believe that Vanessa is Tarila.... Let the drama unfold ohhhhh
Thumbs up dear
Read ur other books and I knew I mustn't miss this one
Cbella
Pearl05
Cyber5
Rachealfst
Tiffanyj
Wiszolsy
Ikombe
Gracile
All others should come and enjoy there's enough space in the cinema
I'm sha sitting in front with my popcorn and zobo

Ok *runs to go and check for new writers*

Hi Evajael, I've missed you!

FIRE & ROCKS II
The hall or glorified hut rather was big and poorly lit, I could barely make the faces of the people seated by the large rectangular table. All eyes seemed to be on me as I walked in. but what repulsed me the most was the putrid stench emanating from God knows where. It was a mixture of smelly feet , concentrated sweats and some weird weed or strange tobacco.

“Come take a seat” a familiar voice called. I stood unmoving “ No thank you” was all I could manage to utter, trying my best to peel off disgust from my voice.

When the waited for an explanation. I replied with, “ I think I’ll prefer the public diner”

I was surprised when he didn’t object but instead said “Let the lady do as she pleases” then the guards immediately led me out.
It was so noisy and busy in here. Unlike in the previous hall, the hall was large with dirty walls. The people scrambled all over the centre were five big pots stood, with about ten plump women serving the dishes. The children leaned forward each with a plate, pushing one another. As soon as the liquid-like meal dropped into the iron bowls they ran off and went to squat or sit on the floor while the slurped over.

I scanned around the busy hall and as expected, the guards stood at every corner, stiff-jawed like statues, though they held whips, they didn’t look like they wanted to use it. I turned to see a lady coming towards me with an iron bowl in her hands. She wasn’t smiling. No one had smiled to me afterall. They either looked too frightened or too arrogant to smile. She extended the bowl to me bowing her head. Thank you I said not patient enough to see what the food looked like. I tried to tell her it’s too much and that she should reduce. She was gone before I could lift my head. I dipped a finger into the strange broth and took a taste. It tasted like nothing I’ve had before.

I turned to see a kid looking fondly at me, or rather at the bowl in my hands. I motioned for him to come. I could see he was scared. So I went to him and insisted he took it. After much hesitation and looking around, he reluctantly took it and began to slurp it. I enjoyed how he gulped it all in before belching loudly and we both laughed.
Back at the dispensary, I was given a room in which I was to live in all through my period there. It was a single room, tight and poorly ventilated with an adjoining restroom which served as both a bathroom and a toilet. The whole house would hardly contain two people at a time. But I cared nonetheless, I had no plans whatsoever to spend another day. I took a table cloth from the small table and began wiping off dust from my backpack and shoes using an oil lantern as my only source of light. I managed to shower with the stinging cold and felt a little better by the time I hit the bed. Ignoring my growling stomach I tried to shut my mind like my eyes to sleep, but sleep betrayed me. Then I heard a sound from above my head, it definitely came from the window. I waited and rightly, I heard it again. This time, there was no mistaken, someone was there. I didn’t want to wonder anymore, I stood and peered closely. I saw the silhouette of a man in the dreadful darkness. Without warning I opened the door, and the figure came in. I felt no tinge of fear partly because I knew who he was. It was the Prince. He held something in his hands.
“I’m sorry to come uninvited. I thought I should bring this for you” he said calmly but firmly, extending a parcel to me. We stood an inch from each yet I couldn’t hear his breath. He wasn’t the least tensed and it irked me.

There was no point pretending not to be hungry. So without wasting I opened the bag and brought out what was inside. It looked and smelled edible.

“Thank you, you can go now” I tried dismissing him.

“Sorry my lady, but my custom considers it impolite not to wait on a guest.
Such chivalry! What the hell is he feeling like? I thought
I sat myself on the bed, leaving him standing, while I began to eat quietly. The bread tasted of honey and pure milk. He watched me and I swear I saw him smirk!


To be continued...

