Kambangane sniffed the boiling stew from three-legged pots and sneaked out of the graveyard. Minutes later, the crocodile-tearful men had buried Kambaikiha, who had left behind as many cows as the autumn’s leaves. “Not one of his red-berried cows could save him from choking on a housefly,” said Kahozu, rubbing vicks under his eyes. “Who...
“Don’t play with uncultured children,” said the queen, waving a finger at Muniomuvanda. Every day, the queen hid the heir from children who came to beg for churned milk poured into dogs’ bowls. Yesterday, her majesty pinched the heir for blinking at a stick girl. “The sun will melt the red-ochre lotion from your arms...
Kambangane’s sweat-dripping hands clasped a girl whose box braids stretched to the kraal. “This is my soulmate,” he said, his heart skipping. The orange braids girl poses her lemony fingernails on the hips. “What’s up, guys?” she said, lifting a high-five. Immediately, Kambangane’s cousin, Musuverua spilled a wooden spoon of sour milk on her lap....
“Congrats,” said the broker, tearing the ‘For Sale’ sunburned placard after selling the house. Rika bought a black bricks house built on an extinct mountain with tainted windows staring down a tearstained river. The pensioners had never heard about the bedtime story about a widow who had drowned in the now extinct river, but her...
“Don’t take anything from that witch!” Mommy yelled at Lisa not to accept gifts from Aunt Elizabeth. “What’s a wish?” asked Lisa, kissing an orange teddy bear. She chewed her bottom lip because she’d taken a magazine from Elizabeth, who was wearing orange high heels that matched her orange shoulder bag. Lisa clenched her fists...
A TikTok showing six hyenas crushing a faceless man into chunks of meat reached Musarakuumba. Afterwards, Zakueeua pranked Kanairombe that the chewed to bits shoes belong to Kambangane who’d been missing. Luckily, Kambangane had strayed into a bush-fenced graveyard and gathered a bundle of twigs. Immediately, he tripped over an unmarked grave. Instead of running...
Johanna curled in a corner, while her plate-sized eyes counted visitors coming in and out like red ants. She was diagnosed with an itching heart and suffered from daylight nightmares. The mirroring tiles revealed her wrinkling nose as she rubbed her swollen cheeks. The nylon stopwatch around her wrists showed the rate of her skipping...
Muroi was blessed with 200-l drum-width legs. One day, her husband refused to eat until she began to walk again. Every time Muhonge shuts his eyes, a satanic wind bounces his tongue-twisting prayers against the feathery clouds. Sometimes, Muroi played with demons by sucking babies’ blood. Later, Muhonge sprinkled holy water over her legs. The...
Long ago, along the wind-dancing grass, there lived the king of black water. “I have the magic to hold the water for hours,” said the 80-year-old crocodile One day, the king of muddy waters swallowed the boy whom the river people had anointed as the king in waiting. On his birthday, a crocodileodile fell from...
Once upon a time, an orange ant crawled towards the yellow ant. They hugged and high-fived. “What if we could fly?” said the orange ant, looking skyward. “That’s deadly,” said the yellow ant, scolding him for the strange dream. “Be careful, you’ll go mad,” said the yellow ant, threatening to end the minute-long friendship. “Let’s...