PART II Chapter 16 Don’t Let Go Mrs. H’s voice crackles through, worry unmistakable beneath the composure. “Elena! Finally. We haven’t had a single word since San — you’re driving the London office mad. Is it a connection issue, or are you simply intent on giving us all ulcers?” “Sorry, Mrs. H. A little of…
Tag: women
The COMC File – Alkebulan
PART II Chapter 15 Listening at the Crossroads The plan — as I’d promised myself back in Conakry — was to hike the hills above the village. “What was I thinking,” I mutter, looking up at those long inclines, my belly full and heavy with new life. Instead I wander through dusty lanes and flowering…
The COMC Files – Alkebulan
PART II Chapter 14 Madam Raby’s Pizza Hotel Tata in Labé is a cosy inn settled in a green, flower-filled enclave. We’re greeted by Madame Raby herself, the gardens quiet, fragrant steam from the kitchen carrying a blend of Guinean stews and, improbably, some of the best pizza I’ll find west of Naples. Our bungalow…
The COMC Files – Alkebulan
PART II Chapter13 Mountains dont Bow The plane lurches down onto the airstrip with a bounce that rattles my teeth, wheels clattering across tarmac patched more with willpower than concrete. When the cabin door opens, the smell of earth and woodsmoke sweeps in. Outside, Labé greets us in a riot of colour and dust. Motorbikes…
The COMC Files – Alkebulan
PART II Chapter 12 The Rattletrap The clerk — a young man, visibly nervous and more than a little dazzled — tries to collect himself. “Madame… monsieur… you are travelling to Labé? Domestic flight… yes… but, eh—” His gaze drops to my belly. “Madame, you are… how far along, please?” “Far enough to notice, young…
The COMC Files – Alkebulan
PART II Chapter 11 The Stallion and the Faucet The golden flow has stilled again. How strange, how ridiculous: once it arrived only when Asdar or Tarmo leaned near. Now, summoned from afar, I leak on command — like a wandering faucet connected to the pipelines of heaven. Trust the cosmos to make motherhood both…
The COMC Files – Alkebulan
Part II Chapter 10 The Golden Thread The morning air in San is soft and brittle, full of the promise of roads not yet taken. Karim and I pack up early, the sky outside still silver as he checks the route to Timbuktu one last time. I sit by the window, satellite phone in hand,…
The Holographer’s Atlas – Andrea
Two eyes, just above the water. That was all. The rest of him was under, still. I noticed them because they were staring at me. Returning the gaze, I remember thinking: what a pretty girl. The eyes, the dark curls floating around them, the suggestion of a face just below the line. Then he stood…
The COMC files – Alkebulan
Part II Chapter 8 Bamako — The Griot’s Garden By dawn the familiar heaviness has faded. Karim greets me with a small breakfast. “Adama will meet us soon,” he says quietly. Centre Djoliba’s compound smells of earth and hibiscus. Light filters through mango leaves, dappling low tables where men and children laugh, where an old…
The COMC files – Alkebulan
Part II Chapter 7 Bamako, Mali River of Music The city is chaos—market cries, motorbike horns, spices sharp as jealousy. We duck into a courtyard where three men with koras pluck the dusk like strings of silk. One pauses mid-note, eyes twinkling. “You look lost, sister. Or maybe just looking for the right story to…
The C.O.M.C. Files 