Yes, it’s Sunday which means we are going to church. We had to drive out of the estate and it was my first time being amongst so many people after I came home. I noticed the way strangers had their gazes lingered on us, some in admiration, some in confusion and others in emotions I didn’t pay any attention to. I tried my best to ignore it and block off the curious gazes. I am pretty sure I am not the first fair complexioned person they’ve seen all their lives. I remember being called ‘witch eyes’ by the other children in primary school because everyone else had brown eyes and I didn’t, they said whoever looked into my eyes would get cursed. Worst days of my life. Being biracial isn’t sugar and honey. I know how many times I silently asked God why I didn’t get beautiful dark brown skin and brown eyes like mom or Kaima’s caramel skin and bright brown eyes. I wanted to be normal, to be like everyone else. But being different is what makes you unique and what makes you, you. We should l
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Sneakily, Taiwo tip-toed into his grandfather’s study, being as quiet and stealthy as he possibly could, his eyes constantly gazing around to ensure no one had seen him. Quietly, he opened the lowest drawer lock with a pin he had found outside and, to his utmost surprise, after a few twists and turns, the lock snapped opened. A victorious grin spread across his face as he laid eyes on the documents inside the drawer, his international passport, birth certificate and all the original copies of other important documents needed to leave the country and start anew. He took them out with a smile and carefully put them into his backpack along with the flight tickets he had secretly bought a week ago; finally, everything he needs is complete. He left the study coolly with his usual grim expression plastered on his face. He couldn’t let anyone notice his happiness. Things were finally going his way this once in his life and yet he could not show it. No one could know, or it would be a waste o
Emelie's POV Whenever I look at Zara, the guilt in my heart engulfs me. It gets difficult to breathe and my only solace is seeing her smile, seeing her being happy. I know what I'm doing is wrong, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right? The way she limped up the stairs still disturbs me. Kaima was simply careless and I couldn't stop myself from throwing daggers at her with my eyes... she was too occupied to notice, anyway. She sat opposite me on our study table but she was too engrossed and at some intervals too excited to be the same girl who always groans at the sight of her books. Even I wouldn't and I can say for a fact that I love studying, except... I zoomed my sight on the book in her hands. That wasn't her basic technology textbook. It's a novel, one that isn't part of her literature class and the title- 'One night with the playboy' "A night with the casa nova?! Seriously?" She jolted but quickly recovered and looked at me with a shy smile as she closed the novel,
Zara's POV "No grandma, you have to come with me too. I will not leave you here" I held on to her but she only smiled sadly as she pushed me through the barricade. "I cannot go with you dear. You have so much to fight for and my time is over. I belong here now" I shook my head crying. I tried reaching out to her again but an invisible wall blocked my movements "No...no grandma don't do this to me. Please," I allowed my tears flow as I looked into her eyes that were just like mine. She was right in front of me yet it felt like we were so far apart. I was losing her, I could tell. "They need you. You must go back, and always remember that I love you." Her eyes softened. No, I cannot accept this. She pushed me through when it should have been her. "I may not be with you but am always around you" Those were the last words I heard before everything began to swirl and something unseen sucked me in. "Grandma..." ************************************* After much struggling with myself
My parents soon returnedwith bright smiles on their faces looking like people who just won a lottery. They looked so happy obviously I could tell that it was because I was finally awake. But for how long have I been like this? Lying on a hospital bed like a lifeless figurine statue. I wondered how my family felt about my injury or whatever reason why I've been here this whole time.For some reason my body wanted to jump off the bed to do something which was still a blur to me. I didn't know why but my legs were ready to wander off though I knew deep down inside that I can't move around as easily as before, perhaps they wanted to complete something I left off. The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt....."Don't force yourself" It was the lady doctor "Everything will come back to you at its own time. You should relax" It was like she could read my mind.Her words made me relax and even my legs which were aching to move relaxed. Two n
I woke up sweating bullets as my heart raced painfully in fear. I just couldn't understand what had just happened or why that just happened. I didn't want to think much about it and go back to sleep but that was extremely difficult. As I closed my eyes all I could see were those hunting images from the dream I had and thinking about it just made my headache start. I wanted to lift my hand to massage my head but I was still immobile. I could feel my hands but I needed to put in a lot of effort to move a finger and those constant movements were making my headache emerge from bad to worse. My heart beat which was in unison with the annoying beeping from the machine were the only sounds that accompanied me in the silent dim room. It was terrifying and plus the room seemed to get closer and closer and every sound in the room including the tiniest sound of water dripping from that sink along with that beeping seemed to get louder. My head was heavy and full of something, maybe blood. I felt
