Madrid, 2020
The printer in the office of the secretary was unusually undersized as far as Blackwheel's memory could take him back to the last time he saw a machine of that nature. The two doors leading to the office were now locked as the secretary began typing instructions into the computer with a black keyboard while half-observing the sound of the printer.
"Pronto terminaré," the secretary said in Spanish.
"How long do I have to wait?" Blackwheel asked.
"Unos minutos!"
As the printer warmed up to release more colored sheets of paper, the time Blackwheel spent in Italy with Alberto came into full view. The torture and brutality he had to endure as he watched Man drive a silver blade into the heart of his dear friend, Alberto weakened his parched soul. He could clearly remember the eyes of his dying friend who had taught him to love even in hard times. Still, he couldn't figure out how th
Madrid, 2020Betrayals were tiny voluminous black insects that Blackwheel had gotten used to seeing around. They stuck at him with a quick glare while waiting for the appropriate time to bite. The void he felt within him pressed down like a starless night, and all he could do as he felt the emptiness spread out around his body like a desolate retarded parasite was to embrace it. He embraced every sense of pain he could feel and made them a part of him. He embraced every sense of friendship he had lost and made them his past. He embraced every sense of hope he felt within him and turned it into his future. It was the second night in a row when he had woken up from a terrible nightmare with the image of Alberto stretching across his mind. He could see Alberto's face in an innocent light, staring widely at the Pacific Ocean as if he would take a dive once the opportunity presented itself to him.Perfecto!And then, in a flash, Alberto was gone like the thick wind c
Madrid, 2020The lights were turned off as Blackwheel reentered the motel. It was the fifth night he was spending in the same room, in the same pair of clothes, far away from his mission to find Man. Less than three minutes ago, he would have confirmed he was mentally deranged when he saw a car moving speedily towards his direction in a way that made him imagine he was lost in one of his common dreams about Alberto. But he was totally wrong. It took the sharp response of an incoming teenager who saw him staring blankly at the driver of the car that would have hit him to pull him an inch away from death. Yet, Blackwheel knew within his heart that his time to die had not come. He knew within his heart that the car wouldn't have killed him even if it had hit him. Still, he wished the boy had asked before deeming it fit to rescue him from a fate he had personally decided. Less pain. Less thoughts. Less people. Less Alberto! He s
Owerri, 2020Ifenna fanned through the pages quickly as he searched for the missing necklace his friend had told him about. Over seven hundred in all and yet, he was unable to make sense of it. The author of the book he was looking at must have been a busy man throughout his career and the entries he had apparently written were joined together in no chronologically order, one by one, they all told stories of different civilization that had been buried during mankind's quest for power.As Ifenna stared at the book again, feeling confused and tired, another disheartening thought occurred to him. It was one of the pages of the book that had been written with the title of a man who shared the surname with a woman he met about two years ago. The title of the page he was looking at was written in bold capital letters.JAMES BLACKWHEELHe attempted to look deeper when his partner, Kainene entered his room and t
Owerri, 2020An iciness raked Ifenna's flesh as he looked at the list of items he had bought from the supermarket. The day before he had read the story about James Blackwheel and then he had thought about Maria Blackwheel. Thoughts he couldn't explain to anyone but himself. Now, as he looked at the cashier in the supermarket, rechecking if the money he had given to her was correct, all he could think about was his meeting with Maria."Is it complete?" He asked."Yes, it is! You can take your package and leave. Thank you, sir!""You are welcome!" Ifenna said.
