“Do you think it will be worth it?” an anxious Chukwuka asked his sister Adaeze. “I don't know; I sure do hope so," she replied. For almost a decade now, Chukwuka and Adaeze have lived in a run-down apartment in Lagos State, Nigeria, near the border between Nigeria and the Benin Republic. They lost their mother, who had been their primary caretaker since the death of their father. His death left a void in their family, forcing their mother to sell their home and move to a tiny apartment. Unfortunately, their mother contracted HIV after being tested with an infected needle at an underfunded government hospital. Adaeze and Chukwuka spent the little wealth they had caring for their mother, but unfortunately, it was not enough to save her. That all happened eight years ago; now, at 28 and 26, Chukwuka and Adaeze live only with the memory of the family they once had. The death of their father forced them both out of school, and now Chukwukwa is a petty trader earning less than twenty thousand naira a month while Adaeze is unemployed. But there is hope. Amid all this tragedy and despair, hope arrived from an unexpected place. “We are pretty much packing our entire lives and moving in with a stranger,” Chukwuka said, seeming more anxious. “I know this is a less-than-ideal arrangement, but we can't keep on living like this,” Adaeze responded. A man claiming to be their father's brother had reached out to them and offered to take them in. Chukwuka is very skeptical and detests the thought of leaving his home, but Adaeze is open to the idea. The next morning, they begin their five-hour journey to Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State, where the man resides. Adaeze and Chukwuka opted to take a bus from Lagos to Ogun State, then take another bus from Ogun State to Ekiti. They arrived at the bus station early in the morning and boarded the bus, getting the best seat available under a cool air conditioner. Adaeze quickly fell asleep, leaving a perplexed Chukwuka to think of possible scenarios that could happen. His thoughts were gloomy and dark and always ended with either him or Adaeze being killed. The bus arrived at a station in Ogun State, and Adaeze and Chukwuka boarded their next bus. Chukwuka felt a lot more relaxed, and she found it very easy to fall asleep again. Adaeze too fell asleep. As the bus progressed closer to Ekiti, the driver stepped down along with some other passengers, unknown to the two siblings. A man dressed in black took over the driver's seat and began driving the bus to an unknown location. Adaeze opened her eyes, looked around, and saw the bus was empty and parked in what seemed like a forest. Two men rushed into the bus and began shouting at both Adaeze and Chukwuka to come out. The two siblings were shaking and confused. Chukwuka began lamenting and shouting, “Oh Adaeze, see what you've done. I knew I should have stayed home!” he screamed. Adaeze remained silent, struggling to process what had just happened. The two were escorted to an abandoned building and told that they would be unable to leave. Adaeze, upon hearing this, began to beg the strange men, "Please, sir, let us go; we have nothing; we are poor and can barely feed ourselves." The men looked at her with no empathy and left the room. Chukwuka began shouting at Adaeze, “How could you do this to us?! How could you lead me into following you on this suicidal journey to meet the unknown? We are finished." Adaeze kept silent, deep down, though she knew what he said was true; it was her fault. Two nights had gone by. Adaeze and Chukwuka sat in different corners of the room, silently waiting for their fate. A strange man entered the room. “The boss will be arriving today, then he will decide what to do with you two," he said. That sentence sent chills down Adaeze's spine. “We have to escape,” she said, “There's a hole in the ceiling; if we can jump high enough, we can crawl through the vents and escape”. Adaeze did it first, then Chukwuka reluctantly followed. They crawled for about 10 minutes before they made it out, but they had one problem. They were trapped in a forest. Chukwuka dropped to the floor and lamented, saying, “Where do we go!? We're going to die of starvation; all hope is dead!!”. Adaeze responded, “Get up! We've come too far to give up." Immediately after she said this, a brown Jeep appeared from a hidden path. A white woman named Sophia came down and offered them a ride, saying, “You guys look lost; let me take you to a safer place.” Adaeze knew it would be disastrous to still attempt to find their uncle, so she accepted her offer. Sofia was a 67-year-old adventurer. She was kind enough to take the two siblings in with her. She gave them a home, clothes, food, and water. She also sponsored their education so they could get decent jobs. Despite all the lamenting by Chukwuka, Adaeze was fierce and kept them safe. Chukwuka was wrong; hope was not dead.

For the Love of Nelly Bleset. Perhaps the saddest love story ever told. Set in rural England in 1910 our tale follows the life of the local young poacher who is forced into service at the Big House in order to help his family survive poverty. There he meets the lady of his dreams, but she only has eyes for the spiteful footman, made worse by his corrupt sponsor a local Lord. World War One takes away all the men of fighting age, our young hero included. From the trenches his life at the front, letters and wounds kindle an undying passion between him and his previously unrequited lady love. This is an action packed tale, with twists of political intrigue in a backdrop of the contrast between the poverty and aristocratic realities of the time. (Available from Amazon in paperback and ebook by Kindle). 5 Stars - Highly Recommended.

Looking Forward to the Past A gripping and fast moving tale about the struggle of the common man to exist in a world gone mad at the hands of the new authoritarian state of the European Federation. Set in the green and pleasant pastures of Wales our hero and his young son are separated from his wife and herded into a containment camp created by the Federation to contain the people of the troublesome island called Britain. This is a story of pursuit, survival, wanton violence and love in a world controlled and manipulated by the corruption of political power. (Available from Amazon in paperback and ebook by Kindle). 4 Stars – Fascinating story – Graphic in places.

Terrorized. Why my father listening to classical and intellectual music blaring loud all fucking afternoon. I am trying break a stereotype of people with aspergers and autism and my father was sitting there ruining my street cred and pissing me the fuck off. I didn't want a nightmare so I finally but my motherfucking foot down and said enough or in tibetan “gakada.” I have a foot fetish... I will fine my father's toes and step on them if he does idiotic things like that. Jezz.