Wow, just wow. After I made myself believe that I can actually take control and continue from where I stopped I hear this! Do they know what I am going through with this news? How? How will I pull through? Just how exactly do I do that? Well, I am getting discharged today. I can walk properly now, I guess all the therapy at rehab actually paid off. I have been trying really hard to remember something, anything, but things just remain as there were. The part that gets on my nerves the most is that I still see myself as a thirteen year old girl but in reality I am a nineteen year old who has been in asleep for three years and stuck with memories back dated by three years, well that's great isn't it? But just like my mum said, 'be grateful to god for life' for real I am thankful for waking up after two years of being coma and miraculously finding my way back to life. But indeed I have paid quite a heavy price for the life I am living. I closed my eyes and allowed the cool air sweep acr
I froze in shock at how terrible what I saw made me feel. I thought things are bad but this was beyond my imagination or at least my estimate of how bad things were. I did not expect things to be at such a bad state that a person like Chukwuemelie would be so rude to our father. I remember that he really looked up to dad. When we were younger, he would always stay up to wait for dad to help him with his assignments and projects, I could do most of them but he always insisted and I always ended up doing them anyway. Dad just wasn't there, but is that really enough reason for him to be so full of anger, anger directed towards the one person he considered a role model?It was pretty obvious that everyone entirely lost their appetite judging from how uncomfortable they all seemed. This is very overwhelming and honestly I really don't think I can take it anymore. I stood up and excused myself saying that I am tried. I need to escape this suffocating atmosphere and have a talk with
Today is going- not so great. I went about my day as usual- or rather as I remember. I pampered myself in the warm shower and stayed in there till the water lost its warmth. Standing in front of my full length mirror, I looked at my reflection I still couldn’t believe my eyes. I was simply shaken to the core as I stood in front of the mirror staring at my body. My hand flew to my mouth to prevent myself from crying out loud. I didn’t want to alarm my family. I was very disappointed in myself for not taking the time to notice the dark marks smearing parts of my body-the scars. There was a huge one on my back. It looked like my back was terribly burnt, maybe roasted over fire. It looked very displeasing to the eye. I began to cry again as I tore off the rest of my clothes. I had to see the rest of my body, would it be worst? No, nothing could be worse than the scar covering the entire area of my lower back stretching from side to side. Once again I stood i
Emelie's POV Whenever I look at Zara, the guilt in my heart engulfs me. It gets difficult to breathe and my only solace is seeing her smile, seeing her being happy. I know what I'm doing is wrong, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right? The way she limped up the stairs still disturbs me. Kaima was simply careless and I couldn't stop myself from throwing daggers at her with my eyes... she was too occupied to notice, anyway. She sat opposite me on our study table but she was too engrossed and at some intervals too excited to be the same girl who always groans at the sight of her books. Even I wouldn't and I can say for a fact that I love studying, except... I zoomed my sight on the book in her hands. That wasn't her basic technology textbook. It's a novel, one that isn't part of her literature class and the title- 'One night with the playboy' "A night with the casa nova?! Seriously?" She jolted but quickly recovered and looked at me with a shy smile as she closed the novel,
Sneakily, Taiwo tip-toed into his grandfather’s study, being as quiet and stealthy as he possibly could, his eyes constantly gazing around to ensure no one had seen him. Quietly, he opened the lowest drawer lock with a pin he had found outside and, to his utmost surprise, after a few twists and turns, the lock snapped opened. A victorious grin spread across his face as he laid eyes on the documents inside the drawer, his international passport, birth certificate and all the original copies of other important documents needed to leave the country and start anew. He took them out with a smile and carefully put them into his backpack along with the flight tickets he had secretly bought a week ago; finally, everything he needs is complete. He left the study coolly with his usual grim expression plastered on his face. He couldn’t let anyone notice his happiness. Things were finally going his way this once in his life and yet he could not show it. No one could know, or it would be a waste o
Yes, it’s Sunday which means we are going to church. We had to drive out of the estate and it was my first time being amongst so many people after I came home. I noticed the way strangers had their gazes lingered on us, some in admiration, some in confusion and others in emotions I didn’t pay any attention to. I tried my best to ignore it and block off the curious gazes. I am pretty sure I am not the first fair complexioned person they’ve seen all their lives. I remember being called ‘witch eyes’ by the other children in primary school because everyone else had brown eyes and I didn’t, they said whoever looked into my eyes would get cursed. Worst days of my life. Being biracial isn’t sugar and honey. I know how many times I silently asked God why I didn’t get beautiful dark brown skin and brown eyes like mom or Kaima’s caramel skin and bright brown eyes. I wanted to be normal, to be like everyone else. But being different is what makes you unique and what makes you, you. We should l
