I knew Papa was going to die on that Christmas day. I don’t know when I knew. Maybe when he stopped speaking. Maybe when he started watching me like he was memorizing my face. Or maybe it was long before when the house stopped feeling like a house and turned into something quieter, something like a glass waiting to break.
JULIE
Julie She was about five or six years younger than me. Twenty-three or twenty-four, I am not sure. She never told me her age, but I knew she wasn't born before 1989, the year I was born. She was thin, with a voice that sounded like the high-pitched screech of a car coming to an … Continue reading JULIE
What I Chose Not to Do at My Weddings
I wasn’t expecting to get married this year, 2025. I wasn’t expecting to get married EVER. Why? Because I didn’t want to. As a little girl, I never fantasized about having a husband. And yet, surprise! Here I am, married, and blinking like, “Did I just...?”
MORIBUND
Moribund My mother is dying. One day last June, a friend told me that a person’s eyes turn white when they are on the verge of death. I remember because she used the term moribund. My mother is dying, but her eyes are getting darker. The room is hot. This room, contaminated by the smell … Continue reading MORIBUND
The mother
The girl's expression is distorted: ‘It’s true, mother! I have visited this life four times before, but this is the first time I’ve stayed.’ The mother turns exasperated eyes from her phone and stares at her daughter. ‘Girl?’ ‘Yes, mother.’ ‘Stop saying that,’ she says, adjusting her long skirt as she shifts around on the … Continue reading The mother
AND JUST LIKE THAT… IT IS A WRAP!
Written By: Fortune Aganbi Wow! I cannot believe that in a few days, we will be saying Goodbye to 2022 forever! What a year it has been. 2022 meant different things for many of us. For some, it was the best year of our lives yet; for others, it was the worst. However you feel … Continue reading AND JUST LIKE THAT… IT IS A WRAP!
THE VISITS
By Fortune Aganbi Photo Credit: PacificPress via Gettyimages They visit me every time. Sometimes it’s the man. Sometimes it's the woman. Sometimes it's the Thing that restricts my airflow and squeezes my navel. Sometimes it's a song that sings darkness, reminding me I'm in the future, perhaps somewhere in 2050. They all fuck me. The … Continue reading THE VISITS
DEAR LAST BREATH
By Fortune Aganbi The day I learned the meaning of the word "abnegation", I was thinking of stars. Not stars as in heavenly bodies, but human stars. The likes of Beyoncé and Cristiano Ronaldo. When a human being is called a star, the connotation is that the person is very successful and accomplished. And I … Continue reading DEAR LAST BREATH
THE NIGHT & FOREVER JOURNEY
The Night & Forever Journey Despite the high level of insecurity plaguing my country Nigeria, I still travel at night. It’s because I am a man who has ‘strong-head’, a word my countrymen use to describe someone who is irredeemably obstinate. A suitable synonym would be ‘coconut-head’ and that’s what I have: a big hard … Continue reading THE NIGHT & FOREVER JOURNEY
BRIEF NOTES ON FRIENDSHIP
By Fortune Aganbi Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good and alike in virtue; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good themselves. Now those who wish well to their friends for their sake are most truly friends; for they do this by reason of own … Continue reading BRIEF NOTES ON FRIENDSHIP
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