“Guilt is not a response to anger; it is a response to one’s own actions or lack of action.” – Audre Lorde
As part of my challenge to improve my writing, one of the 10 types of short stories that I will be attempting to experiment with for today is a minisaga. This is a type of short story that aims to capture an entire narrative in just 50 words. Like other types of stories that I have been writing lately, I have never written a minisaga.
Writing this kind of story was an interesting challenge because it required boiling everything down to the essence, while still leaving a lasting emotional impact. Anyway, my first challenge when I decided to tackle this was deciding on what story I could tell in 50 words. This is not an easy feat but I decided to write about one of my deepest fears—not being available when a loved one needs me right before they die.
I wrote this story to touch on something deeply human—the tension between our ambitions and the relationships that often get unintentionally neglected along the way.
The protagonist in the story is a woman who is so focused on securing a job that she repeatedly ignores her mother’s calls, convinced there will always be time to catch up later. But life has a way of reminding us, sometimes harshly, that time is not always as generous as we assume. In just a few words, the story explores the weight of regret and the painful realisation of what was lost in the pursuit of other goals.
I hope you enjoy my first minisaga.
The Last Call
Nkem stood at the crowded bus stop, her phone buzzing in her pocket. It was her mother again. The third missed call today. “Later,” she muttered, focusing on her new job application. The Lagos traffic roared around her as she boarded the bus, determined to succeed.
The next morning, she finally returned the call. Her father’s voice, heavy with grief, whispered, “Your mother passed last night. She kept asking for you.”
The weight of the world crashed down on Nkem. She realised, too late, that no job was worth more than a moment of time with loved ones.
As I experiment with different forms of storytelling over the next two weeks, I hope this minisaga reminds us all to be mindful of what we might overlook in our own lives. Sometimes, the most important things are the ones we don’t make time for until it’s too late.
P/s: If you have any questions about creating content, writing, or the story above, please leave a comment below or DM me on Instagram!
