EXCERPT: From the unpublished story, "Jesse the Bear" by Omoruyi Uwuigiaren

It was cold in the winter. So cold that everyone had to stay indoors. Jesse, an old bear was indoors too. 

Each passing day, the bear would move near the window to check if things had improved. 

The reason for the constant check on the window was clear. Jesse had eaten all his supplies. He had little or nothing left to eat and he was hungry. 

Anything would do. 

Frozen fish. Flesh of dead animals preserved by the cold weather would come handy. 

The only danger facing the bear to go out and hunt was the weather. 

He could be trapped in the snow while hunting. This could be bad. Jesse could die while he hunts for food under such a bad weather. 

Waiting in his hole wasn't a good idea too because hunger could kill him. 

One thing was certain. The bear had to eat. He needs to feed and stay alive. 

What could Jesse do?

One quiet morning, it was snowing and Jesse was going to die of hunger. The bear was so hungry and could barely move. 

Suddenly, there was a movement around the hole where had hid himself for months. 

Jesse raised his head and looked about. He tried to figure out what must have caused the disturbance. 

He could hardly think straight. Partly because he was sad and hungry. 

Things had not gone according to plan. The long months in the hole had left him with no food. 

Jesse didn't know that the winter would be so long. The bear was at the receiving end of climate change. 

Before now, there was not enough kill that would take him through the dark months of winter and snow. In most cases, in the past, Jesse could still hunt during the final months of winter. So not  saving enough meal that could take him through the months of winter was never an issue. 

With the climate change biting so hard, it wasn't a good time to be an animal. 

As Jesse tried to stay calm and sleep, the noise persisted. 

The bear frowned. He reluctantly rose to its hinderquater and move slowly to the outside. 

Jesse is ruthless. With the bad mood, who knows the punishment that the bear will mete out to the intruder. 

The weather was not clear but Jesse could still see beyond his nose. He shoved the wood and dry leaves aside and looked straight outside. 

A raccoon was in the snow. 

It was strange. "How did it get there?" Jesse pondered as the poor creature tried to find refuge. 

Jesse doubt whether the raccoon will survive an hour or two in the snow. Then he decided to do something about it. 

As Jesse watched the animal struggle under the snow, his mind began to work. Jesse thought he could make short work of the raccoon. The meal could save him from the jaws of death and defeat. 

It would be nice to get his hunger behind as quickly as possible. 

Jesse jumped out of the hole not considering he could endanger his own life. He chased the raccoon. 

SHORT STORY: Before it is Too Late by Omoruyi Uwuigiaren

It is expensive to raise good children. 

But the price of living with bad children is eternal.

 

It is expensive to raise good children. But the price of living with bad children is eternal. Many parents, especially in Nigeria focus attention on their children’s grades and extracurricular activities, such as by making sure kids study, do their homework, and if things are not going as planned, they will likely tip or bribe. The essence of this is to get good grades and certificate. While this move can easily secure the future, the price of not touching every aspect of the child’s life can come back to haunt the family.

When a family is in pain, the society bears the brunt.  It’s a vicious circle. It bites deep and robs many of happiness. The pain never ends and will only rest when the victim walk into silence. Everyone is served the poisoned chalice and the bread of sorrow goes round. Sometimes it comes like a truckload. The weight of which could sink a ship.  

While the parents appear to be more concerned about the grades, in most situations, have sleepless nights over the child’s inability to have good grades, all too often, they forget to put time and effort into nurturing another component of child success and development—one that is just as important, and perhaps even more essential, which is being a good person. So the child goes through school not even knowing there is need to be decent, selfless and kind to others. He leaves school only to be brutally cold and receptive to good habits. This opens the flood gate of transgression at all levels of the child’s life.

If we want to raise children who are genuinely nice people, we can help guide them toward habits and behaviors that promote positive character traits like kindness, generosity and love. Without offering the same energy that we put into how much grades the kids have at school, we have only succeeded in destroying the child. Grades and certificates can be of immense value when there is character to sustain the person. We can’t neglect the core values of life and expect life to be fair to us. We cannot pretend to be good and not find ourselves chasing shadows. Life is good when we are able to bend any circumstance to our favor.  

No soul can have a decent future on the corridors of evil. Failure to raise good children will only dent the future. Sadly, the future is now. There must be deliberate attempt to introduce children to good habits. While there are no guaranteed formulas that can build good character and help any child grow into a good person, the parent can start by living an exemplary life. Let your children see the light in you. It is enough if they can see how loving and caring you are.

Nurture empathy in your child. Show them the path. Be the future that you want them to be. Dictate the lessons. Create a vivid picture of what you want your children to become. If they can imagine it, they can achieve it. If your children are not responsive, then you are not doing enough. Your message is not clear. You are missing something. Fix your own shortcoming. You cannot give what you do not have. Be the pacesetter.

Don’t assume that your child knows how to be kind to people. Teach him or her how to reach out and lift up people. Once your child sees the humanity in you, they will surely figure it out on their own. As you encourage positive behaviors, you are liberating your child from future of horror and nightmare.   

