WELCOME TO PRAISES OBIORA STORIES

So eight years ago, while serving in the remote village of Aguja in Delta state, Francis my very good friend found a bag of money worth 400million naira in an uncompleted building while he was about to defecate. He picked it up and brought it to our house. I was shocked when I saw the money. That night we bolded the door four times and locked ourselves in the room with three padlocks. We could not sleep. Every knock scared us. We switched off our phones because every call scared us too. Francis and I took turns waking up at night to check the money just to make sure it was still there. And when we went out of the house, one person was left inside the house to keep an eye on the bag of money. For one week we waited to hear news of any missing money, but there was none. We watched the network news but heard nothing.  Francis and I took turns visiting the spot where he had picked the money, but no one seemed to be talking about it. After five weeks of waiting and sleepless...

My colleague at work was going through silent challenges and could not talk to anyone. I had noticed this when I discovered she was usually reserved and alone. She would sit down outside thinking and starring at a distance. This was going on for about a week. One day I approached her and asked her what the problem was. She told me she was fine. I assured her that she could trust me and talk to me about her challenges. But she insisted she was fine. Within that week, I became very close to her and would go to her and sit down with her to talk. At first, she wanted to be alone. But I wouldn't let her.  I told her some of my troubles and sought advice from her. This was in a bid to make her comfortable with me so she could share hers as well. When we had become very free, she told me about her challenges. It was painful to hear. It was about betrayal from a friend she trusted so much. And that betrayal had made her lose the only man she loved. A man whom she had planned to...