Month: April 2016

Creative Writing · Fiction · Short Stories

The Marriage…Friday’s fiction in five sentences.

jacquelineobyikocha33 Comments

It was the perfect wedding. The sun had shone just at the right proportion. The storybook garden where they shared their vows was dreamy. Everything was as it should be. Sublime.

Yet Cecilia felt some restlessness in her spirit. Helmut is a perfect match. Mother loved him very much and approved of him. Even her picky friends liked him well enough. They considered him the dashing, wealthy European.

Their marital vows felt like a constriction to her vocal chords. She shook off the inner voice and focused on the sizzle. She loves Helmut, he’s a passionate lover and even as every cell in her body screamed ‘don’t‘ she said I do.

It didn’t take a long time for her to realize that the marriage was a huge mistake.

Helmut’s perceived candour turned to blunt cruelty. His passion became an obsession. He smothered her to death.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Image credit..pixabay

 

Blog · Featured Blogs · Share A Link

Featured Posts # 35…Let me share your post links.

jacquelineobyikocha

1457166336574[1]

‘PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN THE LINKS.’

Today’s featured blogs are:

Family, parenting and beyond Joan’s posts bring it home and keeps it real. Please pay a visit and say hello.

The meantime How do you wait? What do you do in the meantime? I suggest you read this.

Shipwrecked adoption and PTSD POETRY, bares the soul of its writer.

Train up a child I can’t even begin to describe this article from Michelle. It’s an excellent, well-articulated piece. If I could like it more than once, I will do so severally. I enjoyed it.

Letter to God There are words that make you sigh and tear up a bit and this is my comment to this post ‘It takes courage to share vulnerable parts of us and our challenges. He will surprise you. Just keep your faith. I could feel your pain in these words.

Broken Heart How do you mend a broken heart? A beautiful and simple write filled with sound advice.

Discovery When you discover a carnage from robbers, yet they didn’t make off with the loot, what would be your conclusion? Vengeance? Retribution? Well…

Please visit their blogs and say hello. A few minutes may gain you a friendly support.

‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’

Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.

P.S. Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.

Thank you for your understanding and regards.

‘We create a cohesive community when we come together.’

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Everyday People · Humans

Titillating Conversation…Every day beautiful people #17

jacquelineobyikocha12 Comments

‘A conversation is so much more than words: a conversation is eyes, smiles, the silences between the words.’ Annika Thor

I love real heart to heart tête à têtes. It reveals bits and pieces of the soul and creates honest moments in between- Jacqueline

Do women enjoy titillating conversations or is it just the menfolk that does?

Memes · Midnight motivation and musings

Midnight Motivation and Musings # 60…

jacquelineobyikocha29 Comments

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It’s often interesting how we keep putting off things that our heart is set on doing as we wait for the right time to arrive.

When is the right time? How do we identify it? Will it come knocking on our door to announce it’s arrival? Will it ever arrive?

Some say it’s when they’ve got enough money set aside, some say that they are waiting for the children to grow up and there are yet many more excuses.

The whole glaring truth is that there will never be the right time except we make it happen. Excuses will always be bountiful and they cost several dozens for nothing, however, the cost of using excuses can be quite expensive.

Let’s start seeking that right time today. Today is it.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Life · Poetry/Poems · The Daily Post

Life Is A Suitcase…

jacquelineobyikocha11 Comments

white luggage

Did you know that life’s a suitcase

In which we journey through this maze?

You put the things you feel you’ll need

As you trundle along at your own speed

Good portion of love

Inside your trove

Helpings of smiles

Will go a mile

Family and friends can come along

They are always there to keep us strong

A dash of life skills is worthwhile too

A pinch of resilience without much ado

Good thoughts, positive vibes are simply a must

With good faith and in God we trust

Sometimes some run out of space

They end up with a bursting suitcase

Sometimes we over anticipate

And end up paying for excess luggage

Though life may have it’s bumpy trails

But if we pack with some essential stuff

We would enjoy it as we set sweet sail

That my friend would be good enough.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Suitcase,The Daily Post Prompt

Echos Of My Neighbourhood · Lifestyle · Personal · Photographs

More Miracles, Picnic and Bowling…Echoes of my neighbourhood # 14

jacquelineobyikocha21 Comments

On Thursday’s, I share pictures about ‘Echos of my Neighbourhood.

I would like to invite you to participate. The challenge is quite simple.

Every Thursday, share a photo of bits and pieces of wherever you are at any point in time. It could be a house, backgrounds of your neighbourhood, activities and so forth and you can tag it Echos of my Neighbourhood, add my link to your post so that I will get the ping from your post.

Every other Thursday, I will publish a post with the links of all those who participated the previous week.

This is just a fun way of getting to see more of the World around us through your eyes since we cannot all be at those places, we could, at least, see them through you.

Bringing you more photos of the Miracle garden. You can check last week’s link here just in case you missed it.

I managed to fit in a picnic/barbeque before the forbidding hot weather of the Middle East rears up its head in full force as well as a bowling outing (though I am not much of a bowler) to round up our Spring break.

Now that school is back in full swing, life is no longer running on a slow lane.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Last Week Echoes took us to different neighbourhoods, hop on let’s go see and we will be glad to see some of yours :-)

Bangkok flower market: Lady Lee Manila gives us a peek of Bangkok market’s fresh flower power side.

