Life’s Twists

The synopsis, genre, excerpt and link are contained in Life’s Twists, an ebg27.com publication.

 

Synopsis

Life’s Twists parades a series of stories that conveys the influence of ‘twists’ in the lives of people; negatively and positively. This collection of story titles shows changes in the fates of people who ought to have reaped what they have sown but, in the process, make others suffer the good or evil of the same fates or better yet, situational twists. In other words, what ordinarily should be the case of sowing and reaping by those who engendered them becomes the cross of the ‘innocent’! It agrees with Mark Rucksayer: “our universe is made of stories, not atoms”.

Genre: Short story collection, life stories

Excerpt

Introduction

The work-piece narrates twists in the ordeals of people all around the world. Ranging from personal to professional, educational to business, political to ministerial endeavors, it explores the situations of individuals whose plights fall under them.

 

Life’s Twists is a seven-chapter material that portrays “situational twists”- what ordinarily should be the case of sowing and reaping by those who engendered them becomes the cross of the ‘innocent’!

Reflecting that the world, since its emergence, had had great affinity for stories, it depicts a matrix of stories that appeal to all peoples of the world because of its peculiarity. Asians, Americans, Europeans, Africans, the Arabs and so forth have their stories mirrored in the literary identity, “Life’s Twists”

The Mirror of Tragic Marriage, the title of the first chapter, is a tragic story, hinged on the stretch of twists that linger as a result of marital breakdown (divorce) from the time of parents to the existence of their children as adults. An account documented by Daniel, friends with Sophia, twin sister to Cindy and whose diary birth the story title, the divorce that eventually ended the marriage between Tom and Cynthia, parents to Sophia and Cindy, was mirrored in the lives of their two daughters who did not leave to enjoy their relationships.

Chapter Two’s “The Graced Fellow” paints a story of a crime-turn-love situation involving a group of armed bandits known as the Notorious Circle. They operated in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt areas of Nigeria. Killing industrialists, merchants, politicians and raping young women epitomized their robbery operations. Individually from the Republic of South Africa and Central African Republic, Moroccan, Cameroonian, Liberian, Kenyan and Nigerian and all residing in Lagos, Nigeria, the seven-man gang became a household name through the nineties. Coming from wealthy backgrounds except for Bode with a twist in his plight, they all had their fill days until the long hands of the law caught up with them. But something happened to Bode…

“The Other Side of Education”, Chapter Three’s title, describes the twists in the fate of Ken and Spencer who had their education at the Kent High School, London England. The former was said to be in the words of Mark Fisher “…a misfortune to mankind”. The latter had all going his way-intelligence and influence. However, Ken would reason that being an “F” in class would not necessarily mean being a failure in life. This would be his motivation throughout his travels till he finally settled in his home, Canterbury, New Zealand after he made it in the business of oil.   While, Spencer, on the other hand, had it all rosy in England, his home country, until financial crisis took a hold on him. This situation created a twist – brought Spencer to his back-in-High-School second-fiddle and then “nobody” Ken after many years and another development came up.

“The Woman In Politics” is Chapter four’s title that depicts the political tussle between Rodriguez and Gloria of the Peoples Party and Empowerment Party respectively. Through politically motivated maneuvers at the expense of her already-wining-by-votes Rodriguez, Gloria stepped out to becoming the first-elected female president of Brazil. The twist first came in favor of Gloria when she was quoted as saying: “…A man has his will but a woman will always have her way…”  In time, “…When there is a will there is a way…” became a favorable twist to Rodriguez when it got to his turn…Lisbon, Portugal and Madrid, Spain where places well known to them.

Chapter Five’s “The Evil Genius” narrates a story of how Park Sung, Korean-American, intended to set the record as the first man to embark on a successful world religious tour. With the P.A.G.A.N movement being set up at twenty one, he had gathered the knowledge about trickery, hypnosis and studied extensively world geography at a certain price…to DEAL with his uncle and master, Jin. For over the next thirty years of his life, he would achieve his agenda until there was a total twist in his blueprint plan!

