Forty-two wakes up in control of his limbs and does not understand what has gone wrong. He wonders how long it has been since the day the Labyrinth won; it did not request anything from humanity but surrender, and over the first few months, forty-two and billions of other humans had given their bodies over … Read more
ACCEPTANCE A place where heroes go to rot their flesh to white bone. We Blacks have it, down to the whitest bone. They said, they said, and we heard their words. Here we are, alive and clicking from having met the orators of our time. How alive are we, I ask you? I have asked. … Read more
‘Remember this: that the living heart that beats within you does not realise that it is part of something greater still. It sees only itself, and the fact that it is part of you does not enter its mind, and if you were to tell it that it is part of you, it would never … Read more
They ask you what Aliyah Danjuma reminds you of, and the word that bursts forth from your lips is the wrong one because you tell them she reminds you of glass. “Glass?” the man closest to you sputters out, a shaped eyebrow raised in condescension, “She reminds you of glass?” Yes, you want to say, … Read more
Acacia fell ill with an unknown illness. She was vomiting excessively and could not stand on her feet for more than a few seconds. She wished she could lie down for the rest of her life. Yet, no matter how much she rested, her condition did not improve. She was also thirsty, her throat parched, … Read more
No Memory For Sisyphus Human rights are constantly evolving. The more we learn, the clearer these rights become to us. Usually, our understanding of human rights comes from ethical discussions, but sometimes we get it from science. Think of The Haike process. Before it, could you even imagine rallies worldwide pushing for the right not … Read more
Bukata blasted off in her family drifter, accelerating into Chepela’s sky at the planet’s teeth-rattling escape velocity. Gravity pushed her stiffly into her seat, triggering the drifter’s A.I. to take over the rushed flight to orbit. The universe’s dark, radiated womb greeted the drifter with a cushioning embrace as propulsion slowed. She was late for … Read more
The fear that she will leave sits and festers in the bottom of my stomach, wearing a hole right through me. It wakes me in the night. I sit up, gasping, hand over my mouth so she doesn’t stir beside me. I climb out of bed. I know I mustn’t. I know I’m meant to … Read more
Tuesday, February 20, 2035. He thought he heard the sound of sirens. He felt lifeless. Someone seemed to touch his neck, then his left wrist and then started compressing his chest. Another hand forced his mouth open. He felt like he was coughing but wasn’t sure whether he did. He felt tired and sleepy. The … Read more
“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?” “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens … Read more