Today, raising children have almost become difficult because most parents either leave the responsibility to strangers like the class teacher at school or they are too busy and don’t want to get involved. Children who are not properly guided will eat junks.

Junks will leave any child malnourished. With peer pressure, come the dangers of getting destroyed altogether.

As children grow into adults, kids who have not tasted proper training also develop swiftly too. They find safe haven and mingle with their kind. What you get is a mishap. People will drown at the feet of the bad people. Tormentors will rage at the doors of helpless victims. At this point, we are left to grovel at the feet of the monster that we have created.

We have created monsters out of our children. Alas! They are upon us for destruction! The milk can no longer flow. It has gone sour from the fountain. They crush anything in sight and feed it to their dogs. On their bare chest is death. The valley is flooded with blood of their brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors. The thorns are stronger than the weaver’s beak. Hell is on top of the mountain with hammer in her hand to crush the living. If men had seen the future, they would have tamed the boisterous wind.

We are slowly reaching the point where there will be a “Yahoo Boy” on every street. And every home will boast of her black sheep. A four fisted wrecking bull that can bring down a nation. They are cruel monsters walking about seeking whom to devour. Enough of the madness, for the consequence is grave. They leave a trail of waste. There is emptiness in what they share. They gloat, they howl and they destroy. The enemy from within is hard to kill. It’s in your blood. It is part of you. Sticks and stones can break the bone. A bad child will cause shame and rain curse on his father. Nothing breaks a family like wayward children.    

Don’t sleep while they are awake. Once they organize into a mafia, we are finished. It is easy to see that the boys are so rich. Money knows no filth. It’s loyal to the owner. When money is in the hands of wrong people, misfortune will walk the street on bare chest. It will kill and destroy.   

Most “Yahoo Boys” are now breadwinners. They pay the bills and do the things that their parents ought to have done. In the animal kingdom, the predators determine so much. They determine when others feed or go to the river because it is disaster for the prey to be by the river when the predator is around. There are always consequences for sharing the poor will the monster. The easy target will be brought to their knees and die. The deer cannot be in the same corner with the lion. No matter how thirsty the deer is, the poor animal must find its meal or water elsewhere. Feeding from the proceeds of fraud is evil enough. There are hardly free meals anywhere.  Robbing anyone of his or her hard earned money is not a good way to build your own future. It is not a clear path to greatness. Saying this is cruel, is an understatement. It takes only a cold hearted killer to be completely at peace after hurting people.

Everyone is at the mercy of the bad guy. Any poor animal that strays into their den of the predator is devoured. We have reached that point. The power play and the speed at which the prey is corner can only be decisive. No matter how close you are to the prey, you dare not question the predator.

Many parents have lost the right to question their children on how they make money. No one questions the predators in the jungle. Some parents have been pushed to the wall. They know it is the monster they created that is coming back to haunt them. They know the boy is a product of their wrong decisions. They know he was their failure. They failed to put him through. They failed to make the corrections when they had the chance to done so. They thought the good grades and certificates were enough to mould the son into a fine man. No! It is never enough.

Raising children is complex. Just as talent is never enough in the race of life so is good grades are never enough. You can buy good grades for your son, but you can never buy him good behavior.  

The Yahoo Boys are just one click away from being organized. Once they reach this level, it will be hard to break them down or knock them back to reality. There is no future in being cruel to your fellow human.  Most parents have lost the power to control their wards. Now, they expect providence to fix the adult they should have whipped into shape when he was a child. God will sort it out. For some, providence is the government. Sitting on the mountain of omnipotence, like they are on top of the world, government must act fast. The moment the bell rings, there will be no friends. The roof will be off. Every time someone gets into trouble, the influence of the monster grows. To them, it is good to be the bad guy. Being the bad guy comes with benefits. Bad things don’t last, bad guys do. Such mentality should not be allowed to hold.

Hard work pays off. Dreams come true. Being a fraudster is not a chance to taste greatness. It doesn’t offer a good life. It only endangers those who dwell in it.

Government must save the future of Nigeria. Now is the time to rehabilitate or move these boys off the street. Government must create jobs and keep them busy. Failure to act now, will spell doom. I am already scared of walking alone on the street of Lagos. Every corner you turn is 10-15 boys drinking, smoking or chatting.

We pretend as if we don't see these things. Every time we fail to raise a boy, we destroy a Nation.  

I have always maintained that one bad cop is worse than an entire criminal outfit. If the average policeman knows that he has a son, brother or relative who is a “Yahoo Boy”, what moral justification does he have to fight another? We are sitting on a keg of gun powder. There is no pleasure in suffering. There is no hope in being fraudulent. When we talk about future prospect, being a fraudster can never be one of them. Making it look like a means to an end is disastrous.  

It is hard to say whether things will get better in the future. The systematic failure in Nigeria is evil enough and it is not helping anyone. This circle never ends. It rains for eternity. As the wandering cloud gathers at her feet, the door is slammed shut and evil breaks forth.