 

Chapter Six’s “The Ugly Decision” reports a story of man, David. Growing up under the watchful eyes of his parents who were disciplinarians in Canada, he promised to live a faithful life. However, as he grew older, he became a shadow of what he promised-Promiscuity took a better of him. Due to that, David was unable to settle down in marriage early as did his parents. In fact, during his growing years, he vowed never to have anything in common with the promiscuous Eunice but something happened between them years later…

 

“The Learning Authoress” is the last chapter’s title. It gives the story of years of rejections by several publishers of the work “The Twists of Life” by Alice, a Greco-Roman American. As time went on in her search for a publisher, one thing lead to the other that brought her in personal contact with Skyline Publishers-the first publisher that rejected her work outright! She became a household name in the whole of California, USA.

 

Author’s Note: This work is borne out of the imaginations of the author. Any life stories with similar tones with any of these are co-incidental. The author therefore apologizes for that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

The Mirror of Tragic Marriage

June 15, 1948…

 

“I regretted the day I got married to you!” Tom shouted at Cynthia, his wife of seven years.

 

In response to Tom’s words, she yelled: “you are total disgrace to manhood! I’ve been accommodating your excesses for years! It’s time for me to rage because you’ve pushed me to the wall! You are an idiot! You are a never do-well! You are an infidel! In fact, you are hopeless!! I’m still married to you because of my twins-Sophia and Cindy!!!”

 

In the heat of altercation, Tom took laws into his hands by beating Cynthia to a pulp. It took the intervention of neighbors to bring to a halt the uproar. To add insult to injury, Tom didn’t bat an eyelid as he, in the presence of his tears-shedding twin daughters, was beating the living daylight of Cynthia. Alas, the damage was done as Cynthia was second to dead; she hardly could breathe. As a result, she had to be rushed to a hospital; a stone throw from the residence of the couple.

 

Tom and Cynthia have been lovers since their days at the Washington-based University of Kimberly. As easy-going lovebirds, they became the cynosure of every Tom, Dick and Harry who came in contact with them. After completing the stipulated academic sessions, Tom and Cynthia qualified as medical doctor and accountant respectively. He got employed at the prestigious Stanford Hospital as Residing Medical Officer and after a while, she was employed as Chief Accountant by the renowned Paterson Accounting firm. It wasn’t too long that they decided to tie the nuts. Many months after the one-in-town marriage ceremony, Cynthia was delivered of a set of female twins, whom they later named Sophia and Cindy. Both Tom and Cynthia were enjoying their professions.

 

The passion, intelligence and success philosophies edged Tom and Cynthia over their colleagues in their various endeavors. Work went on as usual for Tom until a fateful Friday morning… This would be most red-lettered moment in the life of Tom.

 

It was reported that there were missing medical equipment worth millions of dollars. This, according to audit report, showed a huge imbalance in the hospital’s account summary. Concerned the management was, the attention of Tom was urgently sought for. They inquired of him as to why the equipment were missing, since it was his onus as Residing Medical Officer, to ensure their safety. Unknown to him, there was a conspiracy against him by his colleagues who envied his progress and excellence.

 

However, this would not necessarily matter as he was given matching orders by tendering his resignation with no pay-off, despite his five years of service. His explanations were blurred as naivety took the best of him. The management reasoned that Tom’s weight of excuse for not been responsible for the missing equipment and a consequent need for exoneration didn’t hold waters. It wasn’t too long after his resignation that Mark, the chief conspirator of his misfortune, was appointed to fill the position previously held by him. Although Tom would be justified and compensated heavily in a distant future, his life assumed a U-turn.

 

From pillar to post, Tom job-hunted. He went the extra-mile of contacting his friends who were top guns in their fields of recognition. Yet, it all ended in a wild goose chase!  Frustration so possessed Tom that he retired to incessant drinking, smoking, womanizing, keeping late nights and lazing around. Cynthia, now shouldering the weight of the family responsibilities, had to stretch her working limits. She engaged herself in entrepreneurial marketing after the close of her eight-to-four working hours, daily. She did all these to ensure ends met…

Link:http://ebg247.com/bookdisplays/lifes-twists

Winds of Change

One of his publications, it contains the synopsis, genre, excerpt and link to his work:

Synopsis:

Winds of Change parades a matrix of stories, depicting the experiences of people in different countries of the world and conveying their situations as good, bad and ugly(at the discretion of the reader/viewer). Not limited to location, background and status, the airs of changes move in the direction of people in relationships, drug dealing, religion, education and professionalism; affecting them negatively or positively.

