Fly, Flightless

On the run, alone, being hunted by a malevolent dark force, Nneka lives with a terrible secret that has irreversibly destroyed her life. It all started so innocently with Zoba, a girl unlike any she had met before. Zoba, whom she grew to love. Zoba, who taught her the most beautiful experience in all her fifteen years, how to fly.

Chisom Umeh is a Nigerian fiction writer and poet. When he's not watching movies or writing about fantastical things, he's tweeting about movies and fantastical things at izom_chisom. His short stories have been featured in Omenana, Apex, Clarkesworld, Year's Best African Speculative Fiction 2023, African Ghosts anthology, Isele, Mythaxis, Scifi Shorts, and elsewhere. His short story, 'Ancestor's Gift' won the 2024 Tractor Beam short story contest. He was a finalist for the Seattle Worldcon Short Story Contest and is winner of the 2025 Nommo Awards for Best African Speculative Fiction Short Story for 'From Across Time'.

The ZamaShort imprint series is solely focused on the amazing powerhouse that is the short story. We give each short story its own publication so that it may be read and enjoyed fully as a stand-alone publication. As per the StoryTime Publishing mandate initialised in 2007, ZamaShort continues to champion and add to the ever-growing canon of African literature excellence and diversity.