The KT OLLA Web Stories

NOW after Es & Em had performed earlier, they’d gone live on social media and released a video. It was a small announcement the duo made. Yet their video shattered the internet. It was an announcement about them both. ‘Hello, friends!’ the dude waved. ‘Vickie’s saying hi, too!’ ‘Hello, guys! We’ve missed you, really!’ ‘Yeah, it’s great to be back after our marine year!’ Nile picked up. ‘Vickie says it’s 365 days without seeing our fans! ‘Well, I’ve joked about why we must split one year – just one unit… into a hundred and sixty five more! ‘But then we reminisced and I saw one year really felt so long!’ The girl talked up. ‘Still we’ll like to do that, if we need to choose again! As long as you’re by us, we’ll spend a lifetime at sea!’ The lovebirds were beaming smiles, looking new. Now Nile was the one to break their news update. So he moved on to announce then. ‘Our lovely people, we’ve got a piece of news today… ‘You know Vickie and I have been sharing the same stage now, it’s be...

ZADEQUE’S family turned to the people and lifted their young prince up in the air.  The ovation was loud and it went unending. Yet there was time for much more, so the people settled and watched the event. Now Prince Zadeque and his wife Princess Yalowe bowed before the monarch. The man bowed low on one knee while his lady went down on both, carrying the crown prince in her hands. Then King Maqwela I of the Kingdom of Cape Islands took a wreath of fresh leaves and laurelled their heads in green. He set the green to touch their ears and brows. It was the mark of honour in the Cape Island nation. Now as the laureates were commanded to rise, the king declared: ‘Our ancestors say, “When the coconut bows in beach sand, it rises king of palms. ‘People of the nation of Cape Islands, I present you Prince Zadeque the Greater... ‘Son of the former King and father to the future one… ‘Lieutenant in the order of the Great Chaka and Guardian of the order of our heritage… ‘I announce to you the K...

SAND and Muse performance came to an end with a standing ovation. Yet there was no fanfare or any effort to scream raving cheers. It was a piece of everyone’s story. And each person standing felt like musing on. Samba George was equally musing in the audience. She was seated in the event married already. Samba was there with her husband to see their friends perform. She’d just been wedded to Collins. Now while Nile and Vickie were away, the lady had got a new employment and had gone on to wed. Then the musicians had returned to work with a new staff as their manager. Yet Samba and Collins wouldn’t stop gushing over the duo. They had remained top fans. So it was time to announce the Crown Prince. And along with announcing him, the king would be revealing Zadeque. He’d been prepared for this day in the past one year. For he’d be decorated alongside his son.  Now King Maqwela I of the Cape Island Kingdom mounted the stage as the people settled down. He addressed the assembly with a sm...

GLITTERS dazzled like gold dust on the coastline ground of the Cape Island Royal Palace. It was a constellation of the leading powers in the island nation. The prime minister, the parliament, and the cabinet. But those statesmen weren’t the only twinkles that lit up that night. The populace of the flourishing state was represented also. It was a royal banquet hosted by the King Maqwela I. It was a party thrown to people of all walks. A full year had passed since the leader of Cape Island overcame his ill health. His symptoms hadn’t returned ever since. His brother also was well. It was a fresh start for the 41-year-old ruler as he looked with gratefulness to set the future aright. So he called the people for this purpose. Now Maqwela had reigned 19 years without an heir with his wife. He was childless but it didn’t bother him at all. He’d become very careful of repeating his father’s error. He wouldn’t take his paths of desperation. So the monarch had been leading the nation those year...

MAQWELA stepped into the house now; and there he saw the couple engrossed in a talk. The man had knocked about a few times yet the couple had gone on talking things. Yes, he was meant to leave and return another time. He was meant to respect their right to privacy. But the king was in a daze and every word spilled drew his steps inside. He found himself opening the door and standing in a radiant house. He was at loss on everything happening. That moment was special for Zadeque. He’d just heard it from his bride that she was pregnant. He was sitting with her on a couch backing the door. He fondled her belly and lit the house with smiles. Suddenly, Yalowe stopped her husband’s hands. She got up and bowed her face. ‘Your… Your Majesty!’ Zadeque looked behind then he saw King Maqwela. He was staring back at them. The prince stood and only gazed as an awkward silence filled the house. But it was Maqwela who felt most uncomfortable. Prince Zadeque finally spoke. ‘Welcome, Your Majesty... you...

IT was one month since the close talk which brought King Maqwela peace. The ruler had almost lost touch with reality before. For 15 years he’d been quite like a running machine, his whole system of nerves being alert every time of day. The man’s heartbeat would wake his nerves like a working clock wakes the night. His pulses also were live beats that set his whole frame restless. In 15 years, he’d chased nothing but peace. Now since that day he turned his heart to Christ, he’d found a new reality like that of a baby. He felt like a newly born in the way he slept and laughed. Everything was peace like that of a child. So after about a month of basking in the wonder, Maqwela thought of Zadeque. He wanted to ask forgiveness. He thought about calling Nile and Vickie over so they could pray for his brother. But first, he thought to beg for his forgiveness. So the monarch went back to his secret place. Yet this time, it wasn’t to lurk somewhere near the man and cry. No, it wasn’t even to bri...

