Fiction and Articles

Richard Cory by   Edwin Arlington Robinson Whenever Richard Cory went downtown, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim. And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked; But still he fluttered pulses when he said, "Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.   And he was rich — yes, richer than a king — And admirably schooled in every grace: In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place.   So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head.   P.S- Remember this, rock bottom is a perfect place for rebuilding -Titliope Sonuga  

“ I guess when you turn off the main road, you have to be prepared to see some funny houses ”- Stephen King After many sleepless nights, 177 unwatched YouTube Videos, doubts and anxiety, great support system and finally courage and strength. We arrived our destination  https://selar.co/lhum Thanking you.

In the grand scheme of things, you are not important so live your best life- whatever that means to you; In the grand scheme of things, you are very important so live your best life- whatever that means to you.   In the grand scheme of things, you are not important so stop expecting so much from others; In the grand scheme of things, you are extremely important so expect the good, bad and ugly from others.   In the grand scheme of things you are not important so keep your expectations very low; In the grand scheme of things, you are super important so keep your expectations very high.   In the grand scheme of things you are not important so stop making life all about you; In the grand scheme of things you are too important so make everything about you.   In the grand scheme of things you are not important so endeavour to care for others; In the grand scheme of things you are the only who’s important so endeavour to care for yourself.   In the grand scheme

“I think I need therapy” is a statement I have made more than once in the past couple of weeks. After witnessing a traumatic scene and having constant PTSD, I started to have a different but positive outlook on therapy and the importance of mental health. The day was great. Perfect weather. Perfect stream of events and a great way of wrapping it up was to see a friend off in her taxi. We had not gone so far off when we noticed cars slowing down. We were wondering what the fuss was about when our driver pointed to the roadside and said “that old man who was walking now just slumped”. As we drove past slowly and silently, we saw cars parked beside the elderly man who was now lying flat and almost lifeless by the roadside. My heart skipped many beats. I was worried, scared, confused and started to experience PTSD all over again. I prayed silently and wished him well. On my way back home, I passed by the scene and this time it looked like he had given up. I continued my journey with a lo

  Today I took the bus, yes the yellow buses with black lines in Lagos. I do that sometimes when my destination is close and I need real air. Soon after I alighted, I saw my young friend “Aunty long time” she said. My young friend who sold bananas and groundnut by the roadside. Our acquaintance began when my weight gain journey began. I made it a tradition to drink a banana shake every morning with peanut butter. I added a little weight and gained an amazing skin. I stopped that journey a long time ago when I lost my smoothie bottle. I still don’t have my weight gain goal but my skin grew better (this is not medical advice). I didn’t want bananas, but I gave her money. She was happy and grateful. I had gone past her when I remembered that I should have taken a picture of her and her goods, saving memories and sharing memories.   I jumped on a bike shortly after because it looked like it was going to rain. As we made our way past the street, I saw an elderly man with his Bible and

  I will make this very brief for you my dear reader. Hopefully you’re not Gen Z. My sugar baby rang me about 48 hours ago and the first sentence she said to me was “How are you? Are you alive?” Of course, the child of God instinct in me kicked against this statement wondering if this was the plot of the enemy. I am alive in Jesus’ name. I quickly replied and said “can’t you hear my voice?” and immediately she chuckled, grunted and started explaining how she meant no harm and how “are you alive?” simply meant are you bubbly? are you happy? are you good? I told her I don’t understand their generation’s choice of words. I mean, I get “that is so fire” “hbu” “no cap” and the likes. But for Heaven’s sake what is “Are you alive?”, sorry the millennial in me cannot relate. It then occurred to me that the Z generation is probably the most attacked because of their shrewdness and restlessness which has actually helped a lot of them become pioneers in their various fields. Their attention to de

  Come in darling, shut the door; Grab the phone, turn on do not disturb; Let’s not go on google, let’s not text; Let’s not make that phone call, that will make us more upset; The light is on, we toss and turn; We wait for that message, it doesn’t seem to come; Let’s turn off the light and close our eyes; Let’s imagine that everything is all right; The eyes start to burn from tears wanting to come; Because our heart lied to us, and our head hurts; Let’s drift into the subconscious, with hopes for a new dawn; Let’s get through the night darling, the morning will soon come. P.s- Dedicating this post to Idowu Sadipe, an avid reader of my blog and one of the many amazing people who make this worth it.

    Before you continue with this article, I would like to categorically adopt the words of one of my YouTube stars Lasizwe Dambuza- “Do not make your problems mine”. Please do not make your problems mine if you find this article unreasonable or offensive. Today, even the deaf would have heard and the blind would have seen that Ahmed Bola Tinubu emerged the APC Presidential Candidate for the year 2023 Presidential election. I had my preferred candidate but unfortunately, he did not make it this time and there has been a lot of conversations in the air about how Tinubu was “too old” “too selfish” “very unreasonable” and so many other unprintable words just because this son, father, grandfather and god-father made his ambition clear and fought the battle to clinch today’s victory. My point here is simple, no one and I mean no one has the right to tell another human being what they should or should not be. It reminds me of the verse in the book of Job chapter 38 verse 11 also adopted

  So recently I started learning about love languages and pretty much asked all those close to me what their love language is. I also learnt interestingly, that we have a love language we receive and a love language we give.  Today, I’m going to be talking about an interesting discovery; God’s love language (spoiler alert; he has all of them) and because I’m Christian, I would be using examples from the Bible and also round off by suggesting how we can reciprocate the same love.  Words of affirmation- everywhere in the Bible, we have so many words of comfort from God. Telling us how he cares about us, how beautiful we are, how we are precious, how he will do anything for us and most importantly how much he loves us. Acts of service- God literally offered his son Jesus for us and this is not to take away all the other beautiful stories where he visited the sick, fed the multitude and many other amazing things. Gifts- yet again, what other great gift than the gift of the Holy Spirit.   P

