Stephen Bhasera
Bio
Just a dude with a pen (well, in this case a computer) and his mind, trying to tell my vision for the world
Stories (5)
Filter by community
Paradise Lost, Purpose Gained
I had become that which I despised the most — mediocre. Just another blip on the continuum of time and space. I would die irrelevant, unremarkable, unremembered, disenchanted with existence but worst of all, filled with regret. Regret for the hours I could’ve spent training and didn’t. Somehow, at the same time though, regret for the hours I did spend training but could’ve been partying or chasing girls. Regret for having turned down multiple ivy league universities to chase a pipedream. At least that’s what it felt like now. My “dream” had been little more than the ridiculous fantasy of a juvenile.
By Stephen Bhasera4 years ago in Motivation
The Year 2050
As the dense smog that hung heavy over the city during the twilight hours began to dissipate with the incoming western wind, through her visor Diana could vaguely make out the giant poster over what seemed like it had once been a theatre of some sort. She’d only ever read about such places in books – places of “unsanctioned entertainment” (or at least that’s what authorities called them). Staring up at the building, that had once been a star attraction of London’s West End, she could see why it was no longer open. The main poster hanging directly over the entrance portrayed what seemed to be a little dark-haired girl, no older than 7 and below the image read “Les Mi….” There was a giant tear in the poster that rendered the rest of the letters ineligible but she’d read enough to know that this must have been a place where some sort of theatre reproduction of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (which she’d read twice) was shown. She was part of a rebel colony that had defected from the government when the 3rd World War started in 2035 and as a rule of safety, members of these colonies or the “Freedom Front” as they called themselves, used a minimal amount of technology in their day to day lives. Tech meant the government could track you and if they could track you, you could be endangering the lives of everyone in the colony.
By Stephen Bhasera5 years ago in Fiction
The Secret Chord
The Hebrew scriptures tell the legend of how King Saul, the first recorded King of Israel was, from time to time, tormented by an evil spirit. His advisors suggested that a skilled harpist be found and David, who would later become King, was put forward as a potential candidate. The King ordered that the young man be brought to him and a rather strange thing happened because the chronicle records that every time the evil spirit visited Saul, David simply played his harp and the spirit left the King alone. Perhaps it was this “secret chord, that David played and it pleased the Lord” that Leonard Cohen was referring to when he wrote his iconic ballad “Hallelujah.” What the king’s advisors knew back then, is a scientifically confirmed fact today and it is this: Music has the ability to alter not only the mind but also one’s very physiological state of being, reducing stress, alleviating anxiety and pacifying emotions.
By Stephen Bhasera5 years ago in Beat
Black Dragon
How do you hatch a dragon egg? Yes, a dragon egg. As in the mythical, monstrous lizard-like creatures that are often winged, breathe fire and have been the subject of everything from children’s nightmares to scientific study from ancient China to Europe for as long as stories have been told. Well, the answer to that question depends on which origin myth you’re going with and as any true comic book fan will tell you, origin stories are everything because they explain a lot about the eventual outcomes of a character. Going back to the dragon question, for example, if you read the book Eragon by Christopher Paolini, you’ll discover that the way a dragon egg is hatched or comes into the world is when it comes in physical contact with its eventual rider. The hatchling inside the egg chooses a worthy rider and then hatches for it and will hatch for nothing less than a human or elf rider that it deems worthy. Perhaps my favourite dragon origin myth, however, is from George R.R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and in the television adaption of the story, there is an epic scene where a grieving Daenerys Targaryen sets the body of her dead husband alight with three dragon eggs on the funeral pyre and they hatch due to a combination of the heat and magic. In many ways, Vusi Thembekwayo can be said to have hatched due to a combination of the heat of circumstance and the magic of time and chance.
By Stephen Bhasera5 years ago in Motivation
What Belongs to Caesar
Shona custom was clear on inheritance issues: sons of the deceased inherited first, daughters next and any grandchildren would then get any minor sums that were remained. And it was with this general understanding that the meeting began. A short, plump lawyer waddled to the podium in the front of the room, opened a sealed box and commenced reading its contents in a voice so monotonous and sluggish that under any other circumstances it would’ve put half the listeners to sleep. The inheritances were read out by name, starting with the eldest son and then gradually moving to the grandchildren. On the whole, sekuru (grandfather), had been generous with his grandchildren, leaving them a few thousand dollars each and it, therefore, came as a surprise to Kudzai, that when his name was read out, no cash amount was announced. Instead, he was called forward to receive what appeared to be a little black notebook. He accepted it with a somewhat bewildered and confused expression on his face and despite his every effort, failed to hide the disappointment that was etched on his face as he returned to his seat at the back, walking down the aisle of chairs that split the room in two, filled with all his relatives.
By Stephen Bhasera5 years ago in Families
