Reverend Langston Penniman sat on the edge of his bed, stretching his black fingers. Everything had either twisted up on him or shrunk except his stomach. Once six-foot-five, he now plunged to six two, still tall, but not the imposing dignitary he once was standing behind the lectern in front of his congregation. His parishioners aged, too. So hard nowadays to attract the young, he … Continue reading The Bell Tower

Perched on a plastic chair as though indifferent to the bitter stink of antiseptic and cacophony of voices, the clawing in Ava’s stomach sharpened. Scrutinising the swinging doors where her dad had disappeared on the gurney, she chewed her inner cheek at her mum refusing her pleas to stay. Ava exhaled a protracted breath at the sight of Grandma Femi pushing through the congested waiting … Continue reading Icarus Again

It was good to be in Venice off season. The November weather was grey, damp and short of daylight, but Peter and Mary were almost the only tourists. Fourteen months after their wedding, it felt like a second honeymoon. Even better, now that they were pregnant. (Peter insisted he was pregnant too.) Hand in hand, they wandered along the narrow streets and across bridges, enjoying … Continue reading The Cherub Who Fell to Earth

He knew where he was but he was lost. As if snared inside a deep hole, Skelton thought, fumbling in his pocket for his cigarette lighter. Hurriedly he snapped it on, held it above his head, and peered into the black woods at the base of the dormant volcano. “Anyone here?” he hollered for the third time but all he heard was a breeze drifting … Continue reading Morning Ground

Another one, then another one, then another passed before him all offering him their condolences saying the same old repetitive redundant ridiculous things, that all boiled down to “your mother was such a nice person.” Most were friends, relatives, neighbors, but the woman before him now he did not know. He didn’t catch her last name because she said it so fast but he was … Continue reading The Woman Who Killed Three People