I sighed, twisting the lens of my camera with so much courage written boldly on my face. I used to love my life, but, something tragic happened about a week ago. We had heard the sky is falling today from an ultra-reliable source_ Well, it’ll need some paparazzi. So, fast and furiously, I belted my baggy trousers, laced my shoes, adjusted my collars and jumped into the streets. 

Increasing my pace on the rather empty ghetto, I soon crazily found myself drooling in anticipation of the alleged ‘end of the world’. Not a single person was courageous enough to step out on a day like this. except some fowls, goats, birds and I. Notwithstanding, the ignorant animals were having a whole lot of good time eating from the broken grocery shops and restaurants in the neighborhood, whilst I tested my camera on them.

Hey, I am Tade. Tade Ismail Philips. Friends call me T.I.P.  I studied Mass Communications at the prestigious University of Lagos. And that was me doing my job as a journalist. When 7 days ago, the worst bad news ever hit my TV screen that the world was finally coming to an end in a week, I was left in coma of thoughts. According to the scientists, the earth had reached its climax age and could no longer hold on to the weight of the sky. Hence, the sky shall fall, today.  At first, people refused to accept the broadcast as true, but as the D-day approached, reality began to dawn on every one of us. Mothers began to hug their children – goodbye hugs. I even heard some communities had organized candle nights to mourn their own imminent death; Nonsense! 

Speaking of God. By the final day, everyone seemed to be calm and moody. Earth seemed like a sphere of graves. The available Mosques and Churches weren’t enough to shelter the remorseful and panicking whole of humanity. So, all buildings were quickly renovated for religious purposes_ even places as profane as Bars, casinos and hotels. And approximately everyone was chanting words and praying for forgiveness. _ last chance to make things right.

 I held on to my camera, raising my head towards the sky. Then I started to jot my observations with breaths of compassion.  As if to punish my naughtiness, it began to pour rains upon earth. The bright day had faded and I could see the clouds mourning in gloomy faces. Swift beams of Lightning, spiritual roars of thunder and frosty winds; all fell upon me. I swallowed my spit and continued to take pictures upon pictures, acknowledging it was finally time! The news was true after all…

TO BE CONTINUED

Hey! It happened that I've got nothing to post today. And, weirdly, I'm glad about that.

Why? Ok... I'll just go straight to the point.

Having nothing to post today made me go into my vintage. Behold!  I found a short story  I'd really really love to share. So, here it is... It is titled 'In Sha Allah'

                                      IN SHA ALLAH

When the dawn brings back the call for subh and we must have just concluded our prayers, I'll turn to my beautiful wife with a sneaky gaze. I'll let her offer her every attention while I squeeze my lips into unspoken words,but cast down my gaze disappointedly like they are too heavy for my tongue . She'll rush her stare at me with no degree of declination, pestering with her eyebrows that I should speak. Yet, I will not.. I'll let her languish in utmost curiosity until her enthusiasm grows out of patience. "what has happened" - she'll whisper with her everly soothing voice;the same voice that rescues me when I drown in pools of frustration. She'll will inquire again with a breath of fear , but I still will not speak.

Except that I will reach for the english Qur'an gifted to congratulate our Nikkah two years ago...she'll watch as I flip it's pages to suratul Nisah. "Here, read" I'll command my obedient wife pointing firmly to the third verse.

Before she'll be done reading, I'll barge into my room and lock up the door without caring a bit of the result of my unkind action. Laying on bed, I'll recall what the verse says...

“"And if you fear that you shall not be able

to deal justly with the orphan girls then

marry (other) women of your choice, two or

three, or four; but if you fear that you shall

not be able to deal justly (with them), then

only one or (slaves) that your right hands

possess. That is nearer to prevent you from

doing injustice”"

I'll keep the malice for some time by refusing to let the door open even when she announces breakfast. In fact, I'll just lie there until time calls for zuhr. Then,I'll stealth towards the door and subhanallah!!

My darling wife will be at the door kneeling towards my meal. She'll shyingly stretch out a cup of tea towards my right arm while her other hand will assist the edge of hijab to wipe off the balls of tears running down her pretty face.

Here, I'll pull her weight away from the floor and beg her to quit the cry. Yet, I'll make her read the verse again. But this time, I'll be there to guide her through the lines. I'll swear to her by Allah that no man can be just with his wives. "I am contented with you", I'll gently opine and she'll return a dimpled smile that indeed she will be the only one.

However, I will know within myself that I would have proceeded in getting a brand new wife if not for her weeping objection.

Miss Sopheeyah Oyesanya is a 300 level student of University of Lagos. She is a young and brilliant poet, story and article writer, as well as an editor of The Lifestylens Magazine. Her works are aimed at striking a remarkable impact on youths and women. And, this short story is one of her numerous works that have received lots of accolades...

Enjoy:

                                       LETTER TO TAHIR

Dear Tahir,

I still sit by the doorstep of our empty room every other night, expecting you to come back from work. With the same expression that you carry, an expression that I only understood to be guilt.” my armour, I’m sorry…I never meant to hurt you. Can I at least explain?”I long to hear you repeat that same line again,to hear you call me your armour, to tell me that I’m all you have. Will you ever come back to me?

