THE LIGHT – CHIOMA NWOKO

We watched our body get ready, it was going to see a new man again, this was the third one this week, the 25th one this month and if we were calculating the time properly, it was barely the middle of the month. They kept disappointing it, time after time, man after man, It’d go on countless dates, dragging us with it, dates we could tell would fail the second we smelt him, we always knew, we could smell the lies, the deceit, the lust, everything, it was a thick fog above their heads, but it liked to act like it couldn’t smell it, we still didn’t quite understand why.

              We were sitting in the restaurant now, it was cheap and old, three other couples sat around, the air reeked of desperation, lust and oddly enough, sweat, someone didn’t have enough to foot the bill and we could smell it. Our body chuckled, it recognized the smell, so why didn’t it smell its men?

             The man was 15 minutes late, we didn’t like that, we are very punctual beings, always right on time, but our body stood up and hugged him as soon as he got to our table, we were outraged. Our body laughed, smiled, complimenting and swooning, mentioning our cooking skills every chance it got. It angered us, how much it wanted him to like it, how desperate for love it was, when did our body become like this? When did it start to hunger so much for male approval? It didn’t make sense to us, we were so much better than this.

           “You’ve got a light in you, you’re so cheery and happy, it’s adorable” he said, his mouth orbs glowing at us, teeth, they were called teeth, our body blushed, excited at the stupid comment, of course it did, that’s what made it special, the light inside and then we smelt it, it was faint and sweet, like a summer breeze or fresh cut grass, why was he smelling like that?, what was that smell?

           Our body closed the apartment door, back pressed against it, tears falling down its cheeks. How stupid, crying over rejection, the man had told it he had someone serious, that he liked he it and didn’t want to hurt it, it was all funny, humanity was funny, and how can you claim to not want to inflict pain while doing so? We were still young, we had so much to learn from them, like the smell, which was affection, he had liked our body like he said, it wasn’t a lie that time, but why did he also hurt it?

          “I’ve had enough!” our body screamed and charged into the kitchen and picked up the knife, putting the sharp end on its wrist, it was going to kill us! It can’t do that! Can it?

            It took a shaky breath, pressing the knife into her wrist, it was actually going to kill us, we had no choice, we had to act fast, it was a shame really, we’d grown fond of our body, but we had to survive, who was going to handle all the men that disappointed her?, so we let the light shine.

             It was so bright, the kitchen was glowing, she dropped the knife, hands shaking, standing frozen, staring at the light that bounced off the walls, so bright that her eyes started tearing up, she laughed mesmerized by the light as we tore through, scratching, pulling and tearing, she fell to her knees, her screams deafening, the light was too bright for her, her eyes melted like runny eggs and we finally broke through, pulling apart her belly and dragging ourselves out, she was no longer our body, we laid there on the cold floor, half of us still in her belly. 

            We pulled ourselves out completely and crawled on our belly to the mirror in her room, abandoning the gruesome pile of entrails and runny eyes that was once our body, it was pitch dark in the room, we looked at ourselves in the mirror, still on our belly, then we stood, using her stool as support, we looked thinner than she was, we weren’t fully grown, our light burned through our eyes, making them glow, the only light in the room, we adjusted our head, hers wasn’t upside down and we straightened our legs, hers weren’t bent backward, we retracted our extra hands and claws, Now we were perfect, we were our own and she was finally happy now, in peace and nothingness, our mother was probably rewarding her for carrying us all those years.

             Now we had to do right by her, we wore her clothes and carried her scent, in every physical form, we were her, but we were here only to feed on the flesh and souls of those who we pleased, but we would avenge her, for the light lays dead all darkness.

Latest Posts

y
WHO IS EJA NLÁ
WHO IS EJA NLÁ
Lagos Fashion Week 2024
Everything and Everybody You Missed At Lagos Fashion Week 2024, All At Once.
Everything and Everybody You Missed At Lagos Fashion Week 2024, All At Once.
Abiodun
Spotlight Monday: Abiodun
Spotlight Monday: Abiodun