Madrid, 2020Blackwheel seemed to read Matthew's mind as he drove quietly to a busy marketplace in Madrid."Your help was really appreciated yesterday," Matthew said, turning to Blackwheel. He smiled. "Someday, I will be ready to pay you back for what you did for me and my kids. In my family, giving is like forgiveness. It was created to be shared and not selfishly stored. There are some people who will be placed in your position and still do otherwise.""It is just a car," Blackwheel said, trying to prevent himself from smiling. "Anyone could have helped you if they had seen your kids inside your car.""I doubt!" Matthew said with confidence. "Human nature has grown from bad to worse. People are only interested in what you can give them and not what they can give you. I would love to thank God for placing you in that position yesterday but I don't believe in him. So, I am at the middle of deciding if I should thank him or stay the same.""Yo
Owerri, 2020Two days had passed since Ifenna read a part of a book that talked about James Blackwheel and all he could think about, buried within the very deepest parts of his mind was Maria Blackwheel.In his short life, he had been blessed to meet people who were able to expose him to puzzles of life, difficult situation that he couldn't comprehend. And all he could do was respond with a faint nod to show that he was listening, that he was understanding even though he wasn't."Dinner is ready," Kainene said, folding a newspaper underneath her armpit covered with small curly black hairs."I will soon be there," Ifenna responded, rubbing his face with his hard palm. He couldn't get the thoughts of Maria out of his head neither could he accept the fact that there was a strong connection between her and James Blackwheel.As he sat for another ten seconds, his mind shut down, trying very hard to resist travelling a little bit back in time when
Madrid, 2020As Blackwheel drew closer to the statue that had made Matthew's daughter shake, he saw something that was quite familiar to him. He saw the biblical figure, David in it.He stared at the naked man who appeared to be pointing towards the sky for a while and frowned. Then, slowly, he stepped back as he trembled with a new idea that had flooded his mind."I looked it up in the Internet, Dad," Martha continued. "It wasn't in this shape. The naked man was pointing east and not towards the sky.""It doesn't matter," Matthew comforted his daughter. "Statues undergo renovation sometimes. Maybe that is what happened to your friendly naked man.""Your dad is right about the statue, Martha," Blackwheel said. He strained; the muscles of his shoulders and legs quivered with effort. He faced Matthew. "I will have to go now while you sort out things with your daughter. If you ever need me Matthew, you can call the number I am going to g
Madrid, 2020Even with the sound of the music in the room buzzing his ears, Blackwheel seemed to not notice that he had been sitting quietly for almost half an hour, thinking about a ball that rocketed across an old bridge in England and landed inside the heart of an old tomb that was once the dwelling place of an important earl.All the traffic that was going on his mind was moving in the other direction, in the opposite direction that he couldn't notice, towards the negativity of his mind, as if he had suddenly become the hottest man on earth."God bless my soul," he said as he brought out a rosary that was lying on top of the drawer."God bless my soul and the soul of all those who has died carelessly in an effort to return sanity to mankind," he said again as he kissed the rosary gently.Ten hours later and he was sitting in the backseat of an already filled bus, different questions whipping through his mind as he tried to find the nearest chur
Chibuzor Victor Obih was born in the southern part of Nigeria. Delta State to be precise. His writing includes essays, poetry and short stories. He likes to play soccer, read, study and above all, write. He is currently a fourth year student of a renowned public university in Nigeria. The University of Port-Harcourt is where he is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. The Last Full Moon is his third book and his third attempt to explore the beautiful world of a novelist.
Kano, 2022There was no light. There was no sound. There was no imaginary figure running around his mind and playing games with him. The road that was up above him was clear and black. Fear, Ifenna now realized, was an intense rush of displeasure that motivated a man to run for the security of his own life. Short of breath, he fumbled through the blackness towards the road, almost staggering, almost allowing the image of seeing Kelvin raising a gun and shooting at him revolve around his head. He found a soft spot and made an attempt to rest when he realized that he had to make sure that Jane was safe. But how could he reach her when he couldn't remember where he had last seen his phone? Just then, as he was thinking about the location of his phone, an alarm he had set up in his phone about a week ago to make sure he attended all the morning exercises class rang. He reached out towards his left pockets and brought his phone out. He smiled as he felt grateful that some unfo
Pennsylvania, 2022Maria sat very still, listening and not listening. She was looking at the face of the man who had come in place of James Blackwheel, to ask for her forgiveness and understanding. If someone had asked her to repeat the words of the preacher, she would not have been able to do so without making a single mistake because she didn't understand what he meant when he told her to forgive and forget. She didn't understand the ease he felt as he let those words slide out from his tongue as if it would take away all the atrocities that James Blackwheel had committed in his life. But she felt and sensed the genuineness in the preacher's voice and she saw meaning as she tried to reason in the same plain he was reasoning. As the preacher talked more about forgiveness and its positive impact in the modern society, a vast dark silent void lifted away from her eyes and she could see familiar images which grew large and powerful; familiar images of Blackwheel planting hi
