Vibes - Part 1

She loved me.

She really did… but not just the way I wanted. And I loved her too. Unrequited love was a bad religion. But it didn't matter as much as protecting her, and I wondered if I could, this time.

You see, she was a magnet.  A magnet for trouble. She loved the rush, the danger and everything that came with it. I despised it. We were polar opposites. She always exhumed confidence and brilliance. I was a shadow in the background - even the cameras couldn't catch me. I was non-existent.

I'll never know how - was it coincidence, or fate; a series of fortunate events or destiny? But this is our story.

DEFEATED NOT - Episode 1

[3 min read]

By TOSINMILE OLA-AMUDA

Waiting was worse than I expected. I had expected it to be sooner and was really excited that I would be out of here by now. I threw out hopes of ever getting a family of my own ages ago and I was utterly shocked and anxious when Miss Bola told me a week before that a family wanted to adopt a girl and having seen the necessary documents especially my medical history, they thought me the best choice. I asked Miss Bola so many questions that she had to send me to the room to keep from questioning her further.

The best choice? What a nice way to frame adoption. I heard other girls talk about how impossible it was to get adopted in Nigeria because of the cultural beliefs. I thought it cruel that they made us watch movies of how children in other parts of the world living in orphanages get their happy endings usually by getting adopted into a nice family. But then, it was as if I was in a movie of my own.

The Unseen - #4

CHAPTER FOUR

It wasn’t going to take them anytime to get down and out of the building, and so I had to establish some distance before that happened. I was running as fast as I possibly could, I could feel the adrenaline surging through my whole body as I pushed on.

They were out through the main building door in seconds, and it was clear that I had underestimated them. They might be middle aged men, but they didn’t run middle aged. They were going to catch up to me sooner or later, and I could already the hear their footsteps growing louder.

 I was running a straight line down the sidewalk, and they were going to catch up to me if I kept it that way. I looked to my right to see if there was any junction or alley I could turn to, but there wasn’t any; I looked to my left, and saw cars parked separating us from the roadway. I gathered momentum from my run, and jumped onto one of the parked cars, landing on my butt and skidded through the bonnet to the other side. I thought it was going to create distance between me and the police, but I was wrong. One cop followed me, climbing on top of the car, while the other went behind the parked cars, and followed.

The Unseen - #3

CHAPTER THREE

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

That was the third time whoever was out there had knocked on my door.

We were playing a game of silence, both of us, waiting for the first person to make a move, separated by mere inches - the door, me and whoever was out there. Was it the killer?

Quiet. It was all quiet. I wouldn’t dare speak, I didn’t know what was waiting on the other side, time was moving so slowly in those moments.

The Unseen - #2

CHAPTER TWO

A sweat broke on my forehead.

What did I just read? It didn’t make any sense.

I reread the letter several times, trying to make sense of it. No matter how many times I read it, it didn’t make any sense to me.

To hell with it. I reached for the handle of the cabinet, and that’s when I felt it - pure unnerving dread. I was stuck. I couldn’t bring myself to turn the handle, I didn’t think I was ready for what I’d find behind the door. I was panicking on the spot. The panic translated to hallucinations.

Unseen

PROLOGUE

What is the truth?

As opposed to the simple idealistic meaning of the truth being exactly what happened, the many grey areas tell us that the perception and duality of people, and their idiosyncrasies, always produce multiple truths. There is no “one truth”. If an event is seen by one person, and watered down to the masses over the various descriptions told by other people who heard it from the one true viewer of the act, then the truth is lost forever - It has then become a fiction-a representation of what the mass public finds most viable. The story that sticks the most - the one that sounds the most "realistic". It is then printed out, written in encyclopedias, taught to the children, and used as a reference point. Over time, it becomes “the truth”. At this point, it no longer matters what truly happened, but only what everyone believes truly happened. So then I ask this question again,

What’s the true meaning of the truth?

