Chanting Shadows by Mbonisi Pilani Ncube

The boy entered the field of maize stalks like a darting arrow from a bow. The men, chopping the brown stalks in preparation for the planting season, looked at him with startled gazes. On his face was written a look of knowing fear, which he quickly passed to the other men. Mzala Joe, the oldest of the farm workers put his hand on Jonasi‘s shoulder. He always spoke first in such matters. He was sixty-one and he knew a lot of things about life.

This story has been selected for the StoryTime anthology African Roar 2011, please go to the African Roar site for more info.

Chanting Shadows was written by Mbonisi Pilani Ncube.

Copyright © Mbonisi Pilani Ncube 2010.

Born in Zimbabwe’s second capital city, Bulawayo in 1983, and currently living in South Africa, Mbonisi Pilani Ncube works as a Mechanical Engineering Draughtsman and Technician fulltime, and during odd times he steals from his hectic life, he does nothing else but write and write.

The 26year old writer completed his secondary and high education at Gifford High School, in Bulawayo, and during that period, he was elected as the Creative Editor of the school magazine, Hinc Orior, where his prose and poetry articles were constantly featured.

His poem entitled The Way was selected to be published by Anchor Books in 2006 for the Anthology A Time to Rhyme for best 100 poems for the year which is available on Amazon. He has has never looked back since, in the pursuit of his passion for writing.

He has been published in Ibhuku, StoryTime, and Munyori Literary Journal, and his website also showcases many of his creative works. Currently, he has written over 15 Short Stories, 30 Poems, 3 Novellas and 2 Novels, and is currently completing a novel entitled The Munhumutapa Candidate, a project he has started four years ago.

His style of writing prose is simple, yet provocative enough to get you thinking about the socio-economic challenges that face people and end up carving out their characters. Most of the short stories usually allude to his personal experiences, and some are mere instances that are in a realm of their own. The stories usually examine and creatively place a hard emphasis and incision by mentioning the hard life of growing up in a township, so much so that the numerous struggles that epitomise most of the characters in the stories he creates arise from these occasions.

When not writing, Mbonisi enjoys a night out with the guys, watching movies and music, and best of all, reading...