No matter how many times I’d tell Kaima that it was fine, the fear vividly written all over her face never disappeared, even once. She was mumbling to herself and her breathing was rapid. It pained me to see her in that state and being unable to do anything about it made me feel even worst.As expected, mum and Emelie made a huge fuss about my ‘injuries’ and even scolded my little sister for not taking good care of me “I knew I should have gone with you two. Now look what happened to Zara. Kaima what were you thinking? Ke ihe ino neme?” that was the very first time I heard him speak in our local language Igbo, and he sounded furious. Now that’s uncalled for.“But I…” Kaima tried explaining herself but she was directly cut off by Emelie“But nothing, you were careless ““Emelie stop it! I fell on my own, it not like she pushed me down or something. And besides, what exactly d
Kaima was right. The fresh air I breathed in, the wind gently kissing my skin, it all felt perfect. I did need to step out and it helped clear up my messy mind. We didn’t go too far, only walked a few blocks down. No matter how good and free I felt I still couldn’t get that tinge of worry within me out of my system. It continued looming in my mind like some wronged spirit seeking vengeance without any thoughts of stopping till its goals get accomplished. I sighed heavily… “Zara are you okay?” the concerned voice of my sister pulled my out of the reverie I had let myself get lost in. I beamed at her “Of course I'm fine.” “It must all be confusing-” she suddenly stated. Her eyes were looking straight ahead yet they were not focused on anything in particular. She looked so wise and much more mature. She must have noticed my confusion so she explained further “Waking up to two years in the future...” “Technically I woke up five years into the futu
“She really likes Emelie but he is still in denial.” I looked at her wide eyed. But on second thought, I reminded myself that she was no longer a little kid and of course she would know about stuff like this so no need to be surprised. “Don’t tell him I said that though, he always gives me the cold shoulder whenever I say that.” She said whispering in my ear. It was surprising that the smart girl in front of me in fact is the same child who always raised her hands in demand to get carried. I smiled at the memory, too bad I’ll never get to see her that way again. Surely, time did fly, very quickly I might add. “Of course I’m not going to say a word to him.” I assured her. “Does she always come here?” “Not really but she lives in the next house so we get to see her every day.” Kaima’s answer made me happy. I wanted to meet Lisa again. I wanted to ask her what exactly statement meant. I very well remembered what she had said and with the way my ‘big’ brother shunned her
She looked down, hiding her face from his piercing gaze. The atmosphere got cold real quick. I could not stand it any longer so I spoke up, I might have as well turned into an ice statue if I didn’t say anything. “Emelie…” my voice came out softly but firm. He doesn’t have any reason to be so mean to her. But he didn’t look my way. He kept silent and still like he didn’t hear me or did I also turn invisible? I really do hate the way I felt and I very well knew that I shouldn’t have had such emotions running through me, but still I felt like I was an insignificant entity at that moment. I wanted to yell at him to stop ignoring me. I may have the mind of a thirteen year old but I’m eighteen and the older sister. Suddenly he jerked up harshly from his seat and took the text book out of her grasp. “You’ve given me the book right? Now I think you should leave?” His emotionless voice sounded unfamiliar to me. It doesn’t sound like my little brother or the ca
Today is going- not so great. I went about my day as usual- or rather as I remember. I pampered myself in the warm shower and stayed in there till the water lost its warmth. Standing in front of my full length mirror, I looked at my reflection I still couldn’t believe my eyes. I was simply shaken to the core as I stood in front of the mirror staring at my body. My hand flew to my mouth to prevent myself from crying out loud. I didn’t want to alarm my family. I was very disappointed in myself for not taking the time to notice the dark marks smearing parts of my body-the scars. There was a huge one on my back. It looked like my back was terribly burnt, maybe roasted over fire. It looked very displeasing to the eye. I began to cry again as I tore off the rest of my clothes. I had to see the rest of my body, would it be worst? No, nothing could be worse than the scar covering the entire area of my lower back stretching from side to side. Once again I stood i
I froze in shock at how terrible what I saw made me feel. I thought things are bad but this was beyond my imagination or at least my estimate of how bad things were. I did not expect things to be at such a bad state that a person like Chukwuemelie would be so rude to our father. I remember that he really looked up to dad. When we were younger, he would always stay up to wait for dad to help him with his assignments and projects, I could do most of them but he always insisted and I always ended up doing them anyway. Dad just wasn't there, but is that really enough reason for him to be so full of anger, anger directed towards the one person he considered a role model?It was pretty obvious that everyone entirely lost their appetite judging from how uncomfortable they all seemed. This is very overwhelming and honestly I really don't think I can take it anymore. I stood up and excused myself saying that I am tried. I need to escape this suffocating atmosphere and have a talk with