Lower Manhattan Delightful photos from Manhattan. There’s something about that city that calls my name 😉

Mercury Colliding Who knew that Kat had such green thumbs *tongue in cheek* 😉

GM’s echoes Thank you, GM for joining in and sharing bits of your abode with us 🙂

Giggles and tales I love the skies and Stella shows us the gorgeous blues and vibrant sunsets as she journeys along 🙂

Thank you to all Echoes’ contributors. I am learning a whole lot from this challenge as well as having fun with it.

It would lovely to have you join us.

My regards.

Blog · Featured Blogs · Share A Link

Featured Posts # 34…Let me share your post links.

jacquelineobyikocha

1457166336574[1]

‘PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN THE LINKS.’

Today’s featured blogs are:

Voulaah African braids and twists go a long way back in history. In Egypt during the eras of Pharoahs, one had to be a member of the royal lineage or the deputies to make their hair in such manner that was considered sexy and seductive.Introducing Anita who shows us snippets of this.

Giving 4 little things Dehan shows us how we can give in little ways that take nothing away from us 🙂

Watching the daisies When I say that I learn so much from what I am doing, I am not exaggerating. This healing power in colour visualization is something that I am definitely going to try and it costs nothing. You could check it out. You never know how helpful it might be to you.

Luanne of following seas reminds me with this quote ‘Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. ~ Abraham Lincoln, why I like visiting her blog. A fresh view of Lincoln memorial took me back to my visit to Washington and the priceless monuments of history that lines its horizons.

It’s me Saraa I enjoyed getting to know a bit more about Saraa. She’s a delightful, friendly young lady who’s been a warm support in this space.

Kidnapped I have been following Mel’s book series Curse breaker for some time as well as others. Mel is such a passionate writer and I remember very well that these words of her personal experience that I quote below, kept me going back.

Today, two years ago was the last time I saw or spoke to my sister. I was rewriting the opening chapters of Curse Breaker: Enchanted and its two sequels when she died hence the posts. Her last words to me were a heartfelt plea that I write all my stories and publish them. I promised her that and she left.

I didn’t know then that she would be dead in five days. I didn’t know those would be the last words we’d ever speak to each other. I didn’t know that was the last time I would ever see her face to face.

Please visit their blogs and say hello. A few minutes may gain you a friendly support.

‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’

Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.

P.S. Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.

Thank you for your understanding and regards.

‘We create a cohesive community when we come together.’

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Everyday People · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Photographs

Mimic…Every day beautiful people #16…

jacquelineobyikocha28 Comments

‘Female friendships that work are relationships in which women help each other belong to themselves.’ Louise Bernikow

For some good moments, I enjoyed watching their similar expressions at each given moment. 🙂

Uncategorized · Writing

Are You Laughing Yet?…Writers Quote Wednesday.

jacquelineobyikocha18 Comments

 

Always laugh when you can. It’s cheap medicine. George Gordon Byron

The writers quote Wednesday’s prompt for this week is laughter and I looked up that lovely quote above.

I love laughing. In my opinion, robust laughter is like a song to the ears that the soul dances to. I like being around people who have a good sense of humour and can make me laugh and who equally laugh at themselves. They don’t nitpick and take offence easily. Staying around grouches can be bone wearing and grey. At some point, we would all die, but while we are alive let’s live it with laughter on our lips.

Sometimes, especially during the weekends, I deliberately go on YouTube to look up comedians and enjoy a good half hour of silliness 🙂

When we moved here, I was initially taken aback by the number of serious, stoic faces that dotted the horizon. I even wrote a poem about it which languished in my draft. Some looked outrightly like people who had sucked on sour lemons as if it would hurt them to smile while some wore a grimace like they had a bad case of gas.

Over time, I started distinguishing them by their nationalities and realised that some of the tightness of the faces are due to upbringing and religion. Of robbing the minds of reasons to be joyful and to see a fellow human in suspicion or disdain.

Some reminded me of the staunch hard-nosed Church deaconesses whose lips are perpetually pursed in criticism. Some religious tenets sap some humans of the joy of living. Their belief that your hard faced stoic stance shows you as a serious Muslim or Christain or whatever, is so wrong. Laughter or smiling is beautiful.

No one expects anyone to go around looking like a clown, but life can be taken seriously without looking morbid about it.

Since we are all going to die anyway, I think I would look better with a smile on my face as I sign off on the last day in mirth.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

 

Life · Midnight motivation and musings

Midnight Motivations and Musings #59…

jacquelineobyikocha21 Comments

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The awareness that in actual practice these words are easier said than done doesn’t escape me at all, especially due to the fact that human beings are sensory and emotionally guided.

Nevertheless, we can’t allow our lives to be like flotsams and jetsams, drifting down the bay and tossed about by each wave that casts its ripples our way.

We have to grow some sense of emotional intelligence and let the rational part of us along with grounded tenets built over time help us ride through the rough seasons of life.

If we toss in the towel, fall apart and melt into a puddle with every hard stone that’s catapulted our way, not only will it be such a hectic life but an unruly one as well.

Naturally, we are not hewn from stone and will react to issue’s that concerns us, but we should bear in mind that life continues whether we are in a pool of misery or deliriously happy.

Choosing to be happy or okay is a conscious and consistent effort.

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha