By Ife J. Ibitayo
My short story “The Heroine Kokofe” has been published and narrated in the 833 episode of Escape Pod! This is my first professional publication, and I especially enjoyed writing this story because it sits at the intersection of my two passions–faith and fiction:
Story Excerpt
Muhamolu clapped his hands together and said, “We have gathered here today for the Agba of Kokofe Lalarun. If she defeats her demon, she will be a full adult in our community when she returns. If she does not, she will be an outcast forever. It only remains for God’s Ori to provide her target. God’s will be done.
“Ori,” Muhamolu boomed, his voice echoing across the village square, “tell us your will!”
A faint, humanoid emanation appeared in front of the Kwanza’s head. It was the buggy remnants of the spacecraft’s AI, to Kokofe at least. But the villagers bowed as reverently to it as God Himself. Kokofe also sank to her knees. Of all days, today she’d need as many allies as she could get.
“For whom?” Ori said, in a deep, resonant voice. As it flickered in and out, it locked eyes on Muhamolu. The chief fixed his gaze on the dirt in somber respect.
Baba gently pushed Kokofe forward and whispered, “Say your name.”
Kokofe cleared her voice and said with as much confidence as she could muster, “Moyororokokofe Lalarun!”
“Processing,” Ori said, and it vanished for a minute. Kokofe had always wondered what it did when it disappeared. The strange cross-referencing associations it made between the colonists’ names and the colony’s animals was still very much beyond her. It returned and said, “Akata.” A hologram of a humongous hairless canine with savage fangs and the Devil’s eyes glared down at them.
An old woman shrieked, and someone muttered in their native tongue of Yoruhili, “The accursed have no luck.”
“God’s Ori has spoken!” Muhamolu boomed, but there was a quaver in his voice. “His will be done.”