That catastrophic rendezvous By: Mandisi Jali “Derrick?” she asked whispery. She was bent over her desk, clutching the phone tightly towards her ears, with one hand and pulling the cord nervously with the other. “Yes?” he answered with an impatient, unfriendly and unenthusiastic tone. Relief made her weak. Then she gnashed her teeth, realising that he was alive. “Derrick?” Surprised by this monstrous tone, she sat up. “It’s Bettina” as if she needed to jog his memory. “Bettina […]
Almost Family Written by Jennie Marima Lovely aunt Bee had brought us to the big carnival in town. She couldn’t stay on with us because of an urgent matter. My twin cousins, Lily and Pam, and I roamed around the cool stands. We looked like triplets—all of us 8 years old. There were lots of books to buy, lots of colourful stands to see. We had 1000 shillings each to buy a snack and a book and even a toy […]
A Marriage of Inconvenience By Karthik Shankar Our first night was rough. No. Get those dirty thoughts out of your head before you read further. We entered our sumptuously decorated wedding room. I took off my clothes in a hurry and then in a stunning act of mature retrospection, realised how desperate I seemed. I then lost the urge to have sex; thinking of all the people still celebrating at the wedding party who knew we would seal the […]
A Glimpse of his Silhouette By: Shwetal Shah And there it was, a glimpse of his silhouette…as I put my iron down looking at the chirping birds outside who brought him back to me! Though only for a minute, it felt like a lifetime of happiness, it felt like a void being filled. It feels like yesterday when we went to the boat house and sat by the calm lake for hours staring into the twilight of the sky, watching […]
A Conversation By: Stanley Courage Duoghah “What will you steal from me if today was declared World stealing day?” she asked as we sat facing each other for the Unusual Questions Time. The UQT was a period of 30 minutes in which both participants and instructors involved in the Youth Awareness Campaign program were expected to sit in pairs and ask one another odd questions just for fun. “Your heart,” I promptly replied. Lola was a girl I have had […]
The Ivory Cane By: Monika Pant His eyes were misted. More from the smoke emanating from the leaves burning in the backyard than from anything else. A wheezing cough racked the tall, thin frame. He leaned heavily on his cane while he opened the door of the attic and went inside. It was low-ceilinged, and his height seemed to make it seem more so. He sat down on the couch, absent-mindedly running his feathery fingers on the carvings on […]
