₦airaland Forum

A Short story by Stanley Umezulike
Writer’s Note: This story contains strong language and scene of violence.

The lives of four young NYSC members suddenly turns upside-down on the eve of the election day.

This story is dedicated to all NYSC Corp members currently serving our country. You are doing a great service to our Nation. God bless you all.

Sometimes when fate wants to deal with a man, it comes without warning. These were the thoughts on my mind as sweats mixed with tears and streaked down my face. Remain strong Dele, real men don’t cry, I told myself. But now, I realized there are troubles and pains in life that’d push you to your limit and make you recognize your own humanity.
“It’s okay Dele. We thank God they didn’t succeed,” my friend Ayo tapped at my arm as he pleaded with me to stay calm. We were all sitting on a long wooden seat. My eyes squinted at the direction of the two young ladies sitting beside us. Tope and Bisola. I breathed a sigh of relief as I said silent prayers. Tope saw me and hugged me tight. She clung to me like I was her oxygen and refused to let go.

We were still dressed in the white polo and khaki trousers of the NYSC – National Youth Service Corps. Up till now, I couldn’t still pronounce the name of the Registration Area Centre where we were posted by the Independent National Electoral Commission – INEC, the body in charge of conducting elections in the country. But I knew it was somewhere close to Kafanchan. The four of us, Ayo, Tope, Bisola and I, we were all young people, fresh from the university, serving our fatherland. It was a mandatory national service after graduation that was programmed to last for one year, to inspire unity and love among the youths from different parts of the country.

I stood up and Tope shot her gaze at me with a look of concern on her face. I was so close to her but my mind was perching in different directions at once. This place, this life, this country, this election, it was as if we were all in a dangerous tunnel that none of us could escape from. Can we ever get out of this endless loop? What happens after service? Have many people are even employed? Even now, my mind was telling me that the worst was not over yet. I blinked my eyes as my mind took me back to how we survived the toughest night of our lives; a snaky, treacherous night...



Read more: https://stanleyumezulike.com.ng/2019/02/18/treacherous-night/#ixzz5g3OtXBnj

silencer020:
A Short story by Stanley Umezulike
Writer’s Note: This story contains strong language and scene of violence.

The lives of four young NYSC members suddenly turns upside-down on the eve of the election day.

This story is dedicated to all NYSC Corp members currently serving our country. You are doing a great service to our Nation. God bless you all.

Sometimes when fate wants to deal with a man, it comes without warning. These were the thoughts on my mind as sweats mixed with tears and streaked down my face. Remain strong Dele, real men don’t cry, I told myself. But now, I realized there are troubles and pains in life that’d push you to your limit and make you recognize your own humanity.
“It’s okay Dele. We thank God they didn’t succeed,” my friend Ayo tapped at my arm as he pleaded with me to stay calm. We were all sitting on a long wooden seat. My eyes squinted at the direction of the two young ladies sitting beside us. Tope and Bisola. I breathed a sigh of relief as I said silent prayers. Tope saw me and hugged me tight. She clung to me like I was her oxygen and refused to let go.

We were still dressed in the white polo and khaki trousers of the NYSC – National Youth Service Corps. Up till now, I couldn’t still pronounce the name of the Registration Area Centre where we were posted by the Independent National Electoral Commission – INEC, the body in charge of conducting elections in the country. But I knew it was somewhere close to Kafanchan. The four of us, Ayo, Tope, Bisola and I, we were all young people, fresh from the university, serving our fatherland. It was a mandatory national service after graduation that was programmed to last for one year, to inspire unity and love among the youths from different parts of the country.

I stood up and Tope shot her gaze at me with a look of concern on her face. I was so close to her but my mind was perching in different directions at once. This place, this life, this country, this election, it was as if we were all in a dangerous tunnel that none of us could escape from. Can we ever get out of this endless loop? What happens after service? Have many people are even employed? Even now, my mind was telling me that the worst was not over yet. I blinked my eyes as my mind took me back to how we survived the toughest night of our lives; a snaky, treacherous night...



Read more: https://stanleyumezulike.com.ng/2019/02/18/treacherous-night/#ixzz5g3OtXBnj

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