“Stop snorting like a bush pig,” scolded Kanairombe, squeezing a death-beetle underneath Kambangane’s stone-hard pillow. Immediately, Kambangane blinked his owl-like eyes, and she rubbed her chin at the idea of strangling him. Later, she blew the evil thoughts through the star-shaped holes in the roof. “I’m awake,” said Kambangane, peeling the saddle-like blanket from his...
Karuru purred the engine and screwed a yellow light on the bonnet. Strangely, he couldn’t find customers and jingled the rust-coloured 10 cents. “What bad luck today,” he murmured, wiping the sweat from his armpits. Thereafter, he polished the threadbare tyres and dressed the pinching seats with black nylons. Then he rattled the engine and...
Peter’s mommy showed him how to stalk spoonbill birds with y-shaped catapults or spot guinea fowl’s eggs between the feathery grass. The tot could whistle the calls of grey pigeons or name the colour of cows. Sometimes, Peter shocked everyone by describing black acacia or yellow acacia trees after looking at the shape of...
Patience skipped into the yard as the drizzling rain peed down on her pencil-sharp nose. Immediately, she twitched her nose at the smell of cinnamon and hopped to the kitchen. Without twisting around, Nana lifted the sweating lid from the burbling pot of pumpkin and unhooked a silvery spoon before serving the salivating soup into...
The pregnant clouds float over the spoon-shaped leaves, while the red cows sniff the earthy-smelling rain. Outside the bush-fenced kraal, balloon-tummy calves bounce like springboks to break down litres of milk in their tummies. Underneath an umbrella-shaped tree, Kanairombe is shaking a calabash of churned milk, swinging between V-shaped branches. Meanwhile, Zakueeua, her only son,...
Kasarute kicked the tyres and punched the lorry’s windscreen after the owner squeezed a letter into his sweat-dripping hands. The smoker was fired for stealing boxes of cigarettes during the night shift. The next day, he hitchhiked to Omakaja and paid the driver two cigarettes at a lay-by tree. “This is my last cigar,” he...
Ouma straightened her numbed knees and sneezed through her blocked nose. Then she cleared slimy mucus from her throat. Immediately, her grandchild pierced her hard-of-hearing ears with pink-stone earrings. Ujama draped a bead necklace around Ouma’s neck and screeched the tyres out of the gate. Unfortunately, the tyres threw stones at the rattling windows. Within...
“Close that tap!” shouted a white-haired man, before slipping into the sticky mud in front of the tear-dripping tap. Immediately, the kids stuck their tongues and played hide-and-seek with him, as they skipped behind the prickly-thorn bushes. Still, the wrinkled-faced man was worried about the vomiting tap running dry. His heart skipped every time the...
Kambangane and Zakueeua were strolling between the pinching-thorn twigs when Zakueeua tripped over a love-shaped rock. The uncombed hair man landed with his upward-pointed nose, hitting the powdery sand and choked. Luckily, Kambangane punched him, and he puffed air through his sand-filled mouth. Then, Kambangane stretched his crocodile-skin hand and pulled him, while blocking his...
Long ago, there lived three girls. They crushed melons by dropping them on the teeth-like rocks. Then, they sipped lemonade from the sour lemons and roasted the seeds. Their side dish included pigeons’ eggs simmered in the boiling sand. The first girl had an apron stitched from the yellow grasses. The second girl had an...