CHAPTER ONE

I finally break from my trance. I glance at the clock and I see what time it is, It’s 4am. Sh**. Its amazing how time flies when your mind is overly concentrated on one subject, or then again, when your mind can’t seem to grasp any form of concentration. I’ve been seated perched on the same spot for roughly 6 hours. It’s not as if I chose to sit in the same spot for that long. No. it’s because I can’t move, my body wont obey me anymore. Why? Because I’ve never seen anything like this before.

Counted

There's this song I know. I think you guys'll know it too. It goes like this

♬   Count your blessings, name them one by one,♬   Count your blessings, see what God hath done!♬   Count your blessings, name them one by one,♬   And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

How many times have you sung this song I wonder? I'm asking myself as i am you, this very question. You see, when you tell someone to count their blessings and see how impossible they are, they go and get you a list of all the cars they've got, lotteries that they won, clothes they bought, job promotions they've earned, you know....all the big stuff. I wonder, how often do we remember that
we also have to count the blessings of clean water? clean air?

For a Peaceful Mind

There once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It was no ordinary watch because it had sentimental value for him. After searching high and low among the hay for a long while; he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn. He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded.

The Gift of Goodbye

By Ebi Ashidi

Saying goodbye might be painful - and in most cases it is, but it can also be the best Gift you give to yourself.

Being in a relationship that isn’t fruitful, and only painful, or in a relationship that brings more pain than joy, such relationships have to be let go.

STEP 1: EVALUATE

Before you can say goodbye, you need to be able to tell what relationships deserve your gift. We all have relationships. I mean, we were created for relationships.

Victim

Last week Wednesday, my phone was stolen at a local bus stop in Lagos. It was not a fun experience. I'm not going to regale you with the exact details in this post, because this post today isn't about the theft itself, but rather it's effect on my psyche, and the attitude of people around me who heard about it.

The performance

This is a story said to have happened in the States. A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy’s hands into pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.

Generational Hate

"And she gathered the children of many races into her arms, And said, "Hate dies here — be brothers."
~Harriet Monroe, "America," in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse, December 1918

Triolet 2 - Dear Child

Triolet 2 - Dear Child

Refrain, dear child, from ways perverse –

Reverse, recoil, retreat, recede;

With wrong doers, do not converse.

Refrain, dear child, from ways perverse:

To you, let them become averse...

Unless on shame you wish to feed,

Refrain, dear child, from ways perverse –

Reverse, recoil, retreat, recede.

 ©Nwachukwu OlusegunNwachukwu. 

How We Killed The World.... 2

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”  ― Martin Luther King Jr.

#We steal from our parents - and even others - then we go and blame God for allowing thieves and armed robbers to plague our cities and roads.

#We cheat on exams and cause problems in the real world because we are unable to apply knowledge that we do not have - then we go and blame God for not preventing unproductivity and the fall of the economy.

#We cheat on our partners and spouses - then we go and blame God for not killing all the sinners so that we would have peace.

#We kill people with insults - slowly and steadily.... demeaning their spirits and torturing their minds - then we go and blame God for letting suffering exist in the world.

Submissions! :D

Hi everyone.

Hope you're having a nice day? Yes? Good to know - I hope it gets even better
No? I understand, and though I cannot force you to be happy, remember there's a VERY large percentage of the world who can't either read or use technology like you do, some are even dying - it may be a thin and tiny slice of cake you have, but do enjoy it anyways, it's better than nothing.You deserve to be happy - that's why you're here and alive. Life is happiness :)

Now for the good news!!! :D

We're trying to expand our topic and paradigm base here on this blog and would really love to hear from all the people who have tied to write anything.

It could be a story; a short or long one, a poem, an article, anything at all. Even works of art eg paintings, drawings, pictures etc - a picture says a thousand words after all.

You can also give topic requests if you'd like me to write on something I might be missing out on in the blog. I usually only write on ideas that come to me, things I experience or news I see that needs to be reasoned on. So if there's anything (*grins*) you'd like me to air my personal brand of views on, just request it!! :D

Contact me by

• Commenting here, on the blog  
• Pinging me at 7FDFA367 (FOR BBM)
• Contacting me on my whatsapp number, if you have it.
• Kik me at JamikeE
• Sending an email to ekennia@gmail.com for more info, helpful suggestions.

