My baby was hooked to all sorts of machines, and he looked so small and vulnerable, it made my heart bleed. I couldn’t hold him or smell him, I could only see him from afar. He was currently in the neonatal intensive care unit, and we had to wear hospital gowns, gloves, and masks in order to enter the NICU, it felt as though we were handling our child like he was some sort of a virus. I lost count to how many machines he was connected to, I desperately wanted to touch him through the holes on the incubator, and I so wished I could take his place. “I failed him.” “Don’t say that,” Silas said in a heavy voice. I shook my head. "But it's true. I should have taken better care of myself, I should have prioritised myself and my son instead of worrying over irrelevant things. I should have paid more attention to my body when he tried communicating with me.” I recalled all the times I was in pain and chose ignored it instead of calling the doctor or taking the necessary steps and res

My aunt left two instructions regarding her funeral while she was still alive: mainly, for her funeral not to be prolonged, and to celebrate her life. She requested to be buried the very next day after her actual death, and for a feast to be held in celebration of her life. Perhaps for the community she spent her entire life serving, it was a merry event. But that was not the case for the rest of us, my mother masked her grief with chatter, jokes, and laughter, and slipped quite a few times and called for my aunt. She was deep in denial, and more than anything, she was drowning in guilt because she dedicated her entire life to pushing away her only sister. As for me, my entire world turned gray. The world was colourless and lifeless, everything in me had died. I was also plagued by the guilt of the way I treated her the last time I saw her. Although she had said returning to my parents was for my own sake, I couldn't help the feeling that she had abandoned me. Now that I thought

Things could not be more awkward. I think we had both underestimated this moment. So much had changed in such a short span of time, leaving us both uncertain about where we stood. I felt like a complete stranger in my own aunt's home, the couch felt as though it was laden with bricks, it was so uncomfortable. My chest was so tight, I swore it was going to rupture. I tried to act normal, but I couldn't stop my sweaty fingers from gripping the edge of the couch while I continuously tapped my foot on the tiled floor. Sy joined me in the sitting room after locking the doors and sat next to me on the couch, leaving space between us. But that still did not stop me from shifting farther away from him even though there was no space on my other side. "If I knew things were going to be like this... I wish we could go back to the first day we met and just lay everything on the table." The thickness and roughness of his voice spoke to every part of me, it filled my chest with warmth, and

Watching Sy swiftly and smoothly taking charge of my aunt's kitchen brought back so many great memories, and nostalgia. I even lost my trail of thought and forgot why I'd come here in the first place. By the time I came back to my senses, almost two hours had passed. "Uhm... I should get going," I said in a haste and climbed down the chair. "What... but why? Aren't you going to stay for dinner?" He asked with urgency, silently begging me with his eyes. "I–" "Please stay for dinner, I'm almost done cooking. Besides, I'm not gonna finish all this food on my own." I clamped my mouth shut and quietly took my seat, and it wasn't long before dinner was ready, and we set up the table together and shared a meal while reminiscing over the past. It was so refreshing talking to him in peace. "I'm surprised you can still stand some of these foods after the way you ate them during your pregnancy." "Well, to be honest with you, I'm kinda still in my pregnancy era. It still feels weird,

The tension in the room was so thick that not even a knife could cut through it.I couldn't tear my eyes away from my father, how was this the man who raised me? He looked pale, and I had no idea whether it was the shock or his natural state.My eyes moved between him and my brother, Vuyo was evidently a vampire, however, nothing about my father pointed to him being the monster everyone spoke about.At least not to the naked eye. On closer inspection, after everything I'd discovered, I came to realise that this was his mask, a facade. I don't know how he managed to deceive us all these years, but he succeeded. Judging by the horror on Vuyo's face, there was no tiptoeing around whether my father was a monster or not. He was a monster that turned his son into a vampire and held him captive for years. He was a monster that used his teenage son to lure people out so that he could feed on them. He was a monster that was willing to ruin his daughter's relationship and was prepare