Madrid, 2020
Blackwheel was moving slowly as he felt his stomach grow unusually wider than its original size, and it was only a matter of half a minute before he realized the enlargement of his stomach was just his mind messing around with him in an effort to make him think about the woman that had asked him questions about abortion and prostitution.
Rebecca!
He positioned himself behind the wall as he watched Rebecca coming out from the supermarket.
"Good grief," he exhaled as he watched Rebecca conceal the item she had gotten from the supermarket beneath casually crossed arms in front of her, out of sight but accessible in a flash whenever she needed to show someone what she had bought. She seemed to walk faster and faster as the gap increased, and Blackwheel struggled to keep up without drawing unnecessary attention to himself.
They walked for a while, cut across two distinct streets before Blackwheel's shoes scuffed a stone and sent him almost
Lagos, 2020Kainene let out a gasp as her partner, Ifenna approached the building.Inside the building, glowing like evil eyes covered with dust, she saw nothing except for her own sad imagination."Pathetic!" Ifenna let out a soft air."I thought I saw something," Kainene tried to defend herself without putting much effort.It didn't work."I can see what you thought you saw," Ifenna continued. "You probably saw a ghost covered in dust because that is the only reasonable thing that could have made you draw my attention.""I thought I saw something more than that," Kainene bit her lips."What do you think you saw?""I thought I saw a werewolf.""A werewolf?" Ifenna sighed and then hissed. "Are you trying to make a fool out of my genuine kindness?""It is far from that, honey," Kainene touched Ifenna gently. "I am serious about what I saw.""What you saw?" Ifenna moved away from her.
Lagos, 2020Ifenna had no idea where he was going as he followed Kainene from behind but he knew he had to continue following her if he wanted to prove to her that all her friends were the same, if she wanted to prove to him that all her friends were different. Kind, nice and reasonable. His elbows and knees burned as he covered more distance as if he was placed in a fire and was about to be roasted because of a false allegation laid on his head. Still, he persevered. The desire to prove Kainene wrong was his only compass, driving him slowly to follow her without hesitation, driving him slowly to endure the amount of time he was wasting without thinking otherwise."Your sister is funny," Ifenna said as he rubbed his forehead to remove the sweat that had occupied there."She is a blooming flower waiting to be touched by the right man," Kainene replied then added, "I can't wait for you to meet Sandra.""I bet she can't
Madrid, 2020Blackwheel's legs bent in the only open space he had, his feet searching for some space in the open floor above him. It was as if he was upside down, facing the ceiling. It was as if he was opposing gravity. Carefully, he turned and planted his feet on the ground. Then, as he felt a hand around his neck squeezed tighter, he closed his eyes and extended his legs like a cow that had been caught cheating. The carpet shifted, ever so slightly, but enough for him avoid touching the floor.He woke up and rubbed his face."What just happened to me?" Blackwheel asked himself as he managed to stand up from the bed and move.Outside, he felt the cold hit his body in quick movements. Then, without thinking about who was around him, who was staring at him, he pulled his shirt and kept it on the ground.Trying to build some heat by rubbing his hands together and wondering why he was feeling cold despite being a werewolf, he stayed outside for about
Budapest, 2020Man crossed his legs as Blackwheel approached him inside his office in Budapest. The call had come quickly than expected and before both of them knew what was happening, Blackwheel was inside a plane to the capital city of Hungary.Blackwheel didn't talk much as he sat down close to some guests that had come to negotiate with Man. He felt more relaxed as he admired the suit he was wearing for an unappealing meeting where he was going to be struck with sympathy and anger because of a life that had been lost, because of Alberto who Man had killed."Please, be comfortable while I ask my assistant to get you something to drink," Man said as he motioned to the guests inside his office to leave immediately because of Blackwheel's presence."Can we come back later to finalize the deal and make possible corrections to the offer we have presented?" One of the guests ask Man."Sure," Man said, rubbing his long black tie softly. "All immediate
Pennsylvania, 2020"Everything started before my father was taken away from me and I still maintain he has a right to live," the director's daughter snapped. "My dead father has a right to be treated justly. He has a right to be here with us and handling this situation as all of us are.""But he is dead," Clark corrected. "There is nothing we can do about his condition. Unless you have a way to bring him out of the grave without raising unnecessary spirits into our own affairs.""Spirits don't exists," the director's daughter laughed. "My father did exist.""We don't deny your father's existence," Maria stepped in, touching her head warmly and looking outside, to see the sun that had calmly risen and placed itself in its position of power."I understand what both of you are saying and I still maintain it is way too early for us to be taking tough decisions," the director's daughter continued."We are on the edge of falling apar
Pennsylvania, 2020The police officer and Maria dashed to the main entrance of an abandoned building. Clark found the wooden door locked and told the police officer. The police officer reacted quickly and fired three shots from his semi-automatic into the ancient bolt, and it shattered. The door opened.Slowly, the police officer led the way, feeling confused that he had met the door wide open an hour ago only to see it closed now."What is it?" Maria asked as they stopped."They were right there," the police officer replied, looking awkwardly at the spot where he had seen the dead body of two people who were important to Maria. He turned to his partner. Another police officer dressed in the proud colors of blue and white and repeated the same words he had told Maria, "they were right there."His friend and partner in ensuring justice and drinking wine didn't answer. He just turned away, sta
Budapest, 2020"You will see everything unfold with your own eyes," the caller said. "When it is going to happen, you will be there to watch with your very own eyes.""I don't understand what you are saying," Blackwheel said. "Do you have connections with Man?"The caller did not answer."Who are you?" Blackwheel raised his voice. He couldn't move properly neither could he talk properly after his visit to Man and Woman. Nobody inside the meeting wouldn't admit that the period of time they spent was intense. Even Blake couldn't deny."Who sent you?"Blackwheel's words hung in the darkness. The only sound he could hear was the anomalous hum of a television camera in the place where the caller had made the call to him. Apart from that, he heard nothing.
Mumbai, 2020Dev rushed down to embrace the caller who had phoned Blackwheel, throwing his whole weight on the young man before telling him that he was proud of him and that his work was done properly with no error.Before the caller could react, Dev told his beloved student who was named Anand to do as he had been told. Something that stunned the caller who was unaware of what they were talking about.The caller felt confused as Dev led him and Anand to a dark room, away from everyone who was watching.A minute later, Dev was instructing Anand to bring down the rope and tie the caller properly."What are you trying to do to me, master?" The caller protested as Anand came closer to him."We must protect ourselves from unwanted conspiracies," Dev replied. "Your case has been brought in front of great and powerful gods. And you have been deemed unworthy to see the mission to the end.""But I served faithfully with all my strength and mi
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