'And why would he leave his business in his house to attend to your wish?'Lastborn smiled. 'Just so you know, he came by our house today and I overheard him telling Father he was going to the third village by noon today.'But Eniiyi still had her doubts. 'What if he already left? What if he sees me and then refuses to help us?''I hope he hasn't left o.' Lastborn started to go towards the road. Eniiyi hissed and pulled him back by his bagpack. She almost fell at this attempt. She'd forgotten for a moment that she was still weak.'I said, what if he sees me!'Lastborn frowned. 'He lives on the outskirts of the village, he probably never heard of you, and if he has he wouldn't know you by face.''You want me to go out there on a probability? Hello, we're not in a maths class. If he sees us together you're in trouble.'Lastborn who was already on the road turned back. 'Would you rather stay here and hope in vain that Brothe

'Shatap!' the leader commanded, but to no avail. Then he raised his gun again and shot a woman who was screaming the loudest. The bullet went through her forehead and came out the other end, the woman collapsed onto her side, her mouth and eyes still wide open in an unfinished scream.This shut the people up as many started to sob inside.'Idiat! All these book people, they want to show say them read big big book, I go show you say I hold big big gun! If anybody open their mouth for there again una go answer to my gun!' He turned to his men. 'Mo una ransack the other bags!'Lastborn was still gripped tightly by fear. He had wet himself again when the man had been shot. In his mind, he was screaming to run. You have to get out of here or you will die!He glanced at Eniiyi. The girl looked frozen as her eyes stared wide and unseeing into the distance.He reached for his bag which had been tossed near him. Okay, he knew what to do. He took several dee

She almost died with relief when on reaching the front she saw the boy still on his feet, albeit the bonnet of her car was less than two centimeters away from his body.'Oh my God, why did you do that, kid? Do you have a death wish or what? If you want to die, why choose me? Are you . . .'She trailed off, opening and closing her mouth like a tilapia out of water on seeing the boy's face.Tears made fresh tracks down his cheeks and they kept flowing without pause. He had such a look of pain, despair and horror on his face that China's heart pulled. Had she hit him after all? But then . . .?Then she noticed he kept pointing to the side of the road, opening and shutting his mouth, trying to form words but his vocal cords refused to make any connection to his brain.She moved closer to him. 'Son, are you okay?'He started to shake his head and then finally said, 'No!' 'Why? Wha—?''My sister!' he shouted, still pointing to the side of the road. 'She's unconscious. Please, help her! She's

07:31 am, September 18,Nsukka, Enugu State.Everywhere was so bright. She was surrounded by glary, white light. It seemed to envelope her vision. Some people in white were moving around in the background. Her forehead creased slightly, where was she? Was she in heaven? And if she was, did that mean she was already dead?If this was heaven it was disappointing. Apart from the people in white, everything else was plain. The room was now less bright and was sparsely furnished with contraptions with trailing cords and ugly displays.And then there was the pain, it was all over her body. Even her throat was raw and her mouth dry. Why was she in heaven?Her eyelids started to feel weighted and she felt exhausted all of a sudden. She wanted to keep her eyes open and fully access her surroundings but her body had different thoughts. She wondered where her mommy was in all this. She really missed seeing her.A dwarf in dark clothing started to

'Good afternoon,' the male officer said as he stepped in.Eniiyi looked up at the female officer expectantly. She had come in the morning but with a different partner. Had they found her parents already?'I'm Detective Oji Omenka, I'm assigned to your case along with Detective Egwu.' He pointed to the woman police.'My case? Why do I have a case? Some people already came in the morning to ask me—' Eniiyi started to say.'Your cousin here told us about what happened on your way here and the pictures you took. We are trying to—''Good God, Menk, try to be nice. She's just a child and you sound like you're grilling her.' The woman chided her partner then turned to the girl.Eniiyi tried to remember what she had called her name earlier in the day. Was it Ebibo? Melimo? She couldn't even remember, but she remembered that it sounded strange to her ears.'Yes, we came earlier in the day to get your statement on what happened to you and L