Here is a new work of fiction by US-based Nigerian writer, Chika Onyenezi, who is a graduate of Peace and Conflict Studies from European Peace University, Austria. His short stories have appeared online and in print in Story Time, African Roar (2012), literary master Inc., poor mojo, long story short, and elsewhere. He is currently working on a collection of short stories.
You walked into the coffee shop at 10 rue de la Navigation in Geneva and ordered a cup of
cappuccino from the beautiful Ethiopian lady who you couldn’t stop imagining naked on your
bed. Each time you imagined this, you reminded yourself there was no bed. You sighed. You had
slept under the bridge during the summer and found your way to the asylum house in the winter.
There you are now, where the mental patients scream and moan in the dead of the night. Strings
and white magic powder lay on the toilet floor each morning while you make your way to clean
yourself up. You knew you did not have to do that. The most important thing to you was your
sanity. You needed it. You needed it more than anything and as you have passed through the
rough road of life, you’ve braved it all and still kept your sanity. You can’t waste it now.
