Ashes

Nene’s home held a sort of silence, undisturbed, strange, yet welcoming. It never caused me to halt, never required me to prep myself, rather it wrapped me up, drowning me in an illusion of safety, and I craved it. Craved the feel of it on me and dreaded having to let go. In the obi sat Chinwe, looking on as though the wonders of the world lay within the same space as she, enclosing her, and shinning all impurities. For a while Ada and I both stood, watching her watch her engraved pots, and carved figures, unsure on whether to call her or not.

“Mmasi!! Mmasichi! I can’t do anything for you, it’s already too late.”

For the few minutes we stood, hesitant on whether to rouse her to our presence or simply wait it out, opened up to our present, and the fact that she’d decided herself. I watched her walk down to Ada and I, not bereft of her usual elegance. Meeting us she shook her head then declared,