Hi guys!
Been a while. I’ve got so much to update you on— will do so in subsequent posts. 🙈 For today, I just want to celebrate my friend, Ogechi Nwobia for taking her story ‘Hunters Game’ to screen! Read more
Night Files- Mirror Mirror
Mirror mirror on the wall
Who is the fairest of them all
None shall before me stand tall
All proud and self loving will fall
Mirror mirror on the wall
Surely I am the fairest of them all
Strong, handsome and tall
With me none can brawl
Oh foolish mortal how vain
You are of all most mundane
Ashamed you should certainly be
Of what behind the curtain you see
Peel back I say the veneer
At you even the dead sneer
Mirror mirror on the wall
Who then is the fairest of them all
Verily I say none at all
For same Icarus suffered a great fall
Musings of a not so perfect poet
(sage)
The Ghost of Death
The hair on her neck prickled, she got a feeling that there was something hovering, weighing on her. She shook it off-she was NOT superstitious, forget she grew up under a superstitious mother. Still doing the dishes, she began to whistle a happy tune and bob her head from side to side.
Instantly startled by the heavy pounding on her apartment door, just behind her, she dropped the dish she was holding. For some reason, her heart pounded and the banging on her door persisted, a tiny voice whimpering ‘please, please, help me!! He’s coming’
She turned, heart pounding, frozen. But a force pulled her towards the door-what if, what if she could actually help? What if she put herself in danger? As thoughts raced in her head, she heard it again, a sob, a whimper, just against the door, please help….
She just got into action and unbolted the door; a small, disheveled girl pushed past her but that wasn’t the scary part, she was covered in red. She turned to stare at her, to ask the questions if her lips could utter them and the girl cried ‘he’s coming, he’s coming’
If only she knew then, what she knew now, she would have bolted out the door, herself, leaving the girl behind. She wouldn’t be staring at the hard unforgiving lid of a coffin. The clawing certainty she was going to die.
‘Who-o-o?’ she asked. There wasn’t need for an answer, the hair on the back of her neck prickled. This time, she didn’t feel a presence hovering. This time, the hot, sticky, heavy breath behind her neck was real.
*****
I’m sharing this post written by my friend who entered for a competition. Please vote for her by clicking here.
PS: I dedicated the Fiction Friday Posts in November to my friends who wrote for the competition. Please be kind and vote for the stories you like. 
Thank you! 
Have a fabulous weekend!
~M.
Fiction Friday
Iridescence
Too many waters have indeed passed under this bridge. The red-brown of walls and hues of indigo on paths to dyers’ homes have become the stuff of funerals, the despondent and those dreadful workplaces.
It has been three days since the burial and ten since I found my youngest son’s body in a pool of faeces and vomit. I have grown tired of being asked how my heart is faring. How does a heart fare at times like these?
My oldest child would not look me in the eye; he fears I may recognize the mix of grief and relief his’ carry. If only he would look cautiously, he will see that it is not his secret alone to keep. I wear mine in dark corners of rooms.
Efuna, I do not pine for you. We made a pact we both must honour.
Adulthood makes fools of us all; it makes martyrs of some and beasts of others and we each have a hand in which we become. You should have chosen carefully. My child, a woman’s life is difficult. She bears the weight of her children’s choices. It is only fitting that she be allowed a veto in such lives; adults or not.
So I strolled into your room and requested your audience, I said to you “a child’s fingers are not scalded by the piece of hot yam which his mother puts into his palm”, I presented you the empty calabash; that ancient symbol of a people’s desire for a life that has outlived its usefulness. In a final demonstration of self-piety and perhaps cynicism, you accepted and here we are. Why the tugging?
Efuna, I am the mother-duck that has left behind her corrupted late-budding duckling. It is the way of things that surround us.
*****
Here is another lovely story by one of my friends for a competition. Please vote for her by clicking here.
PS: I’m dedicating the Fiction Friday Posts in November to my friends who wrote for the competition. Please be kind and vote for the stories you like.
Thank you!
Have a pleasant weekend!
~M.
20 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW IN YOUR 20S.
- Love and honor your mother and father. Learn from their mistakes. I know it sounds like nags but it’d save you the headaches in your thirties and beyond. Besides you don’t want your children to dishonor you also I’m sure. We often realize too late their importance in our lives.
- You are so much more talented than you’ll ever know. You don’t need to pay your way through protocols. You don’t need to sleep with your boss/ supervisor to get a promotion at work or better grades at school. Burn the late-night candles instead; put extra time to study and practice until you master your skill. Hard work still pays well and does not kill.It’s sweeter to enjoy what you have put your good work and effort into in peace than having scares of karma.
- Support, support, support. As a lady, women can actually build strong support networks. Don’t let few ladies with the “Pull Her Down” {PHD} syndromes discourage you from cultivating true relationship with your female friends. Everyone needs it.
- Learn to feel your feels. Study and master your emotions and know how to react to different situations. Be a master of your expressions.
- This notion that women are the criers and men are the strong support systems need to be reconstructed. We all have the glands in us means we are both to use them to express ourselves. Men can cry too. Yes, they can and they should.
