Things Like This Happen

By Chizaram Divine Kpadobi

You know what happens in the light, but do you know what happens in the dark?

What happens when you're sent to work in a community of human eaters and you have to plan your escape?
What happens when foreign neighbors overtake your community with violence?
Would you still see the light if you watch your friend blow her brains out, or;
Would you still be hopeful about the chance of finding love tomorrow?

In this collection of eight stories and a memoir, things like this happen: Zee carries her body's secrets for 24 years, making peace with it at 25.Joseph gets another chance at a love he missed once one tired evening.Evelyn drowns in a pool of debts and a secret second family when her husband dies.Chinyere reunites with her family after two absent years spent finding herself.An entire suburb mourns the loss of their families when the guests they welcomed kills them like pests.Christian must find a way to escape hungry cannibals, with or without his uncle.Tari takes a bet on her life, knowing she could become the screaming, dying woman in the dark hallway.A troubled teenager commits a homicide and suicide one evening in her church.And, a family narrowly escapes corrupt trigger-happy policemen on an annual December trip.

These stories echo real life. Yours, your friend's, and even a stranger you once passed on the street.
They explore love and loss, grief and hope, coming of age, trauma, violence, depression, family, survival, and the fragile thread that holds us all together.

Because Things Like This Happen.
And when you read these stories, you might find pieces of yourself in them.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G4SLYLZ6
• ISBN13: 9798276465760
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 150 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"