Fantasy
The Coffee Cup. AI-Generated.
Every morning at exactly 7:10, Elias Mwangi opened the doors to his tiny café on River Street in Nairobi. The brass bell above the door jingled softly, echoing through the narrow shop that smelled of roasted beans, cinnamon, and rain-soaked wood.
By shakir hamidabout a year ago in Fiction
The Sound of Rain. AI-Generated.
It had been raining for three days straight in Lusaka, and the sound had become a kind of background music to Naomi’s thoughts. She sat by the window of her late father’s house, watching water run down the glass, tracing the same paths over and over again — like memories replaying themselves.
By shakir hamidabout a year ago in Fiction
The Last Train to Miray. AI-Generated.
The train station of Miray hadn’t seen a real crowd in years. The walls were cracked, the benches splintered, and the ticket window covered in dust. Once, this place had been the heart of a small but thriving mining town. Now, it was only the heart of one old man who refused to let it die.
By shakir hamidabout a year ago in Fiction
The Clockmaker’s Secret
In the heart of the old city, tucked between crumbling brick buildings, stood a shop that most people ignored. Its wooden sign, faded and creaking, simply read “Tide & Time.” Inside, the air smelled of cedar, oil, and something older, something almost alive. The walls were lined with clocks of every shape and size—grandfathers with pendulums like hearts, pocket watches in velvet cases, and small brass clocks that ticked in soft, hypnotic patterns. Every tick seemed to pulse with the weight of unseen moments.
By OWOYELE JEREMIAHabout a year ago in Fiction
His Freckle Too, Stayed Until Morning
I did not notice it before. That small freckle just beneath his left eye, the one the light always seems to find before I do. How many times have I seen his face and never really seen it? The mark itself is nothing special, really, a speck, a shadow of pigment the sun decided to keep for itself, yet tonight it feels like a secret I have finally been allowed to see.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a year ago in Fiction
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Letter. AI-Generated.
The wind howled along the cliffs of Cape Town, tearing at the edges of the lighthouse like it wanted to knock it into the ocean. Inside, an old man sat hunched over a wooden desk, pen in hand, paper worn and yellowed.
By shakir hamidabout a year ago in Fiction
Rain That Never Ends
It had been raining for five years. Not a day, not an hour of silence from the sky. The people of Maravelle had long stopped waiting for the sun. The old roads were rivers now, and the hills were islands. Children learned to swim before they learned to walk. Markets floated on barrels and bamboo rafts, schools drifted in circles tethered to the remains of clock towers, and crops grew in hanging gardens on rooftops.
By Farooq Hashmiabout a year ago in Fiction
Sanctuary
The rain had been falling for three days straight. Not the kind that dances on rooftops and sings lullabies, but the kind that soaks through bones — heavy, endless, punishing. The town below was drowning in mud and silence. Yet high on the hill, where the forest thickened into darkness, the old church stood untouched.
By Malaika Pioletabout a year ago in Fiction
