Category My Stories

Nine Lives

Nine lives by Rachael Asikpo

Nine days for the thief and one day for the owner of the house...

The words surfaced from nowhere and germinated in the back of my mind like unwanted weed. I wasn’t sure where I had heard them but it was surprising how it emerged when it was least needed. I even mentally began to count how many times I had stolen from the kitchen to be sure I had not exhausted my nine lives.

Letting Go

Letting Go by Rachael Asikpo

I kept my eyes on the board, unseeing. My sight distorted and void with smeared colors representing the features of my environment. I could not see. Not because I was blind but because there were tears in my eyes.

Mr Uchenna's voice was loud, his baritone so deep I feared it resonated in the wooden desk on which I sat. He was shouting and gesticulating, a distorted towering figure next to the board. I could not make out his features because I was unseeing. I could not hear what he taught because I was not listening.