Pennsylvania, 2022Not once during the five days following the explanation behind Uju and Abby's death had an image of their dead bodies buried underneath the ground come into Maria's mind. She had thought about it bitterly until she could no longer cry or think again. She had thrust the whole scene back and forth, and there it still lay, monstrous, horrible and terrifying as it had been before. She was not much of a believer but she believed in the power of words and truth. And to think that her ancestral father, James Blackwheel who she had never met was involved in their deaths made her feel awful and sad. She was not so much in a bad stupor or in a wayward lane with brown leaves falling quickly with no end. She was in a bizarre situation where she saw Uju and Abby begging for their lives and being punished for doing so.Having been briefed by Detective Doe about the incident that had kept her in the dark, she made a quick call to Clark with the hope that he would answe
Lagos, 2022Kelvin stopped listening, feeling fear for the first time. He had not thought that the message sent to him using a foreign number was a solution to his love problem with Sharon. A solution that came with a price. How could he explain to Ifenna that the gift Maria had given to him during his last trip to America was greatly desired by a group of people who tagged themselves as members of a secret organization called the 'Priory of Göteborg'? Oh, Lord! He was drunk. The members of the 'Priory of Göteborg' were all drunk to think he would accept their offer and take the life of Ifenna because of love. How could he? The instructions he had gotten from them was clear and simple. Take the necklace and eliminate the target. But how could he do that when he was greatly attached to Ifenna in ways that the members of the Brotherhood didn't understand? How could someone who knew absolutely nothing about his life choose him as a tool to achieve their quest? What
Lagos, 2017KELVIN:Hey! How are you doing? I finally came back! I missed talking to you! How have things been going on your side?BELLA:Hey! Good morning! Or afternoon to you I think! It is great to see you back. I missed you!KELVIN:I missed you too. Good afternoon!BELLA:It is 7 am here and I'm hooking up my morning coffee drip. The weather is really not that bad. I am sure you can relate with the feeling of the weather. It feels cold but it isn't. I think the weather is in a good mood today.KELVIN:So, do you have a pipe inside your body? That is great! Honestly, it is!BELLA:I don't have a pipe inside my body! Coffee is great! Lol! All day long! I never see the need to sleep.KELVIN:You seem happy today. That is a good trait.BELLA:I suppose so.. every once in a while it happens. I guess I am happy today because you finally came back. It is always great to reunite with a long lost friend even if he has
Lagos, 2017KELVIN:What is your real name then? Mender? Bella? I don't want to make any assumptions about your real name so you wouldn't feel bad about it. I was trained to accept people's decisions on things affecting them. I respect privacy.BELLA:Hi. Your pic is adorable. Whose baby? Is that you?KELVIN:No! Just placed a baby there because I have been unhappy lately. Glad you like it.BELLA:I love all babies but more from a distance lol. When they are close they are all noisy, little germ machines lol. Except for my children, they are perfect, naturally perfect. They don't look like pumpkins with bitter tears.KELVIN:That is good to hear. So, which one is your name? Mender or Bella?BELLA:Bella. Bella is my real name.I was planning on using Mender as a pen name for a new genre I am working on. Like I told you before if you can remember, I am an author.KELVIN:Alright. That would be a lovely ide
Ontario, 1983It was morning. The church bells had just began to ring when Blackwheel arrived. In the dark and silent room, the drab light of the weary sun outside filtered in through the silky curtain, allowing a limited passage of light. Already, the coming of the sun had been announced through the sound of the bell like a messenger sent forth to disseminate information for the time being."I have to prepare early. I don't have much time for myself or for anyone," Blackwheel muttered to himself and yawned. He was feeling tired from the long walk he had had a day before.Sitting himself up, in an upright position, he held his head with his hands as if he was trying to adjust it and move it away from his neck. It was as though his mind was about splitting from his head. His eyes roamed to the door which led to the entrance of his room when he heard a noise. He was expecting someone but due to the delay, the little hope that rose in his heart about ten hours ago had died dow
Lagos, 2017KELVIN:Why? Is there a problem.ZOE:Just have different priority lately.KELVIN:What kind of priority. I thought we promised to be really close?ZOE:Yea, we did! Someone close to me went through a difficult ordeal and I spent a lot of time with him, I have had to babysit my three year old nephew a lot. Also, I reconnected with a friend I haven’t seen in six years and I am trying to write a novel, and even after a full regiment of antibiotics my cough is getting worse. Sometimes life happens. If it is a problem for you, then maybe don’t wait after me so much. I can’t promise hours of texts daily. I spend already that time nearly daily just answering everyone who texts me and ask for help with their writing or publishing platforms (on top of everything else), social media is turning into a full time job and I am trying to reduce that and keep my focus on writing but it is hard. I only have so many hours in