- Let go of past hurts. You cannot move forward if you keep looking back. Holding on to bitter experiences and regrets will stale your future. The only thing you should take out of a hurting experience is the lessons learnt because hurting people hurt people. People are going to hurt you; you choose how to react.
- Still speaking on the past and forgiveness, learn to forgive yourself. Learn to pardon yourself for the mistakes, the bad choices. Just go easy on yourself because you are your only cheerleader.
- Train your mind and intuition to a level that it gives you signs and warnings. This can be done by studying yourself intricately under different conditions. It’s part of maturity.
- Walk away from deceit. Still flowing from the above, when your mind is developed on your ideals and what you are about, you are able to depict the truth. Know when someone is flossing and is harmful or toxic. Stay away from them. Especially before getting into relationships or business partnerships.
- This life you have been given is a unique gift. Unwrap it, live it to the fullest. Nurture yourself and don’t be careless with it. Start early in making proper plans.
- Learn the basic skills and let yourself grow – from how to keep your apartment and its entirety clean, cook, socialize and network to how to drive a car.
- Don’t do drugs. It kills from the inside out. Read books, it fortifies your mind. Dance as often as you can, it liberates your spirit, soul and body.
- Learn to laugh at yourself. It is a good way to build a healthy self-esteem. Encourage yourself more than you beat yourself up. It’s really not that deep.
- Fear of the future. It is a state of mind you must learn to tame. Don’t let fear pull the carpet from under your feet. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. Think positive thoughts about the future and when those butterflies and unsure moments come, acknowledge them but believe in the greater future ahead of you.
- Learn to exhale, love deeply and be kind to others; especially those of low estate, and the lowest of low. The greatest currency in the world is Kindness. It never depreciates. Everyone can spend it. It yields greater return on investments.
- Do not compare yourself to others. It will do you no good. I know how hard this is but when you catch yourself doing it, please STOP for comparing yourselves one to another is foolishness.
- Eat healthy. Exercise. Take time to dance and play. Learn to cook for yourself. Don’t rely on noodles alone. The cooking skill will be useful in future.
- Your time alone with yourself is the healthiest thing you can do for yourself. You want to be present for others, you want to live long, and you want peace and joy, take time for you. You can’t heal another if you are sick yourself.
- Prayer is the secret code. It works every time. Keep up with your faith in God and always have the courage to use your voice wisely and strongly. Enjoy the highs and lows that come with being in your 20s but don’t be afraid to grow older. Live life to the fullest.
- Acknowledge your emptiness without God. In our frailty is where He shows up the most. He loves you so much. I can barely explain the love.
Thank you for reading!
Written by Nancy Ufia.
*****
I was so happy to have Nancy write for the blog and I hope this list helps you as you navigate through life 🙂
Stay beautiful!
~M.
Fiction Friday
Hotel in the Middle of the Street
So I desperately flagged down a taxi. To the driver, I said ‘take me to the cheapest hotel here.’ After what seemed like days, he finally reached a hotel in the middle of a vibrant street, bursting at its seams with shops, kiosks, food stalls, and lots of what looked to me like vagabonds.
How did I get here? First off, in an unsafe hotel on a bustling street. Lastly, in a petite room with only 3 stupid channels. I spent my whole day cooked up here gasping for some oxygen and praying that I don’t pass out or that I don’t get jacked. Thinking back on the fact that the only meal I’ve had was an oatmeal bar. I guess that’s why I am not in grouchy bear mode. Smirk!
I just can’t sleep. I keep tossing and turning from one end to the other of my bed. I keep hearing footsteps go past my room. Now this was a real doozy, all that stood between me and any impending danger was a flimsy wooden door. The night seemed against me, the heavy, cloying heat dragging my skin. I think a movie is on, “7 pounds”. I am looking at the screen but they are just images flashing by.
The real movie was in my memory. I remember her; her lovely heart-shaped face. The one I thought could do no wrong. Forever was her name, or so I thought. I remember her face, her smile. That cold, rigid smile as she pulled the trigger, never breaking eye contact with me.
And then my breath stops. I can feel it, as I hear a set of footsteps stop right outside my door, waiting. Is this what bass drums sound like; my heart beating heavy against my chest.
And then—
SMASH!!
*****
This was a story written by a friend of mine for a competition. Please vote for him by clicking here.
PS: I’m dedicating the Fiction Friday Posts in November to my friends who wrote for the competition. Please be kind and vote for the stories you like. ❤
Thank you! 🙂
Have a pleasant weekend!
~M.
Guest Post
How Meditation before sleep can enrich your life in more ways than you think
After a long and tiring day at work, you quickly finish your dinner and other routine chores so you can go to bed early just to have a good 8-hour long sleep. Instead, you end up tossing and turning, thinking about the new project that’s about to start or the weird thing that your boss said and before you know it, it’s already 2 am. When you haven’t slept enough the next morning you’re tired and fatigued and that results in poor productivity and inefficiency at work. Don’t you just wish you knew a magic trick to simply shut off your mind from these unnecessary random thoughts and go to sleep as soon as you hit the pillow? Well, we have a solution, Meditation! Read more
Dainty M. 