Share this:
TwitterFacebookGoogle

Related
Fire & Rocks (A short story)
In "Short Stories"
I won't stop...
In "inspirational"
LET'S HAVE A CUP OF COFFEE
In "Love"
Tags: Africa, Culture, Fiction, Short Prose, Short StoryCategories: Short Stories, Uncategorized
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

POST COMMENT

Notify me of new comments via email.


PUBLISHED BY THEOLAHSMUSINGS
Hi, I'm Grace. I'm passionate about God and relationships mean a lot to me. I love books, cats and sunsets. View all posts by theolahsmusings

POST NAVIGATION
Previous
FIRE & ROCKS (A SHORT STORY)
CATEGORIES
Categories
FOLLOW BLOG VIA EMAIL
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 105 other followers


Enter your email address

FOLLOW

SOCIAL
View Grace Okoliko’s profile on FacebookView Theolasmusings’s profile on TwitterView Theolarh’s profile on InstagramView Theolah’s profile on PinterestView Grace Okoliko’s profile on LinkedIn
BLOG AT .

All rights reserved


FIRE AND ROCKS 1(short story)


It was a few minutes past 1pm and the weather was severely hot and humid. I removed the thick sweater i had on and tieid it about my waist. I could already see my destination from afar off, so I heaved a sigh of relief. My legs could barely and I felt like throwing up. The sea sickness had reduced but my stomach growled as I was unable to eat anything throughout the 2 nights trip on the boat.
I entered the only visible structure before me on the tiny island. It stood proudly, fenced with rocks and a big gray gate that had not the slightest touch of beauty. It screamedof defense than welcpme. I rubbed my elbows to wipe the beads of sweat clamping my forehead and with faltering steps I approached the gate. There were soldiers at the gate and none said a word to me aside from the mechanical way they opened and closed the gate. I guessed they were expecting me. Inside, I walked quite a long distance before I saw a house 'the dispensary' , its sign clear enough on the stone billboard. I couldn’t muster enough courage to ask anyone for directions as they all stared at me like I was some alien fallen from sky.
After perambulating for a while, I asked a young lady, should be in her teens maybe, her skin was a deep but shiny black and her eyes were beady. She said nothing and only pointed to the direction of the dispensary that was right before. I wanted to tell her no, I had to see the village head or king (whatever they called him) first. But I decided against it not wanting to further confuse the innocent young lady.
I walked in and immediately everywhere went quiet.

“Hi” I said slightly smiling to no one in particular.
“”You are the doctor from Nigeria?” an elderly voice said from behind. I turned. Startled by the fluent, mildly accented English. So they do understand English afterall. She tilted her head when she looked at me. I noticed the look of contempt immediately.

“Yes …ma” I said hesitantly. Run away immediately.
She said nothing. No welcome, no damn thing! She just, like the others, kept watching me like I was some statue. My palms were turning sweaty by now so I wiped them on my jean trousers. It suddenly occurred to me how different I looked. A quick glance around and I noticed for the first time no one was fully dressed up, if not for a piece of rag that didn’t much to cover their unclothedness. The guards on the other hand, they were three of them in the room. They stood like robots. They on the other hand wore full uniforms, a light brown plain khaki.
I heard foots approaching, it sounded like they hoofs of horses. Then it stopped. I expected to hear horses whine so I would finally know it was all a dream. But I heard none.
About three guards or soldiers now rushed in. a huge man walked in after them, closely followed by a younger, fine looking man. The latter duo were dressed in some funny looking costume. Everyone except me bowed to me. I didn’t need a sorcerer to tell me who he was. He looked towards an impaired man who was still seated, jis eyes shooting daggers at him and instantly the man got to his feet and almost fell back before another person took his hands and assisted him. His gaze turned back to me and my mouth went dry.

“Welcome to Bende hills Dr. Kate. A land of fire and rocks. We hope you’ll like it here?”