Genre: Short story collection, life stories, literary, mainstream fiction

Excerpt

INTRODUCTION

Winds of Change is a written form of storytelling that applies toall individuals whose of the school of thought reads;‘no matter how certified you are in your chosen endeavor, you are still a student of life’. Exploring life situations in a mirrored form of story writing, it goes the length to  assert make-believe plights of people around the world, particularly in various continents  in a way that it, not only entertains the reader but also create a platform to learn significance lessons.

From social ills to relationships, from decision to contemplation, from religious to secular interests, this book brings to the attention of readers winds of fascinating stories that reflect on each of the stated recognition. It makes known the changes in the lives of individuals.

Its purpose is to ‘close’ gap between the rich and the poor, the upper and lower class of people, the destitute and the well-taken-of and other categories of people in various ladder steps of the society. Irrespective of social, cultural, economic and political differences, Winds of Change aims at cutting across all barriers, offering readers a variety of options (stories) to center their reading energies as they interest them.

Worthy of Note: The characters, scenes and countries mentioned in this classic are borne out of the author’s creative prowess and are never intended to constitute negations to people who may be affected. Rather, as said earlier, it is intended to entertain and enable readers picture themselves in the light of the situations and more importantly, learn significant lessons from them.

‘Stories are accounts of situations and events, involving the entirety of mankind, plants and animals, living and non-existing entities, in real and fabricated or make-believe forms, which are meant to be communicated in the form of writing, oral statements, verbal expressions, signs and symbols and other known and unknown methodologies, to targeted and general audiences with the intention to entertain, create debates and discussions, mesmerize, cause tears of joy and excruciation and enlightenment.’

…Mr.Ben

 

 

Table of Contents

CHAPTERTITLE

Chapter One                                The Love of Money

Chapter Two       Crazy in Love

Chapter Three    TheCommunity Fighters

Chapter Four                                    Little Beginnings

Chapter Five                                   The Drug Lord

Chapter Six       A World of Wickedness

Chapter Seven                            Between the Devil and Deep Blue Sea

Chapter Eight                          Religion by choice

Chapter Nine                   My Only Girlfriend

Chapter Ten                      What a Life!

 

 

 

 

Chapter One

The Love of Money

 

‘The love of money, the Bible warns, ‘is the root of all evils’, an early-morning ministration by Craig to his family before setting out for the affairs of the day. Soon after the morning devotion was completed, the family was ready to go; Craig was well-dressed to meet pressing needs at his work place, his children wore school-mode clothes and best of corporate feminine outfit best described his wife’s dressing –prepared to face the uphill tasks to be encountered at the office where she was manager. After carrying out necessary household chores, Craig and his family mounted their ‘family’ car-Craig mounted the Driver’s seat and to his side at the right was his gorgeous wife…his children took the backseat. He drove his children to school, his wife to her work place and subsequent headed straight to his office.

Indeed, Craig was a happily married man- an elevating career, a loving wife, Sarah and four ‘wonderful’ children-two boys -Mike and John and two girls_Antoniaand Michelle.  Ahead of his time in his engineering profession, Craig, under the space of one year after his employment, got steadily promoted to a chief executive officer of his construction company, where he worked. His loving wife, Sarah, was a woman of understanding and substance; her unbridled professional image and Amazon disposition edged her contemporaries. This was reason she was positioned as manager of the humanitarian organization. His children were uniquely different. Mike, being the first child of the family, had a flair for music, though he had exceptional grades in school. John, the second child, was very good academically but had a great interest in fashion. Antonia, the first female child of the family, aspired to be a nurse, though she did exceptionally well in Math and Geography. The baby of the family, Michelle, though very loquacious, wanted just to be a good mother in future. Both Sarah and Craig cherished the most Mike because of his sense of purpose, good character and distinct voice: his voice mesmerized the listening orchestra audience in the various music events he attended, his will-power was unbridled; a ‘never-say-die’ person he was and never pride himself above his colleagues, in and out of the classroom, orchestra and school rooms, very respectful to his elders and surprisingly, his younger ones. Indeed, Mike was an epitome of good character; every Tom, Dick and Harry within the neigbourhood and regular school and orchestra music environments talked about him_he was goodness-personified!

