Here’s to Less Mimbo, No? – Ngansop A. Roy
Here’s to Less Mimbo, No? Ngansop A. RoyNwebya calls me names. He will call me out in class come Monday should I not honour his invitation to a club tonight. Everyone will laugh, because if you've not started drinking mimbo by late adolescence, you are a failure or...
Follow, Follow – RJ Mustafa
Follow, Follow RJ Mustafa“Hey, ready to go?” Aziz dropped the tube hidden between his fingers at the sudden interruption. His heart fluttering behind the wine-coloured button-up he’d chosen for tonight, he clasped his eyes shut for a moment. Campus should have been...
The Jacket Seen on Tal Street – Ndawedwa Denga Hanghuwo
The Jacket Seen on Tal Street Ndawedwa Denga HanghuwoGrace slipped off her heels and wore her flip flops. The last bell of the day had just rung and she was getting ready to walk home. She lived near Khomas High School in Windhoek, where she taught English. She was a...
My Blueberry Dreams – Victor Daniel
My Blueberry Dreams Victor DanielStanley He now lives life as a point of duty: methodical, mechanical, rigidly executed and passively indulgent. He has kept his job, his girlfriend, a side chick, and his peers. He doesn’t feel anything more than a sense of social...
Sanctum – Naomi Waweru
Sanctum Naomi WaweruTwenty times now, in poorly timed intervals, the heart has stopped, but it has not stopped the body from living. This boy grows magnets at the very moment of parting. His chest muscle elongates and the limbs grow bolder. His breathing becomes the...
The Luminous Air of Heaven – Charlie Muhumuza
The Luminous Air of Heaven Charlie Muhumuza“That’s one,” I tell Amooti, “the devil’s eye.” I pause to let the weight of my words worm its way into his ears. “Some even call it the door of death,” I whisper. Amooti looks at me, catching me in the lie, and we both...
Ronak’s Shame – Masimba Musodza
Ronak’s Shame Masimba MusodzaAnyone watching Ronak suddenly clinging to me as we stepped out of the cinema into the cool evening would have interpreted the gesture as a demonstration of possession. Some would have rolled their eyes with a cynicism that projected their...
The Naming of Things – Ugochukwu Damian Okpara
The Naming of Things Ugochukwu Damian OkparaWe are the new students of St Peter Claver Seminary. Some of us know each other from the previous junior secondary schools we attended, or the places we live, and for others, we are meeting each other for the first time....
The Part – Aron M Woldeslassie
The Part Aron M WoldeslassieWe always meet in cafes. It feels forced and superficial but also cosy and a tad stylised. In the far corner of Dunn Brothers I find Angela waiting for me. For nearly a year we’ve been working together; in that time she’s never showed up...
Under the Sentinel’s Watch – Frances Ogamba
Under the Sentinel’s Watch Frances Ogamba The sky had long lost its stars to a howling wind. No other human was in sight except a man leaning on a cane where Nzimiro Road turned into two – one part leading to Douglas Estate and the other to Onueza Estate. Emodi’s eyes...
The Magic of Being Fire – Izuchukwu Onyedibiemma Udokwu
The Magic of Being Fire Izuchukwu Onyedibiemma UdokwuOkenna In the morning, she did not tap the back of my palm or brush her fingers through my hair to awaken me for our brief morning prayer. I had tried to intertwine our fingers at night, the way we did when cuddling...
Summarised People – Felix Otieno
Summarised People Felix OtienoI have never really been bothered by my own age. The wisdom I have convinced myself to possess has tended to my appearance so that I look as one always ready to come to terms with specific truths. Still, I am glad to be of this world, and...