Thanks for always coming here :D
You all are the REAL stars ;)

Online Advice

Ever do a google (or for reason i possibly cannot grasp - yahoo) search for something you needed help figuring out?

- Doing homework?

- Fixing a computer?

- Buying a new phone?

- Talking to girls?

I'm sure you've not only searched for help in SOMETHING, but also seen ridiculous questions and articles. You've most likely even seen a lot of useful ones too. Ones you may have never thought to look up but checked up anyway because it drew you - Maybe out of curiousity, maybe out of interest, maybe out of need or even anger.

The problem however, lies in the seemingly helpful articles that could either give you bad advice or give advice that turns out to be counterproductive.

Changes to the blog (Jan 21st 2015)

Okay, so a lot of people have complained that the comments section wasn't working out very well for some reason, I've now looked into it and resolved the issue so anyone can now make comments on the posts they want to, like it? Dislike it? Got something or more to point out? Comment on the articles. Have a suggestion? Want me to write on any topic? Go ahead and make your requests :D

I'll entertain as many as I can.

It seems the comment section has problems mainly if you're using the Opera Mini mobile browser to browse the site. Most people who have had success commenting did so by signing in with their gmail/google accounts. It's FAR easier that way. Even on phones using opera mini.

Upcoming changes include
--Addition of poems to the blog
--Disqus community section for interaction with the author(s) on the site
--Addition of more authors who will both moderate the site and write articles
--Categorization of posts, with the tab addions


Comment below if you either dislike/like the changes or want e to do something else new that I haent thought of yet :). Thanks for making this site better ;)

The five types of Christmas experience (In Nigeria)

So Christmas is coming up soon, and most of you are already wearily dreading the same old routine as usual, year after year after year, that you're used to. Ever wondered what Christmas is lie for other families? Ever wondered what could be lying in the world of Christmas present - outside that of your own? Look no further, the expatiation of it all is here.

BTW: For those of you who aren't feeling the Christmas Spirit or don;t understand what it;s all really about. heres a very nice short poem that will positively, and absolutely BLOW YOUR MIND....and NO. I don;t mean it'll kill you biko.---> http://thelifeandsayings.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-spirit-of-christmas.html

Trust me. You will NOT EVER regret checking it out ;). One Love. Jam Jam.

1. When you entertain the whole village

You know...when everybody decides that your house has suddenly become the best eatery around. Better yet? The food is free. They just cannot resist it. Joyful times :|
You've become the breadgiver (or in the childrens' case - the breadserver) for everyone around for miles and miles....









2. When the whole village entertains you

When you decide that you don't want to spend your own money or eat your own food, you know that hot tasty meal is just a few footsteps across into the other compounds around. You go about ever searching for the next hot meal.

Change and Stereotype

It doesn't always seem so obvious does it? When someone suddenly changes who they, how they act, dress and talk? Imagine that "innocent" boy you knew down the road, popped into university for a while, and came home a master weed smoker. Or that cute girl you used to be friends with, who now puts on excessive makeup and goes to parties almost every night with her new friends because she was told that she isn't "pretty and fun enough" (This can be a controversial example).

It’s one thing to want to change for the better or try something new. It’s something else entirely to want to change for the worse or try something you know will never work for your best. I know how many times I've been made fun of, underestimated or challenged because of the way I present myself and act. I can’t really say I know the entire reason why so many people find a lot faults in the things and ways I have. If however I were asked I would say it all has to do with the issue and problem of the “stereotype”

• ·         Boys are all players
• ·         All girls like barbies
• ·         Teenagers have all had sex before they all hit 20
• ·         Igbo people love money too much
• ·        All Nigerians are scammers.

Being Shy

Hi. I'm Jamike.  I'm kinda sure you knew this already but I'll try to go on with what we're here for.

Shyness. It's a dilemma for many and deemed an asset by very very few.
Have you ever wondered if you're shy?  If you're actually wondering...then it's likely you're not. If you've ever wondered whether you're outspoken.....it's most likely that you are...sorry? :P