Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
HISTORICAL FICTION
Writer: lilypiv Prompt Picture: Bronze Head, unearthed in Ife, Nigeria.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What are we doing here?" Ariyike enquired in a whisper as she and her brother - Ajani - made way through an underground cave, hidden deep in the outskirts of their town, Kirikiri.
Earlier in their hut, her brother had told her they were going to get herbs needed for their dying mother's recovery, but with each step they took, her uncertainty doubled.
"Sssh!" He shushed, slowing his footsteps as they saw a patterned wall - unlike the other areas of the cave with rough and jagged surfaces - He brought his hand towards the wall and began counting the patterns, starting from the middle.
"Okan, eji, eta,...,eewa."
He pushed the pattern whose number was ten making Ariyike wonder if he was sane. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭?
A loud noise resounded - the pattern was finally pushed into the wall - making the cave shake, sending Ariyike and Ajani to the ground as the wall revealed an opening.
Without hesitation, Ajani dashed into the opening, coming back out with a bronze head. She was about to question him when rocks started falling.
When she turned to her brother, she realised he had left her.
BOOM! Rocks fell on her, burying her.
CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Title: Dirty Writer: symply_ella Prompt Picture: Art by shofcoker | Instagram
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Her reflection was dirty as Shah stared at herself.
Was she really that ugly? Was the colour of her skin really despicable?
The other girls at Caldwell Prep certainly thought so. They teased and poked and whispered about her behind her back.
Shah was odd. She was a stranger. A drop of ink amongst a sea of pale faces.
Shah was dirty.
Behind her, the door swung open and the cleaner walked into the girls' bathroom, swiping a mop across the floor and whistling a tune.
Shah stared at her.
She was short and plump, in a pleasing way, with an open face and a ready smile despite how rude some of the girls were to her. Shah considered her amazing, but not even for all those attributes.
The cleaner had the same color skin Shah did.
Was that why the girls hated her? Did they think she was in the same class as the school cleaner?
The woman caught her watching, and straightened with a small smile.
"Hey, how you?" She spoke in broken English, exposing small, slightly misshapen teeth.
"I'm fine..." She muttered, then turned back to the mirror to avoid any further conversation.
The girl in the mirror was dirty. She looked like a toilet cleaner...Suddenly as Shah stared at herself, a hand appeared in front of her, holding a damp rag, and swiped once across the glass.
Shah frowned. The hand swiped again, and again...till the mirror was clean.
With a smile, the cleaner turned with her bucket and left, as quietly as she had come in.
Shah turned back to the mirror, immediately noticing something different.
Want your flash fiction piece to stand a chance to be featured here? Look out for our Flash Fiction Friday chapter published in Naija House once every month. take care!
