A Collection of Short Stories

Whispering Waters
Soogun Omoniyi
“Da.. dadd..u..daddu! ayam api to seeee you, mi daddu...”
That was all he said before a slap halted him; the usual hit he got whenever he escaped
from the prison they called him room.
Chris blinked twice, he wasn’t going to cry this time; he wasn’t even going to rub the cheek.
“Big boys don’t cry... you’re now a big boy,” his mother had whispered into his ears last
week, on the night of his birthday, when father, his jailer, had refused to show up.
“Bu.. Buh daddu... Ayaff nor see.. saw you since daddu...”
A stronger whack replied the gibberish, sending him to the floor. His mother flinched and
grabbed her husband by the arm before he decided on another slap.
“Daniel!” She screamed.
He snatched himself from her tiny palms and faced her, his anger threatening to pop her out
of existence,
“How many times will I tell you... once he’s back from school, this hiiimbecile should not
come out of his room!”
The “imbecile” came out of his dark lips with such great skill that could have only been
honed from years of constant pronunciation. Stretched and inflected.
“...answer me, how many times? ...what if I arrived with an important visitor!” His hand kept
slashing the air.
“He’s our son! Our only child! You cannot keep him locked forever Daniel!” Janet fired back,
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Tales from the Other Side