Organized mafia buys weapons. Not only to protect themselves, have they bought weapons. They have them to retaliate or fight perceived years of injustice done to them or their loved ones. It is insanity to belong to this world. We must act now and be free. May we not pay dearly for raising poor children.

 

Omoruyi Uwuigiaren is a former cartoonist turned writer. When he was a kid, he loved music and composed songs for his high school band. After school, he wanted to pursue a career in music. Instead he embraced writing and studied Mass Communications. His literary works and books have appeared in Moronic Ox Literary and Cultural Journal, Open Books, Urban Express Live, Qwenu, Academy of the Heart and Mind and many more. He’s the owner of Ruyi’s World of Books and Stories.  

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EXCERPT: Dark Magical Papyrus. An Ancient Egyptian Thriller by Mounia Lakehal Meribout

 

Thebes, Egypt. 2022 B.C. Standing on the balcony at dawn, Neith was looking at the rare white clouds floating in the sky. Sirius, the sacred star, was shining bright on the horizon; it was the first month of the season of the inundation, first decan, the first day. From the big propriety, Neith was able to see the beautiful winding Nile which was expected to flood soon.

 

Neith was a nineteen-year-old housemaid living and working at a Nomarch Menes domain. Devoted and possessing a good temper, everybody at Menes’ house liked to deal with the young Neith. Her position of the lady Nomarch’s first maid required full-time attention and a great sense of anticipation, and Neith was perfectly succeeding at fulfilling her tasks. Work was something important to Neith, and being at the service of Menes’ wife, Satamon, provided her with a lot of it. The young maid was responsible for her meals, her baths, and every single thing the mistress might need.

 

The morning was quiet. Some craftsmen were walking quickly to regain the cliff located in western Thebes, the place that Mentuhotep chose to edify his future mortuary temple.

 

“Work, this is all that matters… Life without work is unbear- able,” she thought.

King Mentuhotep the second was at his thirty-ninth year of reign, as the ruler of Upper Egypt, he succeeded at making the nation prosper and Thebes’ inhabitants were growing in number.

 

The first day of the year had always been a festive day in Egypt. So as usual, a party was supposed to be thrown tonight at Menes’ house. But the night before was New Year’s Eve and it was particularly odd and scary for Neith.

 

“How could I work on the party’s preparations after such a night?” she thought. Indeed, Neith witnessed some strange facts that troubled her extremely.

 

“I need to speak to Ahmes about it… Even though, I can’t imagine him finding a sensible explanation.”

 

Ahmes was a priest’s disciple living in the temple of Montou, and because of his special skills and sharpened intelligence, he was occasionally Menes’ healer. Neith met him a few days after she was assigned to Satamon’s service and since then, from time to time, they would have spiritual conversations and those were very agreeable moments for the young maid. “Mistress Satamon will wake up soon, I must hurry.”

Neith put some order in her long and braided hair.

 

The lady Nomarch wandered a little while in the reception room located on the ground floor then she decided to visit her husband’s workplace, “Of course, I need you to accompany me, Neith.”

 

Menes’s office was located on the left side of the propriety. The two women had to walk a few minutes to reach it, but this wasn’t a great inconvenience, as the walkway and the gardens were absolutely beautiful.

 

When the women arrived at the office, Nomarch Menes was dictating a message destined to the king of Thebes while the young scribe was copying it in a small sheet of papyrus.
“My dear, you work too much lately. You should rest sometime,” Satamon said with a fake tenderness that only Neith noticed.

 

“My beloved, there are political and military matters that cannot be delayed. You know very well that King Mentuhotep needs to be Pharaoh,” Menes replied with a serious tone.

 

“It seems like he’s completely relying on you. Other complica- tions I suppose.”

“Of course there are, fifteen years of complications!” her husband shouted.

 

“Don’t tell me we are losing the war!”

 

“There are still some Nomarchs of Lower Egypt that are not fond of the idea of Thebes being their capital.”

 

“The war is over, that’s what you told me last month, and we even feasted to celebrate the event!” Satamon complained.

 

Menes tried to reassure his wife, “Don’t lose your temper, my dear. It is a matter of time and patience. It is just a delay. Those things take time, but we will succeed soon.”

 

Satamon didn’t reply, her husband’s speech didn’t convince her at all. She kept watching him dictating his missive with certain contempt in the look.

 

Menes was a middle-aged man with an average height and mild obesity. Like most Egyptian notables, he wore heavy makeup and huge wigs.

 

“Definitely not handsome,” Neith thought with a little shame.

Then, feeling that Satamon was determined to stay for a while at her husband’s office, Neith offered her a comfortable stool. Satamon sat down and continued to watch her husband work.

 

At some point, Menes spoke to his wife, “My dearest, haven’t you a banquet to prepare for tonight?”

 

In fact, Menes didn’t want to get his spouse involved in political matters. He was one of those men who think that a woman cannot keep a secret.

“Indeed, my beloved, I have already planned everything,” Satamon reassured him.

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