Stories

Light showers and slight breezes Sent me shivering and drifting Away from you Seeking sunshine and warmth In foreign waters and lands   The grass was green and luscious On…

By Patrick Ngugi She was a homeless orphan. Cold, hungry, beaten, bruised and defiled. And she was only nine years old. Her usual place of abode, inside the huge and…

By Cecy Gaitho “The Forbes list of top 40 under 40 is out, and for the first time in history, a Kenyan is on the lead!” I cannot tell if…

I saw how you used to stare at him, How you used to smile at him, Saw how you allured him to your bed, How you saw him secede his…

By Seeb Durazi Daniel Mwendwa sat pensively, in a secluded corner in the restaurant, peering anxiously from behind the lush, large leaves of the potted plant that partially concealed the…

By Jeddy Gibbs Ohanga How we met Many years back I had a girlfriend called Corrine. We were very close confidants and our friendship was beyond human comprehension. I loved…

By Patrick Ngugi Mabel was late. Very late. It was getting to 10.30 pm and this worried me tremendously because the stretch from the matatu stage to the house was…

[God wipes flies of that without a tail] By Mundia Ngumi Gitonga grew up in a relatively wealthy family. When racing komerera [racing] bikes seemed like the Porshe 5.0, those…

The wicked winds waft westwards Granting a deluge of ill droplets Infected with myriad tiny monsters Which stop a planet in its tracks Graduating the learned into fools Baffling miracle…

By NIMO KURIA Triza Mpwe, a widow, milled behind the casket bearers with her head bowed low. Beside her on the left and the right were her twin sons. Though…

You are the star-turn of my time And with your star-lit eyes Makes me have you in camped memories And would choose to hand you a star fruit To make…

I exist because Of your grace and mercy On this lowly creature Bearing the image of you   My body – this temple With amazing network Of blood, bones and…

On a rainy chilly Thursday evening Limping from yet another interview Broke as an orphaned church mouse I was drenched to the skin for I couldn’t afford even kid umbrella…

By Patrick Ngugi The church was filled to the brim. I could not believe that I was standing here helplessly, watching David marry Diana. The service was almost over and…

By Beverly Masita You could say I was deep in thought as I sipped my coffee on New Year’s Eve. I was here early, drowning in coffee and music, reading…

The most secure business venture in Kenya is running a bookshop. They are never broken into even during riots.  Kenyans are said not to have a reading culture, but undaunted,…

By Anita W. She looked in the mirror, She could not recognize the woman looking back at her, So thin, emaciated, wrinkled and drained of life, The woman in the…

Ifikapo mwaka 2030, Kenya itakuwa imepiga hatua nyingi za maendeleo. Miongoni mwazo ni miundo mbinu ya kisasa kama vile reli za umeme, majumba ya kifahari na barabara kuu zenye hadhi.…

By Cecy Gaitho “Pewa kama mlivyo!” A clearly drunken voice shouted from the back of Mama Pima’s den. He spoke in a slurred manner, having spent the whole morning in…

By Kemboi Victor Our matatu jerked to a halt at Ngoini market bus terminus few minutes past 6pm. The passengers alighted and took different directions. Since I was late, I…

I watched the beautiful orange glow Of the sunset like I’ve always done, It spoke to my soul like it always has But today… It wasn’t as warm Like it used…

She kissed I hissed I kissed she blessed Prior we were stressed Now, freely we expressed Her body entangled into mine Mine into hers ebullient entwine Each secretly speaking Each…

Saturday was reserved for going to munanda. Munanda is a cattle dip. All cows from within and outside the location, trode all the way to the munanda from all the…

By Anthony Muiruri I never cease to amaze my friend Robert. We sometimes teasingly call him uncle Bob owing to his iron-fisted management of his household. To ensure everything runs…

You lived your life to the fullest, We had all the fun we could, We sang and danced, Drunk to short, but happy life.   You never left anything to…

That evening my mind was not calm. Unlike other days when thoughts of unfinished work would be bothering me, I was thinking about the death of Tracie my four years’…

By Muriki Meeme-The Poet The pirates of terror You fight the new error Kill by sword die by sword For evil and not for good You will get the same…

By Patrick Ngugi He looks so handsome today, Melvina thought amid the shimmering film of tears that threatened to run down her cheeks. She loved him so much that she…

Dear God, If Thou decides to take thy soul tonight, So that I won’t see tomorrow, My son, whom am so fond, Oh God of all Might, Let him not…

By Kemboi Victor Inside the cabin of the cruiser was nearly dark as it was covered, such that it was difficult for light to come in; and the policemen hung…

By Patrick Ngugi “Ouch!” Travis Sakame muttered under his breath as the razor cut into his finger while he trimmed his nails. Unconsciously he put the finger in his mouth…

By Baya Osborn Change or vicissitude Awfully reassuring in its tidy reliance Something imminently bad must transpire Is it the enacting pain of Xenophobia? Is it Nairobi and Lusaka? Or…

By Evelyne Ongogo Okoth The world has gone to pieces Little remnants of glory trickle down our feet As we desperately watch a world That was once full of bliss…

INCOGNITO The ancient Greeks and Romans knew that there were times when you didn’t want to be recognized. For example, a myth tells how Zeus and Hermes visited a village…

By Evelyn Ongogo Okoth Kikoto has a mouth His mouth is just like any other mouth But his mouth is dangerous! It is venomous! The village calls him the Mouthy…

Dogs howled in agony, Crickets sang dirges in ceremonial voices, Little Janie stood at the balcony, Amidst the pleading noises, Ready to call it quits, to life’s irony.   She…

From the moment I laid my eyes on you, You have never left my mind, You made my mind and heart your home, You became my endless song, The rhythm…

By Jane Gerald Thrice the number of times I had been to the club. Thrice the number of times I had seen her. Now on my third drink, my nerves…

Sunset… dusk Then our yearning eyes met And like infatuated teens We couldn’t leave each other’s sight   We gazed through soul’s windows And beheld glittering galaxies Of shining stars,…

By Mundia Ngumi “Kuja hapa, mkora hii”, [Come here you vagabond] a hoarse voice shouted from behind me. I could sense urgency and danger. My sixth sense alerted me to…

By Marxie Douglas Dark, sparkling and still dark.. Lovely with amazing tone.. Tickling the soul this shade.. Does it terrify?   It alludes to sexiness.. Envy among the colours.. It…

By Kemboi Victor I came to know Juliet in my first month at Huduma Bora Microfinance Bank in Nairobi, where I had gotten job as a teller. She was a Clinician…

By Patrick Ngugi Wilmina Mudeshi had had enough.  She could not continue with these tribulations anymore. It was time to leave, she thought as she gripped the small bottle sleeping…

By Anita W. We stood by and watched jealously, As you were about to marry, For you we were happy, Yet we were feeling somehow empty, In our renowned singles’…

By Wangeshi Wambua Is motherhood a sacrifice or a privilege? Is it selfless or selfish? Many may say that I am writing from a place of privilege therefore project that…

The Quantum Shorts Flash Fiction Competition is now open to entries from writers around the world. The contest is completely free to enter, and offers cash prizes up to $1500,…

By Cecy Gaitho I watched helplessly as the heavy rain pounded on the back of my four children and I. This was the third time in a week that we…