In the fiery sky / An evening becomes / Of what if not stars and a healing moon / And a stillness that feels like the earth taking a deep breath / I look to the stars floating above the burning horizon

The Ultimate Storytelling Contest is an open call for submissions, granting African Storytellers from across the continent to share their stories with not only the judges of the contest, but to integrate social media by posting a 3 minute video on their Facebook and Twitter timeliness with the hash tags, #UltimateStoryteller, #HSC and #HadithiyaAfrica.

We are always scared that we might turn up dead tomorrow, and when we don’t, another woman dies instead. We wake up to the weight of the news like it is our own story because it is, because we are her, and she too was like us before she was taken. She too lived in a space of unknown seconds to come, she too was like us when she read of women who were stabbed, raped and brutally murdered by lovers, strangers, service consultants, friends, colleagues and relatives. We cry.

The air is stale here in the summer A wind of mosquitoes overwhelms the stillness, We are running from breathing because it bites Our blood is heaving at the tips of bite mountains forming on our skins

“It’s a lie; I know it’s a lie! He can’t die, he is too kind hearted to leave, too young to ascend to heaven, and he hasn’t even started pursuing his dreams. No! It’s a lie!” as I yell frantically to no one in particular.