The Writing Capsules

DARK MOMENT (Ep1)

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Hauwa walked past the shopping malls at the market; it wasn't a good sight to behold as everywhere looked shattered and scattered. It was as though a war broke out. A war? She thought. The last time she heard about wars was from her grandmother's story; yes! The story of the Biafran war. The way her grandmother narrated it made her scared that night. She had thought it would be those sweet stories that often lure her to sleep on her grandmother's chest—but no, that night's only got her eyes agape till dawn. As for her grandmother; she was asleep like a log of wood.

"Kill him! Thief! Thief!" Someone from a pool of crowd exclaimed as Hauwa walked towards a tomato seller to make a purchase. The whole market was in disarray; everyone was running helter-skelter, all confused about where to run to. She saw a police van parked around the "oba palace," with the policemen scattered around the market leaving the driver seated in the van.

"This is getting more serious than I thought," Hauwa muttered to herself, as she took to her heels.

"Hey! Stop there before I shoot!" A voice exclaimed. Could he be talking to her? She wasn't the only one running, anyway—so she didn't think of waiting for a tad. As she ran past the "oba palace" where the police van was parked, two policemen stood gallantly in front of her; their faces, as dreadful as death. Hauwa couldn't think of a better option than to stop and compose herself, while she tried walking past the police officers. Before she could say "Jack," she was handcuffed and thrown into the van, leaving her long hijab dancing to the tune of the blowing breeze.

Hauwa sat quietly in the van as they drove off. Why was she being arrested? What was her crime?

To be continued…






©Martha Shigaba

When you write, you communicate. When you communicate, you are understood.