Kayise Mosotho

“I never want to leave” by Kayise Mosotho

At the foot of my bed, there is a headstone. Neither a name nor a message appears on it. Solid granite sits erect before my feet. My body recoils. As a result, the headstone tilts forward.My ears are filled with the cries of a bushbaby. Shifting my attention to the environment around me. Rather than being in my bedroom, I am in a forest of acacia trees. As the bushbaby cries again, the trees whistle with the wind. The echoes surrounding the forest make it impossible to pinpoint the bushbaby's location.My teeth have been chattering since I wo...

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“Incident in Ward D” by Kayise Mosotho

Submitted to Contest #113

Patient’s P.O.V: This is my worst nightmare. I’m not sure nightmare is enough of a description. Horror. Misery. Purgatory. No words can explain what I am about to tell you. The comforting fruits of love's labour had me questioning the validity of my reality. Having shared my body with my dream lover had seemingly put my mind in a state of eternal bliss. She was sleeping. I could tell by her breathing. The window was open to aerate the marijuana she had brought to serve as an aphrodisiac. Drugs of any form, outside of alcohol, were no...

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“Scavenger Night” by Kayise Mosotho

Submitted to Contest #110

CW: violence We have plenty of time to scavenge tonight. The outside world has quietened down early.There must have been a snowstorm in the outlying Hotapo region. That translates to Joburg's worst cold front of the year The problem being that this year, it arrived late.We were already in spring way longer than the lack of rain indicated. This cold front has been in the making for the past four days. Forcing the rats to contain themselves longer than their patience allowed.  The downside for me in these temperatures is that my exos...

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“I almost did it at work” by Kayise Mosotho

Submitted to Contest #109

I had just come out of a disciplinary hearing for throttling my manager. He was messing with my schedule. The one I sacrifice for by working regular overtime.  This ego-maniac was interrupting my life and I wasn't having it. He had changed the work schedule without my knowledge. Forcing me to work on the last week of the month. The week I consistently plan in advance for my month-to-month home visits.  I had a good mind to twist my wrists as his neck sat constricted in my hands. But I knew the outcome of such actions. My grip w...

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“Deep inside the earth” by Kayise Mosotho

Submitted to Contest #106

I wake up draped in sheets of silk on a bed of tender foam. Pulling drips out of my arm and inner thigh as I try to stretch. The bed adheres to the weight of my body as I roll up to a sitting position. It could sleep six of me with room to spare. Its corners are surrounded by four pillars of carved wood. One carved in the totem of a snake. One of a bird of prey, perhaps a hawk or a falcon. One of a baboon. And one of an elephant. My eyes are pulled to the ceiling at this time. Pearls of varying sizes are lodged into the roof. Spinning ...

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