here are situations in life that are at the same time ridiculous and comical. Kathleen Streamer always believed that life was composed of two irreplaceable elements; the tragedy arising from a totally unamusing situation and the comedy that the perpetrator feels. The attitude of her husband was expected. A broken man with a vague feeling of not being good enough could do anything to prove he was the perfect father of every child. But who said he was a bad father? Kathleen Streamer was in perfect ignorance of the whole affair. The short letter from the mission school was brief. Her husband, Richard Streamer had violated their school policy by destroying a property owned by the school. According to the letter, he had smashed a jar filled with holy water. How could he refute the school's judgement on his son when James had gone on his own accord? In the rage of that long night when he sat down and explained his plans of leaving for Africa, he had forgotten to tell her about the disaste

 Efulefu was lost and he had to find a place to hide from his master that was chasing him from behind with a machete. If he failed to hide he would die. He was running down the middle of the path when the rope on his waist fell down and hit the sand. The path was clear and open.  Every tree he passed was still where it had been in the beginning. Their branches were brown and leaves, green. His side hurt because he had been running for a long period of time but Osisiakalaka was in no haste to stop pursuing him.The sound of Osisiakalaka's footsteps behind him made him push himself further down the path. He knew what he had done was against the rules Osisiakalaka had set for him when he decided to be his companion. "Pray that the gods don't allow you to fall as you are running so fast because if they do, I will make sure I seep the little life that is remaining in your body for having the bravery to steal my o

 About fifty years ago when the grey boxes covered the sky and blocked out the sun with their mass, the services of a diviner was greatly needed in a village suffering from lack of rain. The name of the village was Umuoku and their chief priest who solved these kind of problems had recently passed away, making it impossible for them to communicate with the gods without the help of a potent diviner. A meeting was called in the village square and elders were invited to share their thoughts on the issue. The grandfather of Ibekwe was also invited and he came with his wife Ihuoma.When the meeting started, Ofu was given the privilege to address the crowd and he took the opportunity by walking straight to the top of the podium."Great people of Umuoku," Ofu bellowed, "Wonderful people of this great village I greet you all.""Yaa!" The people responded."Everyone seated today in this gathering is aware that I a

 The sad day was friday for a man who feared he had lost his children even though he hadn't. Rain fell slowly and the town was calm as the water poured over the roofs. It was a lively evening and everywhere was dazzling as fathers who had returned from work came together to celebrate the last day of labour for the week by having special dinners in quality restaurants with their children but that was not the case of the man who had not been able to sleep well since the day he heard his son was gone— taken away from him and sailing without his permission to Africa.Richard Streamer sat at the Billy Landy bar, remembering the night he had told Kathleen he was going to Africa. It was almost two weeks now and he was still in England sharing a bottle of beer with some couple of friends, and each of them bragging about their personal achievements as they ordered more drinks.He took a rumpled letter from his pocket. He had planned to send the letter to his

When the first palm wine entered Okoli's throat, it dawned on him that his death was near and there was nothing anyone could do about it including himself.Outside the window of his small hut, a full moon had risen, dazzling and vivid, blotting out all other celestial bodies. Okoli gazed at his two sons that he had condemned, lost in his thoughts of all that had happened in the village square.He knew that he didn't deserve the love and comfort that his sons were showing him and he felt bad for not appreciating their efforts even when they tried their best to be the perfect children that a parent could have.As Ibekwe and Ifeme left him for the white man's hut, Okoli thought of what was going to happen to him when Osisiakalaka finally decides his fate. Would he be killed? Would he be thrown into the forest? Would he be banished?Outside the window of his hut, a pair of stars were dancing, lifting their voices and slowly making it to fade away. Some moment