     Yes, I was deeply hurt. It was that cool evening, I’d kept four pieces of roasted corn in our only cockroach ridden flask. We’d agreed that you’ll buy coconut from Blessing on credit, so we can have a sumptuous meal for dinner. Having sold the last set of roasted corn to a God sent man after the rain started drizzling, I packed up quickly to set out for home. The evening felt good at the thought of the roasted corn and coconut that we’d have for dinner and I found myself mumbling our favorite song.

“we’ll overcome, yes we will…"

We sing this together anytime we don’t have to persuade the kids to sleep on a water-filled tummy.

     Angela noticed my happiness as we walked home, my only friend. Then she decided to break to me the news that changed our lives till today. She told me what our neighbor discussed with her about you and Tola, your boss’s only daughter. He told my friend about it because we don’t get along but he wanted me to know anyways. He has always been a good man. The apple of his eyes like he always says, our neighbor that works as her dad’s driver told her about your lunch date with her, about how close you both became recently, how much your boss's daughter liked your commitment to your recent relationship and trusts you. The intensity of the rain seemed to increase, the wind howled uncontrollably. Without noticing, I walked out of the shade of my friend’s umbrella and walked blindly through the rain. It seemed like minutes to several hours but I stood there for a long time, the rain beating me mercilessly as if punishing me for believing in our love. It poured and poured and I stood till my heart froze…

    On getting home, I saw you coming out of her car.

”Even if you would date another woman, it shouldn’t be her, You shouldn’t have done it” I raged. 

You stood there with a blank expression like an emotionless being while I poured my heart out. 

“So it was true” I concluded.

 I wished you told me that it wasn’t, I wished you defended yourself even if I wasn’t gonna believe but you didn’t. You only watched while I rake. With that same expression…the one I understood to be guilt.

    I ignored you from days to weeks till it was a month. I blamed you continuously for betraying the trust that I built in you. For piercing my heart with Elsa’s spear and freezing it. I worked tirelessly day and night to earn us a living, to build the single room at the outskirt of the city that housed our hunger-ridden bodies, to tack together the rags that shroud us and the kids, to get the tiny morsels that fed our tummies. You just got a job with Tola's dad and we hoped it was better than M&B where you worked tirelessly without pay.” my armour, I’m sorry…I never meant to hurt you. Can I at least explain?" This same lyrics that I crave to hear now was composed by you days after my heart froze. It was always your method, watching me rake then coming to explain later but it was too late. Your guilty expression explained it all, what else was there to explain?

    Your continuous acts of true love didn’t thaw my frozen heart. And like Elsa, fear and guilt became your only companion. You got so pale after two weeks but I didn’t care. Like an exhumed ghost, your eyeballs looked like they would come out of their sockets. Day after day, you diminished like naira’s value. You spent most of your days out and I assumed you were with her. Your nights you spent begging to explain.

    Little did I know that I never understood you. Yes, your expression was that of guilt but not for flirting with Tola, you felt guilty for wanting to surprise me and failing, for making me feel like I meant nothing to you. I didn’t know that all that was between both of you was business, she wanted to loan you capital to start a farm like you always dreamed, if you perform well in the new contract. Angela meant to break the good news to me but I didn’t listen till the end. I watered the seeds of jealousy until they grew into branched trees that I couldn’t cut.  

I wished I had a second thought when the doctor said that you died of depression.

Note : This story is nothing but a fiction

Maybe it is a true that we uniform men don't have a heart_maybe not... All I know is that we do what ever we have to do to protect our country, integrity, property and most importantly, lives. Well, if you are one of those who believe we've lost our souls on the battle fields , perhaps this story would help repair your misconception. First, I need you to know that I am writing this after we had just finished repelling an attack on small village in Maiduguri .