THE new lovebirds turned back to pick up their phones. And then the call came again on Vickie’s. Vickie took up her phone and realized it wasn’t a call from her mum. She checked and it was the same number that’d called first. The girl showed her boyfriend the unknown number. Then Nile looked at his watch to check time. It was a quarter past ten. So Nile found it too late for a stranger call in. Vickie read his eyes. ‘You know we don’t answer a caller that’s not saved on our contacts!’ She said that to put his heart at rest. Nile nodded at her. The girl yawned. ‘The caller should text if they’ve got something important!’ Now Vickie was turning round when she discovered she’d picked the call. She was alerted and quickly showed it to her man. Nile assured her with a smile. He nodded she could answer. The young smart lady knew what that meant. She placed the call to her ears and stayed silent. She listened for the caller’s voice. The voice on the other side was that of a young dude. Seemin...

NILE’S eyes sparkled when he heard Vickie’s answer. He pulled her in and held his arms round her. ‘Thank you, baby! Thank you for being you!’ Vickie stiffened up in the close snug, her hands dropping down limply. Then Nile surprised her. ‘Allow me please,’ he whispered as he bowed to peck her cheek. The girl’s belly bolted when the dude pecked her. She didn’t know what to say and what not to do. She thought hard then she left all things called math. Now she climbed on her toes and pecked her boy back. It was just her liking him. Nile smiled as Vickie brought her own arms round him. She hugged him then stayed there in the boy’s clasp.  She closed her eyes and thought just one thing. That she’d found love at long last. Suddenly, the youngsters heard a smartphone ring in the sand behind them. They figured that it was Vickie’s. ‘I guess that’s your mum calling,’ Nile said, loosening the clasp. ‘She must be wanting you back now, you know.’ Vickie didn’t move at the words. She in fact se...

THE words dropped. They dropped suddenly, sweeping Vickie off her feet. ‘Spill it, Vickie! What is it you’re staring at in Nile?’ The girl was caught off guard as the handsome dude looked in her eyes and spoke. The young pair locked eyes for seconds, as Vickie’s heart raced away while her gaze was stuck. She looked away at last, embarrassed a bit much. ‘Wh... what are you talking about?’ Nile gently raised himself, slid his feet back in his sandals and buckled it. Then he sat in front of the girl, searching her eyes. It was a piercing look that told Vickie her boy saw through her. That he peered in her soul. ‘Yes Vickie, you’ve been distracted lately, so I’ve been wondering why you are! ‘Thank God we’re finally done with the convocation event and the performance! ‘Then we’re through with the King. He’s become well, you know! ‘But why is Vickie staring at Nile? You know I caught you yesterday, too. And the other day! ‘What is it with Nile? Tell me everything!’ Vickie felt absolutely flu...

IT was on the night following. Two young soulmates carted away to a small beach to talk. It was a lonely seaside quite a little removed from Vickie’s residence. Victoria’s friend had gone visiting, so the girl had asked her mother for a private time. She asked for them to take a walk outside. It was night, still Sara obliged. Well, Vickie and Nile’s parents weren’t blind to these little surprises going on with their kids. They’d been watching them since they met and clicked like  lovebirds. Then they knew that if they pestered them about love, they’d stop talking to them altogether. Now they didn’t want to lose their teenagers’ trust. They didn’t want them to lose each other, too... As the adults had seen love where the kids still fought for friendship. So the parents let the young birds play and like each other as they wanted. They did like they didn’t care when, in fact, they met together to talk of them. The boy’s parents and the girl’s mother soon bonded pretty much, but only N...

MAQWELA didn’t know about the experience that transformed his brother. He couldn’t think of wellness for a man under lock. So when he narrated how Zadeque had faked passing out just in a bid to stop the assault, it didn’t occur to him that a sick man wouldn’t have thought to do that. Even so, the king broke down and cried so much. He cried for his bad actions. His listening guests felt that he’d asked them a tough thing. Especially now that he told them his bad deeds. Still they were human and he shared with them something worse. It hurt them that a man was that evil. Now when Maqwela raised his gaze to listen, it was Nile who answered him. Then his answer came as a shock. The king had asked if they still felt he could be forgiven. So Nile took over now. He surprised him. ‘You may not get Heaven’s pardon, Your Majesty!’ Maqwela was stunned at that. He wiped the tears off his face and looked up immediately. He didn’t expect to hear those words. Those words that sentenced him. But then N...

THE lay reader’s voice came up now as she read the next two verses. It was the next verses of the same passage. She went: So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moved on the earth.” Reverend Wadibe’s voice came up right then. ‘But what does it mean?’ he asked. ‘What does it mean that we are created in God’s image? ‘What does it mean that God made us male and female?’ There was silence as the question sounded rhetorical.  But then Phil Wadibe had an answer. So he went on to speak. ‘When God formed us out of mere dust, He crafted us to look exactly like Him. ‘He made man to be His likeness on earth. The representative of His reign here. ‘So when He made you as male, He was saying this to you: ‘“You are man in My image. ...

THAT day when the ruler stoned his brother a year earlier, it was only Maqwela who was left in the prison cell of his mind... His brother had been free from his own cage. Earlier that year, Zadeque’s caregiver who was employed to take care of him, had suddenly resigned. Then King Maqwela got a new person to take on the job. The caregiver’s job was to prepare the prince’s meal, administer pills to him and do laundry. She’d leave and return to the cottage each day using the back gate. Yalowe was the new caregiver. She was a beautiful woman of thirty-two; and she’d got no one to call family. So when the lady was offered quite a big sum to take the job and keep palace secret, she jumped at it and pledged her life to comply.  She agreed yet only wondered what monster lived there. Now the thirty-two-year-old started work. Then she was surprised at the man she met inside. She saw a pitiable soul hiding all day. She met a grown-up man who couldn’t meet people. Zadeque wouldn’t talk when sh...