LOGINThe golden boat in Mayas hand started shaking hard. Her teeth were rattling. The fake garden around her began to break. The beautiful blue sky started to peel in big dry strips. Behind the sky Maya saw a dark and messy workshop. The version of Benson she saw the one who was frozen while holding a cooking tool started to melt like a candle. His face slid downward. Turned into a puddle of golden wax on the plastic grass."No!" Maya screamed. She dropped to her knees. She tried to scoop up the wax that used to be her husbands face. "Benson stay with me! This is real! I made this real!""You didn't make anything Maya," a loud voice came from the peeling sky. It wasn't the voice of the Writer anymore. It was a chorus of many voices. Thousands of people talking at the time. "You are a mirror. You only show what the readers want to see."A giant silver needle pushed through the sky. It was as long as a car and sharper than a doctors knife. It moved toward Maya with an scary rhythm. Maya scra
The wooden boat on the teachers desk was not just sitting there. It started to leak.. It was not leaking water. A thick dark liquid came out of the wood. It looked like blood but it smelled like fresh ink from a pen. Mayas breath stopped in her throat. She looked at the three doctors sitting in front of her for the exam. Their faces were still as stone. Their eyes were fixed on their paper folders. They did not seem to see the black puddle spreading across the wood."Student Benson?" the lead doctor asked. She had glasses and a cold voice. "We are waiting for your answer. How do you treat a heart that's under too much pressure?"Maya felt a hand squeeze hers. It was warm and rough. It was the hand of a man who worked with tools and oil. She looked to her left. The chair was empty. Benson was gone. The invisible friend who had given her strength a second ago had vanished. Now there was a cold wind in the room.Maya started to speak. Her voice was shaking. "You treat the cause. You take
Maya's eyes were fixed on the heart monitor. It was not just beeping it was talking to her in a electronic voice. Each flash of the line on the screen was making a letter. These letters were forming a message. Mayas pupils were big from the medicine. The fear she felt.D-O-N-O-T-B-E-L-I-EV-E-H-E-R.Maya tried to sit up but her arms and legs felt heavy. They felt like they were filled with sand. Her muscles were moving a little. Her body was not listening to her. The white sheets on the hospital bed felt sharp like a thousand knives cutting her skin."Be careful Maya " the other Maya said. She was standing at the end of the bed. She was wearing a coat that was shining with a fake light. She had a clipboard. It did not have any medical papers. It had pages from Mayas notebook. "The medicine is still working. You should not try to talk."Mayas jaw got tight. She made her throat work. Her tongue felt bitter. "Where is Benson?" she whispered.The other Maya stopped. Her pen was still over
The bus station did not just smell like fuel and sweat anymore. It smelled like books that were burning. Mayas heart was beating fast. It was a sound that made her eyes go blurry. She grabbed Bensons blue work suit. Her fingers were tight. She was shaking a lot."Maya take it easy! You are tearing my clothes " Benson said. He tried to laugh.. His smile died when he saw her face. "You look like you have seen a ghost. You look like you are seeing one now.""We have to go, Benson. The shadows... Look at the shadows!" Maya said.She pointed at the floor. A woman carrying a basket of food walked past them. The woman was moving.. Her shadow stayed behind. The shadow was stuck to the ground. Then it started to move. It did not follow the woman. It turned its head toward Maya. Its eyes were empty."What is happening?" Bensons voice was quiet. He dropped his soda. The glass broke. The liquid spilled around his boots.. It did not spread. It formed letters on the floor.RUN, LITTLE DOCTOR."I do
The loud happy noise of the hospital parking lot did not just fade away; it turned into a ringing sound that made Maya’s teeth ache. One second she was laughing with Benson under the sun in Nigeria. The second the air felt thick and oily. The sun looked like a glowing eye painted onto a flat blue ceiling."Benson do not move " Maya whispered. Her heart was racing.She reached into her pocket. Felt the cold hard wood of the small boat. The tiny silver leaf inside was glowing brightly. Across from her Benson froze. His smile was still there. His eyes were changing. They were turning into silver mirrors."Maya? Why is the sky peeling off?" Benson’s voice was shaking.Maya looked up. A giant crack had appeared in the sky. It was a tear in a piece of paper. Behind the color there was a deep endless black hole. Giant drops of ink began to fall like rain."Run!" Maya grabbed Benson’s hand.They ran toward the surgical building. Every time Maya’s feet hit the ground it felt soft. The world wa
The boat in Mayas hand was burning. It was a weird feeling that went up her arm and into her chest. Outside the car window the busy streets of Lagos were getting all fuzzy. A yellow bus in the lane was blinking on and off like a light that was about to go out. For a second it turned into a gray picture before it went back to being a real bus."Benson stop the car! Stop it now!" Maya yelled.She reached out to grab the steering wheel. Benson was really scared his eyes were wide. His face was pale. He slammed on the brakes. The car stopped right in the middle of the road. Other drivers started honking their horns. Angry men were shouting in the air."Maya what is going on? We are in the middle of traffic!" Benson was breathing hard. He looked at her like he was worried about her. His hands were gripping the wheel tight that his knuckles were white."Look at this!" Maya held the boat right in front of his face. Her hand was shaking hard the boat was almost falling. "Where did this come f
The red “On Air” sign glared at Maya—a hot, watchful eye. Across the newsroom, TV screens lined the wall. On one, she spotted her father, stuck in that dark computer room. Some thug pressed a metal weapon to the back of his head.“Ten seconds, Maya,” her uncle’s voice blared over the speakers. “Nin
Maya’s fingers scraped against the cold, rough edge of the roof. The black book—their only proof Julian was a good man—started sliding away. It hit a patch of ice and teetered, right at the edge of a five-story drop. One more slip, and the wind would tear those pages apart. All their hope, scattere
The elevator doors slid open, and right away Maya got hit with this weird mix of chemical clean and fake purple flowers. It was supposed to be soothing. All it did was make her want to throw up. She barely took a step before two guards in spotless white suits blocked her path. Each one held a glowi
The black chains twisting out of Maya’s shadow didn’t feel like metal at all. More like a heavy sadness, so cold it hurt. They hissed as they wrapped around the falling ship’s silver hull, yanking it back just before it smashed into the high-rises. Saving the city cost Maya dearly. The black ink cr