It was exactly 4:35 am when the commander badged in with a message from the Chief of army. We've just had one of the slight opportunities to take a nap after the army's relocation to Borno. Our operations have increased in severity ever since then. My squad own the day time job of monitoring the road blocks. We inspect every single vehicle that patronizes the road. Until 10pm when we are allowed to shift for the nighters who take the watch till day breaks , we remain under the scorching sun,searching and inspecting.
One thing different I noticed about the urgent morning call was the presence of the chief himself. He rarely visits our dormitory. That meant real business. So we all ran towards our lockers according to the tune of the commander's voice;Run! Run!!.. I got two short guns into my boots, a sub machine gun and quite a number of grenades. Fast and furiously, we jumped into the militaty trucks and drove off the barrack.
............................................................................
Not very much had transpired before our arrival at the Village under terror attack . Although few houses were already on fire and I could hear wails of women and children. Yet, we remained under cover strategising and awaiting the next order. The formation today was quite like the usual; stealthily round up the entire scene before the terrorist can finish loading their hostages. We did just that. It was going on quite easily until the commander announced our presence. "You are surrounded... So you are advised to drop your weapons and let the hostages go! ". Well, they didn’t take his advice . About fifteen armed terrorists opened fire at us. I took corver, behind a mud house and again awaited the next command. Retaliating the fires was quite impossible except at the cost of innocent civilian lives. So we acted as bait while the militaty Plan B was being executed. Our riflers took down some of the terrorists until they started retreating with a little hostage_the girl screamed in agony "Uwar! Uwar! Uwar!" (meaning Mother! Mother! Mother! ) as she was being carted away in the lorry . Some soldiers had to stay behind to protect the remaining civilians. I happened to be one of the  five men ordered to pursue the terrorists .
We took to our heels towards the down town and kept shooting at their tyres until the vehicle eventually broke down . Okay, I need to tell you it was a trap! It was quite horrifying as I saw my men being taken down by the terrorists. It was apparent that they also had a plan B. Some more of the terrorists had waited at the down town in case of repels like this. Before I could describe what had went wrong, we were down to two men. This time, I hid myself behind a very big stone, panting. I peeped a little... Lo and behold! I saw the girl escaping behind them. I knew I had to cook up a distraction very fast before they would notice her absence. I considered of throwing my self out at them. Or I just keep calm and await back up . Before I could decide, the second soldier took the later idea and jumped out of his cover; what a sacrifice! . He received multiple bullets on is chest before dropping dead. At that instant I was sure I needed to do something or await my turn to receive the bullets. So, I reached for two of my grenades, pulled off their safety pins and tossed them towards the terrorists. The explosion raised a lot of dust into the air which made me uncertain of the number of casualties conquered by my grenades. But, I rushed swiftly through the dust to check if the girl was safe. Subhanallah! She was not.
As I run continued, Not only her hijab flowed behind her ;two of the terrorists were also fast after her;they both had no guns . Her tiny legs were unfortunately not quick enough to escape the terrorists. I dived after them with a breath of compassion. I  willed very high to save the little life at all costs... In sha Allah
She ran into a bush screaming herself out and falling at intervals . They followed. I also did.
Even though I chased with every remaining jolts of strength embedded in me, I still was quite late. The ferocious looking men already got hold of the girl. Well, I didn't even wait to see what they wanted to do with her, before doing what I had to do. I pulled the trigger of my short gun at them from behind simultaneously .
I saw the traumatic relief written on the girls face as I reached to her rescue. I could hear the innocent pounds of her heart as she looked down ran towards me. I took her into my arms, and squeezed her to my chest. And I kept chanting the word Alhamdulilah (meaning glory be to Allah) into her ears. She soon busted into even more tears as she said the word with me. 

Well, I hope my story have helped you realize that everyone's body is a jar that contains a soul - including the soldiers. We also love and care like every mortals should. And,I also hope you have learnt a lot about our dedication like to wane the reign of insurgency from the country . However we remain in dare need of your prayers. May the peace and Mercy of Allah be upon us all .

Remind me to tell you this is a fiction... It's been quite long I have written one though... I just thought I should share this one to welcome myself back into the world of fictions. Read :

And as the knife tore through his flesh, I could read the pain off his face as I pushed even harder. I lit an impish smile on his eyes . Besides he got exactly what he deserved for messing with my wife...
It all started with whirls of the cold night wind hitting upon our broken door. It was broken, so it was easy enough for him to gain an unwanted entrance into our home which lies half destroyed at the outskirts of Yobe state . He looked really horrible wearing a spiky satanic hair... I would have controlled my wife. But before I could whisper a single call for silence, she really raised a loud scream into the rather empty neighborhood . Then, he found us.

And he approached flaunting his muscles and twisting his left hand which held a sharp looking knife. He quickly ordered me to bring the money. For a moment, I wondered if he witchingly got the information about the money that was meant for our relocation from the terror infested home. Yet, I summoned a bit of religious courage "Or else what? ", I roared spitting at his horrible face. My wife screamed again. Perhaps that gave him the brilliant idea of getting an hostage. He pulled her by her veil and roared back at me "Or else, I take out our lady! ".

At that fateful instant, I could almost go on my kneels to summon his forgiveness.Well, I didn’t... I only begged for mercy. Afterall, my wife's life was worth a billion times than the money. So I walked childishly to our wardrobe, pulled out the bag and threw it at his feet. He sure looked satisfied... But I wasn't. He let my wife go anyways.

Immediately, a fluid of more courage ran through my veins. I rushed towards him with a punch aimed for knockout. But it failed ; perhaps it even made him stronger. He returned an aim of his knife at my chest, I dodged towards the wall... and the fight continued.

I could still hear my wife screaming herself out. But I just had to concentrate; I had a thief to handle ; plus my life was at stake. He pushed the knife towards me again. Although I pushed back with all the strength left in me, I could still notice he was winning. The struggle continued anyways, until a big spoon came to my rescue. It hit him from behind off his stance and before I realized what had happened, the knife was inside of the thief. All thanks to the big spoon in the hands of my darling wife. I am still wondering where the courage came from...