Author: Kritanya Onzima

The Best Relationship

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A relationship may or may not work out for a million reasons. People outgrow each other. Some realize they like themselves better when unattached and choose their freedom. And some work out. A few compromises are what it takes to make it. Some of us are willing to make those compromises. Others aren’t. The idea of a perfect relationship is what it is, an idea. We believe in the lies portrayed in movies. In books, […]

When words fail – Life after stroke

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My mother was sitting on a chair when I walked into the house. With the television turned on, she stared blankly into the empty wall. The house looked messier than I remembered. There were strips of pills, test reports that laid scattered on every table. Clothes, thrown haphazardly out of the closets as if everyone was living out of their suitcases. She invited me in like I wasn’t visiting but had been there all along. […]

Oscillate

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poems

Found an old clip from when your words still made sense to meSurreal, as if that part of you never existedThe smile that lit up your eyesWe could be twins, they’d say,But my eyes don’t smile the way yours did. Does it feel like that life was ever yours?Without the repetition,The angst and the criesTime has been standing still like a photograph,As I wait to choose between dream and reality. Why is the past bittersweet?Fluttering […]

Illusions

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poems

  Unbearable stillness fills up the vacuum that is my mindHesitant gestures loom for what seems like an eternityMy body, still here My heart, still beatingLife is what I missThe life I had, the life I never had I tried to understand love through the silencesSome loves are different, I thoughtI reached down your throat and pulled out your soulA shriveled carcass is all that I foundDesire going up in smokeLike the years I don’t […]

The Test

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Short Stories

“How do I trust you? How do I believe everything you’re saying is true? It’s been a year and a half since we’ve been apart,” Ram said, trying to sound convincing, pacing back and forth simultaneously. “It’s not that I don’t, but it’s been a while, and we’re only humans, you know. Things happen. People change,” he added, running his fingers through his hair as he continued to pace. “It has been fourteen months to […]

Trees in a storm

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Short Stories

She felt something brush against her, pushing her, as if getting closer and closer, rubbing on her tiny little frame, engulfing her whole. It wasn’t something. It was someone. Trying to slide their hands underneath her cotton camisole, touching her soft, bare skin, lifting the only piece of clothing she had been wearing on that summer night to cope with the heat. A hand went up against her back as fingers slowly tried reaching the […]

Coping with Uncertainty

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It has been over a month since I lost my job. And while hearing about the massive amount of job losses and businesses shutting down all over the world did cause some anxiety, I couldn’t relate. Not until the moment I realized I didn’t know where my next paycheck was coming from. You can empathize, pray that it doesn’t happen to you, or plan if it does but, there’s no way to predict your actions […]

Recognizing a downward spiral

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Our brains were not wired for chronic stress. Every time we are in a stressful situation, we activate what is known as the "fight or flight mode" - our body's response to imminent danger. Now, imagine activating this stress response for something like a credit payment or your fears of starting out on your own, rather than a life-threatening event. Do you see what you're doing? Putting your body through a constant state of worry. What good can come out of that?