Finding Amina
Short story entrance for Geegpay writing contest by Abasiama Udom
Amina put the phone down and exhaled. She had put all her strength into that project. The contractor had called after seeing her portfolio. He told her he wanted something similar to the under the bridge series. She had even gone as far as hiring a camera for the project. All for what? The human being had sent a text to say he did not like any of the pictures.
“Amina,” Her mother called and she remembered that it was already morning. She pushed herself up from the chair and felt all the bones in her body complain. How long had she been sitting in this chair?
“My friend told me the school across the road is looking to employ teachers. Why don’t you go with your certificate and get that job. Fifteen thousand naira a month is better than you sitting here, taking pictures no one ever pays you for.”
She pushed the wood not wanting to admit she had been thinking of it too.
“You are not getting younger. At twenty five, you are no longer a child. Are there no men that like you?”
Amina did not answer, she put the pot of soup on fire and picked up her phone. It had been vibrating for a while. AFCON was over, so what would make the netizens so excited this early?
Another notification popped up and she prayed it was not something bad like another artist committing suicide.
The screen opened to her pictures. Someone had tagged her. No, so many people had tagged her. They seemed to be tagging her under a post.
She cleaned her eyes and stepped away from the smoke of the firewood. Was this truly Aziz? Winner of the best photography collection prize for 2023? Hands shaking, she read the post ‘Found an amazing photographer today. I would love to work with her on a project. It seems her handles the handles on her website are old. Please help me find Amina.'