Run away now. The voice came back again.
“Thank you” I replied confidently, trying my best to sound confident.
My gaze shifted from the beast infront of me to the young man beside him. And I can swear I saw him smirk. What was that supposed to mean? I should have listened to my guts and ran away when I could. I looked at the guards. None of them smiled.

A bell rang loudly, and stopped.
What was this? A school or something.
“Just in time for lunch” his hoarse voice announced loudly. “Dr. Kate, we’ll be honored to have you join us for lunch”.
“thank you sir” I muttered. Not sure how to react to everything. It however, still baffled me how good their spoken English was.
He nodded and they exited as dramatically as they had entered.
The remaining people (I had thought were sick) started scrambling out, pushing and squeezing their way out. Outside, they filed up into a line and began marching! They looked so thin, they could fall and die.
I joined at the end of the line, more out of curiosity than the growl rising in my stomach.
As I followed gently behind. A guard marched right to me and pointed to where the king stood on a balcony a little afar off, he was beckoning on me with his hands. I nodded and followed.

To be continued..

llaykorn:
How Poems Rise Into Tomorrow

When Adamawa dies with fifty of its children
You will find a news blog that has the pictures.
Young bodies shrouded in white, drenched with blood maps
will teach your mouth to whisper white roses, then red, then brown,
then plucked before they blossomed and you will wait for the wind
that takes flowers before their bloom to blow through your window
and take you too to the sheltering arms of the dry sandy soil beneath
Adamawa.

Sometimes it is photographs from Borno that teach you how to mourn.
You will hear shovels in the photographs digging to find home,
and widows and mothers and sisters sobbing into their scarves,
then silence ascends into your body as if the photographs held
the face of fire, as if silence can also be smoke from burning towns,
silence rises into you like the the footsteps of darkness, slow, sure,
creeping into town at midday.

When the newscaster says the names of cities, you block your ears
He says Aba, he says death, he says Aleppo, he says more death
and his voice is the edge of a cutlass, smooth, sharp, hacking cities into
slices of pain too thin to hold between your fingers without getting cut
The news teaches you that all cities are the same: there are
more humans running from home, than running for home
Sometimes when there's a flood somewhere, you imagine Earth as
a toddler who bursts into tears after trying too hard to be strong.

Tonight you're writing graves into poems, cities into poems
You're writing three hundred girls that never came back home
You're watching your poems shatter the darkness in the room
You're smiling at the way your poems rise into tomorrow like
dust and smoke and hope and the scent of roses:
Brown, then red, then white,

I love this

Divepen1:
Gracile
Name
Location
Relationship Status
NlCrush

Done sir and thank you. You honor me

I'm doing it again but this time its legal

Name: Grace Okoliko
Relationship status: available to mingle but not single so let's double (don't listen to me)
Age: 23
Nairaland crush: gosh! I'm a 'manwrapper' probably even gay There are many but my favorite from each gender are Royver and TiffanyJ.
(Royver for his unique way of writing, Tiffany for her humble nature)

Name: (edited)

Location: (edited)

Relationship status: what dyou think

Nairaland crush: Royver(I'm terrifiedly crushing on him. His imagination no be here o)
Larrysun( this one is almost perfect self)
Sammyhoe(genius)
Female crush; TiffanyJ( she made me join nairaland)
Evajael( free, interesting and crazy personality-i can tell from how she writes)
Cruzita( ah that her action short stories that year kept me up all night)
Oh and oh how can forget oluwabuqqyolo himself formerly known as thronekid- he surely knows how to send those swarms of butterflies through my body
Also I can't forget prettyspicey and her 'take me as I am', safari, repogirl, audreytimms I hail for these bosses

EvaJael:
I've been casted already o. I think we should cast gracile,cbella, kimkardashain, paulaspearz, and uhm frankline (don't remember his full moniker. He's the author of Legacy.).
For readers, pearl05 and pinkfeet

I'm just seeing this o please what's the casting all about? I feel honored tho evajael, thank you

Let's play a mind game shall we?