Lived in the outskirts of Akosombo, Ghana, the magnificent duplex single-handedly built by Craig was really befitting. Under the watchful eyes of well-planted trees came the refreshing cool breeze, beautiful garden came an abode for relaxation and some light refreshment.  The large compound space gave room for John, Mike, Antonia and Michelle to play football and table tennis and afforded Craig and Sarah the opportunity for reflections at their convenient hours. The toweringgates were an assurance of beefed-up security. Around to play with were their pet dogs; Puffy and Snicky.  Uniform Painting with a blend of complementary colors added aesthetics to the building’s exterior. The interior segments were characterized by a silver-coated passage that led to the rooms occupied by Sarah and Craig and visitors/guests at the down floor. Upstairs, there were five rooms with each of their children occupying the rooms, using the extra as the store-room. Here, the passage was made of modern ceramics. Sandwiched between the living and bedrooms at the door floor was the modern standard kitchen, filled with what a kitchen should contain. The beds were well constructed to meet their sleeping demands! In short, it was a magnificent edifice!

Despite the comfort of his abode, Craig was not a materially satisfied man. He wanted to be, from the days of his youth, a man of stupendous wealth and substance, passing his father’s records of been the richest man ever in his homeland,Afflao. However, he was shown the exists by men of the underworld, disguised as transparent oil business experts, who lured him to investing his money inherited  into a white elephant project; investing in oil offshore -a scam orchestration. Craig was duped by the mischievous men. This development worsened his health predicament that it took the very intervention of his doctor friend, Khumalo and Sarah’s undying help to ‘bring back to life’ the almost dead Craig. By and large, he went through the thick and thin to ensure he acquired some fortune and with the unrelenting succor by Sarah, he earned it. Considering what he would have become if the business were genuine and pulled through, Craig, though admitting his aim of being richer than his father would have been reached, took a tough decision that he will, given the resources at his disposal, together with his wife, nurture to any lengths the well-being of their children-from infanthood to adulthood. Indeed, Craig and Sarah did succeed! The only ‘but’in the life of mike was that Craig and Sarah never observed Mike’s ‘big eyes’ for materialism. This discrepancy would tear apart the existence of every member of the family.

Mike, John, Antonia and Michelle were sent to the best of schools in the city, all through their school years from the elementary to the final tertiary stages of education. As a matter of fact, Craig and Sarah were prepared to sponsor their education up to the Masters and PhD levels. Mike graduated with a first class in financial accounting and a second class upper in classical music-minor. Antonia, not only did she come out in flying colors as best student in her department, she was a certified first-class holder in nursing. John came out tops in his class, taking with him an overall ‘grade A’ in fashion studies. Michelle, ‘the mish girl’, as she was nicknamed, scaled through the hard nut to cracks of family studies to become the best student of that department. Mike’s case was a bit penultimate in that Mike’s love for classical music was his obsession. Interested in furthering his studies in music, Craig decided to fund Mike’s two-year Masters in classical music at the London School of Music. This would change his thinking for the rest of his life…

After all necessary procurements were made, Mike set to depart the shores of Ghana to Heathrow International Airport, sojourning in Big Ben and learning an entirely different culture. Under the watchful eyes of the Romanian virtuoso, Adrian Peterscu, Mike became a force to be reckoned with in classical music, in and out of the classroom. His mastery of classical music attracted the attention of Prof. Adrian, as he was fondly called. In no time, they became best of friends. Mike would find out the person of his Romanian friend.

Adrian Peterscu was a die-hard Satanist whose fore-bears were high-level witches and wizards. His recently passed-away mom, Mia, was a satanic minister. Wealthy, of course, Adrian, through his music forte, had been initiating his students for decades into the dreaded cult known as the Hood of Dragons; a confraternity which he has been a member of since his students days and known for the best of music rendition in all genres producing great and very-wealthy instrumentalists, singers, vocalists, song writers and composers with intents of communicating via sounds reversed psycho-subliminal messages to audiences, within and outside the school campus. Through the outright worship and daily acknowledgement of devil worship, Adrian became wealthy. The initiation rites were characterized by gross blood-cuddling rituals, torture of newbies, incantations of all sorts and subsequent blood sacrifices for fame and fortune.

Link:http://ebg247.com/bookdisplays/winds-change