Mother says to pluck bitter leaves from the garden in the backyard, to make Ofe Nsala. I know bitter leaf isn’t used to make Nsala soup, but I do not argue with her culinary skill. She has a way of concocting everything into soups. Even though I am too tired for the task, I lay no complaints. I decide that I may find some inspiration for my writing out there.

Out in the garden, I pluck bitter leaves. It is Harmattan so I can barely see any. As I pull at the tiny leaves scattered across the tree branch like the teeth of a 6-year-old, my mind hovers through my to-do list: Remind Uche of the monthly due, email Mr Okoye, call to check up on Cheta, pick up dry cleaning, complete reading Rosewater, then, I add ‘wash bitter leaves’ to the list.

In the process of plucking, bitter leaf beetles fall from the leaves and make away into the soil. One particularly doesn’t move. It clings religiously to the leaf, hoping to suck at the last of it. At first, I think of letting it go but the insects keep feeding on the leaves, chewing holes in them. I have to save the leaves. Justice for the still, leafing things. They aren’t dead. They just can’t move.

So, I pick the insect and place it in my palm. I think of what to do with it. I feel like a god and I imagine what God feels like when he holds the world in his palm. This little creature’s life is in my hand and I am to decide its fate. If it were to be the thief that stole my mother’s purse in the market, I would’ve pulled out its limbs. If it were to be death that snatched my favourite cousin from me, I would’ve crushed it beneath my foot. But it is only a little creature seeking survival in its green habitat. So, I let it go.

As I watch it crawl away, to the church maybe, I feel like a god. I had saved the leaves and forgiven the sins of this perpetrator. As I go on with the plucking of leaves, I think, how do I make a story of this?

Marylinda E. Onwuegbusi is a final year student of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, UNN. She’s a creative writer, an avid reader and an environmental activist. She believes that writing is a powerful tool for self-expression which allows individuals to explore their thoughts and emotions in a creative and introspective way. When she’s not writing or saving the planet, she’s discovering new music genres, mixing chemicals in the lab, and drowning in the fantasy of owning the world someday.