I woke with a start. A cold air from outside caressed me disturbing my peaceful sleep. And like around nipples I was standing straight. I recognized my environment instantly even though it's been a while I came this lane. I readied myself instantly for further orders my mission though obvious demands patience.
After placing the cap on my bald head, I plunged immediately to the task ahead. The energy running through me was amazing.
The target building, though surrounded with thick forest didn't deter my progress and under seconds I found the door and made my way in. I didn't need to knock, the door was open.
The room was dark but warm so I went head on, ignoring the friction of my body brushing against the walls till I hit something, soft but resilient. I retreated backwards and returned with as much force and speed as the first time. I went on and on that way, hitting the object each time; my strength increasing and so was the tempo.
I felt the liquid rush of adrenaline pumping into my head. Excited. I couldn't contain it for long do I let it run into my cap.
Now I didn't move but remained inside. Fixed. So I inched closer to take a clearer view at the objects.
Two kid-like figure sat in awkward positions. They stared right back at me and I could tell, they didn't seem too pleased to see me. They probably thought I was stingy, since I didn't drop icecream like before. They looked bigger than the last time I was here when they were just tiny midgets. I had the icecream okay, but it was inside the cap I wore and they could see it I'm sure they did. How could I explain the situation? I can swear I felt one of them kick at me from the ballon-like walls he was trapped in. Maybe he was trying to obtain the icecream by force or worse, driving me away.
Without warning, I took to my heels, back the same way I entered. By the time I was outside, I was already slouching and shrunken with guilt.
Actually, fatigue.

So who am I?

EvaJael:
Okay, I'm officially missing kimkardashain, mhizgap, rachealfst, gracile, debbycreamy, hormobolanle ehmm who again sef? I'll remember later sha
It's been ages since I saw akinwale14, nastynic, ifecoded and nathalya. I'm missing you pple badly

Didn't miss you I miss jathniels twin, I don't know if it's his bad boy or enigmatic nature buh there's somin about him I love

Hi greatzeus, please I sent my mail earlier but I'm yet to receive it please ejor biko here it is
Theolandgrace@gmail.com
Na gode

princ007:
Interesting story.. Well done sis

Thank you for reading ma

EvaJael:
Oh my God! This is lovely bae. Gosh gosh gosh. I love it more than I love Jathniel biko. You're talented dear. #kisses

Lool thank you but biko jathniel is way cuter

EvaJael:
Awwwn are you serious? Biko post it abeg. My eyes are itching to read

Here you go:

Title - Hidden diamond

Deep in the core of our essence
Lies a yolk, pure and unsullied
Devoted to its stand;
It, like a mother brings forth life
And death in block blows
Beyond it's false pretense,
Is a gruesome genuineness
Beyond it's cloak of mischief
A hurting heart is hidden
Begs proudly to be beheld
Clamours in silence to be heard

If only it were transparent;
And has not an opaque barricade
That hides it from quick eyes
If only it would shed off the dead scales
Accumulated from many a bitter broth from life's cruel cup
You'll see it shines a glitters fine
And you'll know;
That deep in the core of our essence
Lies a hidden diamond
Devoted to it's stand
Be it ugly, good or bad

©Grace Okoliko 2017

EvaJael:
Awwwn it's such a beautiful ending Gracile. Big kudos to you dear. I'm still struggling to finish my own

Thank you evajael, bydway lemme go catch up on hidden diamond did I tell you I was inspired to write a poem through the title of your novel I could post it if you want to see

crislyn:
gracile o u want me to be the comedienne of literature section abi? Hahaahaha some of us are good at reading than writing o...make i just remain for my supporters club.

the urge one day will come for you to write don't worry, I used to be in your shoes

crislyn:
What i mean is, i didn't know we were going to come to the end so soon. I thought we would have a big dose of rain before we miss her..Lol, it ended well. Anticipating the next one.

Aww. I miss her too..
About 'next one', I'm sure it will be better by the way I see you read lots of stories here I suggest you try writing too it'd be awesome or what dyou think?