An extraordinary new anthology tracks a grand history of writing by more than 200 women of African descent across all genres and eras. In this haunting extract from a short story by Sade Adeniran a Nigerian girl is captured by Boko Haram forces
I am guessing you don’t know who I am because I’ve yet to do anything remarkable with the life God gave me.That was the day they came for us.The sharpI can no longer remember what that dream was about. All that has stayed with me from that night is the waking nightmare my life became.
She hated me mainly because I was smarter than her; she came second to my first in all the subjects we studied. We finally had something to unite us. We had been fighting over rubbish all school year and became staunch allies over regurgitatedI don’t know if our friendship would have lasted, but for a little while we bonded over a minor victory, which was of little consequence.
I imagined my father, Bible in one hand and the holy cross in the other, coming into camp and begging for my release. We had plans; he had plans for me. What I wanted more was to see those places I read about only in the novels I ploughed through. To taste the food I saw them cooking on the television.
I have prayed for deliverance, for rescue and for mercy, but the bitterness on my tongue is more bitter than bitter leaf. Where is God?no rescue, no deliverance and no mercy. My father will not be coming to collect me. The husband I did not want has divorced me and I have become a wife to many. When I felt the new life stir within me for the third time, I did not know who it belonged to.
The times they took my body, I removed my mind and escaped to other places. I imagined myself arriving at university and graduating with my proud father in the audience clapping and celebrating my success.with a knife and fork. I imagined myself on an aeroplane, high up in the heavens and as close to God as an ordinary person can get.
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