A Beautiful Life

by hidayat | Nov 5, 2021 | Short Stories

Yasmina dragged her exhausted, worn-down body up the three flights of stairs of the tenement building in Manenberg, her knees throbbing painfully with each heavy step. She sighed quietly, grateful that her incessant back pain of three days ago had finally subsided....

Just Ice

by hidayat | Oct 29, 2021 | Short Stories

“Zethu, you must always measure the milk carefully before you give them to the customers,” Lubabalo told me on the morning misfortune scratched at the door flap of our mud house. I was his baby sister, but to me he was my universe. We had lost our parents in the...

Bliksemed

by hidayat | Oct 23, 2021 | Short Stories

Idris looked at Brenda irritably. “Why don’t you keep your nose out of other people’s business? It’s like you’re only happy if you can talk kak about others,” he stated. Brenda’s face instantly purpled and turned splotchy in rage. She was a large woman in every way:...

Forever Is Never Forever

by hidayat | Oct 16, 2021 | Short Stories

Patricia celebrated her thirty-fifth wedding anniversary with Hamilton by surprising him with a vacation in sun-soaked Greece. He had always told her that it was a destination he wanted to visit, and she felt elated that she could make his dream come true. It had...

The Choice

by hidayat | Oct 9, 2021 | Short Stories

Ali knew his extended procrastination had come to its inevitable end the minute his father said, “It’s time, son. You need to decide tonight, or wallah, you might as well forget about it.” He had been trying to avoid and postpone having to make a decision for nearly a...

A Woman’s Strength

by hidayat | Oct 1, 2021 | Short Stories

Anil was younger than Surita by four years, but the age difference was inconsequential, as far as the two lovers were concerned. Surita wasn’t overbearing or dominant; in fact, she adored Anil to such an extent that she was prepared to do anything for him. He was only...