Phoenixcollections

I am a day old in my mother’s womb today. Just like full stop at the end of this sentence. My mother doesn’t know about me. A month later she started feeling sick. My father urged her to go for a pregnancy test lo and behold, she is one month pregnant. She is happy about the news and rushed home to tell papa. They are newly married, so I was to be the first from my mother’s womb. Days passed and months passed and the “D” day came. Mother had prolonged labor and as little as I was, I pitied mama. Prayers came from far and wide and than I came out with a starling cry.        Mama gave a sigh of relief. I was finally born. I am a baby boy. Father was happy and called neighbors’, friends and relatives to break the news. I fed on my mother’s breast, so I grew fast. At my six month of age, I was not babbling and I was not responding to noise around me. Mama was so worried and took me to hospital. The doctor examined day after day; little did they know tha...

  There was one christian from ikot abasi, who was fond saying this word "i thank God it may be that the worse could have happened;" so it happened that one day, his brother's first son dided while still in standard six. The man went and consoled his younger brother. He told him to weep no more, that it might be that the worse could have happened. So, the brother took offence because by this time, the son of the elder was studying overseas. The next year, the boy graduated, and wrote that he was coming back home, when he arrived at portharcourt, quite a number of cars have gone to escort him. Many people were busy at home preparing for the boy's arrival.         The boy's father went to the younger brother who lost his first son the previous year, and said to him "now my son is coming back, please take good care of him; what he would ear and what he would drink". The brother accepted. But as they were coming from portharcourt, on reaching o...

                         Why can’t I marry the woman I love?                                               Prologue Love is nothing without sacrifice. Love is nothing without tolerance. Love is nothing without trust and patience. All these virtues are summed up in one woman I found ten years ago. She’s called chioma. I still have not forgotten how I met her that rainy Thursday while I was a second year student at the University Of Nnamdi azikiwe University. I was terribly hungry and dashed to the canteen for a meal. As usual, students would cluster at the canteen at certain hours, resulting in long queues. That was the situation that p...

'my husband please don't do this to me!' Ekemma yelled. She jumped and held his hand tightly. Her eyes were red and blazing with desperation. Uzokwe gazed at his wife and sighed. 'I do not think I can still bear the pain any longer' he lamented. He shooked his head and sighed again. He coughed and his breathing became faster. Ekemma rushed to get a cup of wator for him. On her way back, she heard a noise from the palm tree behind her house. The sound was very awry and scary. It was the sound of hooting owl. It hooted three times and stopped. Ekemma has been hearing the sound in the past but that particular one was different. It sent a cold shiver down her spine. It was a bad omen. Her heart began to palpitate with fear. Odour of death and decay filled her nostrils. She ran with the cup of water into her husband's room and her eyes went straight to the place he was laying. He was still alive; he was breathing. Ekemma sighed with relief. She gave the cup of w...

Chapter 2    The club was at the top floor of a building which was hidden behind a three story building. In fact, if you are a passerby, you would never suspect that a club is in the vicinity much less a strip club. We entered the building and were stopped by some hefty looking, weed smoking bouncers. My cousin and his friend bought ticket for all of us and we entered the staircase, it led us straight to the last floor where we were confronted again by another set of bouncers. We showed our tickets and entered the stuffy room.     The first thing that struck me was the number of naked girls on display; they wore half bras and the tiniest of pants. Almost everything was on display for all to see; they danced in front of the men who sat alone or in group and watched their lewd steps. We walked towards the bar and sat down. There was a small stage with a wooden barricade in front of the bar and that was where the real strip dancers displayed their skills. ...