The theatre lights are blinding as I feel the sharp pain in my rib and the vile taste in my throat. I see each and everyone of them running around but this time they look more like trees. I can tell they are trying to save me but little did they know I’m okay. I just couldn’t find the strength to tell them. I should have left a note but I didn’t think it will be today. I draw my gaze from the lights and close my eyes, the picture of my one and only true love Seun comes to sight. If he were here with me I knew he would comfort me and cheer me on. I remember the very first day we met, a rainy day with no taxi in sight.   He had offered to drop me off, I politely declined but he was so insistent and I in turn had to swallow my pride. Our journey from then on became a rollercoaster of emotions. I will never forget the day he asked me to marry him. He had professed his never-ending love for me at my best friend’s wedding and while everyone cussed at us for stealing my best friends thunder

Dear God, I was a bit overwhelmed by ---- ------ ----- and I let my -------- get the better part of me. ------- ----- -- ------ is a privilege and you have helped me this --- . God , because I am ------------ and in constant fear of --- - ---- --- --- ---- I allowed this translate into ------- -- - ------- ----- ------ without ---------- that you are indeed the -------- and I am just a ------- . God , I am ----- for trying to ------ ---- ----- . a t best I should have ---- --- and asked for your help. I am very ------- for ----- ---- ---- -- myself and not ------- you instead. Dear God, I thank you because I know you are not ---- at me and I am ------- for ------- that way. Lord ---- me to do what is right, ----- me Lord. -------- me.     A silent affair.  

Hello everyone, Bubari came in few minutes ago and I received the inspiration to give you the major highlight of year 2022 valentine’s day. If you are looking for gist, there is no gist. The day dragged slowly as I kept thinking to myself “shey for real for real, I won’t receive a call from someone saying we have a delivery for you” Now, don’t get me wrong. I got a call from a dispatch rider and I did receive gifts but not that “special” gift I was looking for. It was all fun and laughter as the day came to an end with some of us laughing at our predicament of zero “special” gifts and my wonderful employers teasing the ladies who did not receive an array of presents. On my drive home at about 9pm, I had given up on the hope for a special present until my phone started to buzz. Finally, a strange number was calling. I thought to myself “who is this romantic person calling, maybe they decided to surprise me by giving me a fantastic ending to my day”. I hurriedly picked up the cal

It was a couple of weeks ago when I blurted out to Bubari that I haven’t received valentine’s gift from “lovers” or “crushers” in years. Bubari is my amazing sister sister, friend, yellow paw paw wakabout colleague and she is one of those people that gets the gist straight away. She asks me what I want and I said “Jewellery from Tiffany’s and White Lilies”. I take it a step further by posting pictures of what I want on WhatsApp. Some people got the gist some did not. I am working late tonight and tell Bubari that we should throw a party for those of us who don’t get asked out on Monday night. Karoke in the conference room with fries, fish and white wine. She immediately agrees that it is a splendid idea but shortly after says “Funke, I just want you to know that if I get asked out, I won’t be attending the conference room hangout” we both burst out in laughter and I think about how pathetic it must be that just so you don’t feel alone you throw a party at the office to dance away th

  The minute she sat beside me; I took a brief look at her. She was tall and dark with beautiful eyes. She reminded me of those tv stars who tried so hard to conceal their identity in public space. I felt the need to cooperate by not making her uncomfortable, so I pretended like she didn’t exist and kept glaring at my phone.   I had no messages. A few seconds after, I hear her say something. I wasn’t sure if she was speaking to me so I waited again, just to be certain. “Can I see what you are reading?” she asked. Was the superstar talking to me? Yes she was. She asked to see the book in my hand. It was “Will” by Will Smith and little did I know that Will Smith was about to give me an invaluable gift. No, she wasn’t a tv star (not yet), but our conversation spanned over 15 minutes or more. We talked about literature, lack of sleep in Lagos, lack of hustle in Abuja, work, more literature, career, church, money, relationships, investments, literature again and everything in-between.

  If it feels cold on a wet night, you most likely have a lot on your mind. Its past midnight as I head towards my dormitory. Why I had chosen such a far distance beats me. All I know is that I had kept walking farther and farther away from my reality. I had told everyone around me that I was going to study. I lied. I didn’t read anything. Now the mosquitoes are really biting and even though it stopped raining a while ago, it feels like it only just started. The walk is long and lonely, I think of the times you were still beside me. The times when rain gave me the warmest nights and lots of laughter with you in sight. I’m so hungry, my stomach starts rumbling but even the Suya man has gone home to his family. I gave you my everything and you took it away without warning. Whoever knew silence could be so loud, it speaks through the wind so profoundly. A puddle here, a puddle there, with more puddles from my organ of sight. My life flashes right before my eyes, it a

  In the year 2016, I had the privilege to “serve” my fatherland in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. During the 3 weeks camp orientation, I fell really ill. On that fateful day I woke up with a terrible headache as the sound of the bugle woke us up to the assembly ground. I was too weak to stand and decided to sit by the curb instead, a female soldier approached me and commanded me to join the line. I told her I was very ill and could not join. Within seconds, she grabbed me abruptly by my shirt and pulled me close to her. She was obviously power drunk and could not believe that a bloody civilian refused her command. At this point she was furious and ordered me to hand over my lanyard. If you have ever undergone NYSC orientation, you will know the importance of having your lanyard on your neck 24/7. At this point, I decided I will rather not serve than to die for nothing. As luck will have it a superior officer observed what played out and told her to leave me be. I approached