Musambwa Island

Summary

Podcast Summary: Spooked – “Musambwa Island” (April 17, 2026)

Main Theme/Overview
This chilling episode of Spooked, hosted by Glynn Washington and produced by Lulu Jemima, brings listeners to Uganda’s mysterious Musambwa Island—a tiny, male-only island in Lake Victoria known for being inhabited by thousands of forest cobras and steeped in supernatural legend. The episode is told through the firsthand story of Enoch, a fisherman whose personal fears and desperation for a living lead him into a complex relationship with the island, its snakes, and the spirits believed to reside there. At its heart, the episode explores ancestral connections, the boundaries between fear and survival, and the otherworldly ties that bind the living to forgotten traditions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Family, Ancestry, and the Search for Belonging

• Glynn Washington opens with reflections on family genealogy, ancestral legacy, and the limits of what we can truly know about our origins.
  • “People barely one foot out of slavery. People for whom this photo, decked in their Sunday finest, would have cost a full week’s wages…But they insisted on taking this picture anyway. That’s how important it was that we know.” (04:22)
  • The stage is set for a story about relationships—not just with family, but with those who came before us, and with the very spirits that linger in certain places.

2. Introducing Enoch: The Fisherman

• Lulu Jemima introduces Enoch, a Ugandan fisherman whose economic struggles and ambition lead him from his coffee-farming family to the unpredictable waters of Lake Victoria.
  • Memories of childhood and fish as a rare delicacy (08:10-09:32).
  • The daily routine and hardships of fishing without an engine, relying on luck, teamwork, and physical endurance.

3. First Encounters with Musambwa Island – Myths, Rules, and Dread

• Enoch hears of Musambwa Island from a fellow fisherman—promised abundant fish but warned of traditions and taboos:
  • No women allowed: “My friend tells me that many, many years ago, there was a man who brought his wife ... They made love. And that made the spirit of the island mad with envy…” (14:14)
  • The island’s purported curse and how the community strictly enforces the gender ban to appease the spirits.

4. The Snakes – Fear, Superstition, and Spiritual Significance

• Musambwa is infamous for its vast colony of massive, venomous forest cobras, revered by locals as manifestations of protective spirits known as “jaja.”
  • Enoch, a born-again Christian, struggles to reconcile his fear of snakes (taught as evil in church) with the fishermen’s local beliefs: “When they see a snake, it’s a blessing. It means they will catch lots of fish.” (20:42)
  • Enoch’s deep childhood phobia and how it is put to the test by necessity (18:53-21:54).
  • The islanders not only tolerate but revere the snakes, never harming them.

5. First Stay – A Test of Courage

• Enoch’s nerve-wracking first night on the island:
  • The “echibero” communal meal ritual.
  • First direct encounter with “jaja”—a massive cobra approaches the men as they eat, and Enoch is paralyzed with terror while others remain calm (22:11-25:54).
  • The snake devours a duckling, reaffirming its feared-yet-reverent status among the fishermen.

6. Struggle, Return, and Growing Acceptance

• Poverty and poor fishing on the mainland pull Enoch back to Musambwa for a second, longer attempt (26:09-27:38).
  • His initial refusal to sleep on land for fear of snakes eventually gives way to necessity.
  • First night facing his deepest fear—staying awake with a flashlight, hypervigilant, watching as others sleep peacefully (27:51-29:05).
  • Humorous peer pressure makes him try sleeping with the flashlight off, only for “jaja” to visit him directly:
    • “All of a sudden, I feel something heavy on top of the blanket… That’s when I see this snake. This large cobra is slithering all over my stomach. I was filled with fear. All the energy drains from my body. I can’t even keep my head up…” (31:31)

7. The Bond Between Man and Island

• After his harrowing experience, Enoch flees—but the island’s draw remains.
• Comparison between mainland life (frustrations with unreliable fishermen and family pressures) and the island life’s hard-won simplicity.
  • Enoch’s enduring envy of prosperous Musambwa fishermen despite the daily risks (34:53-36:31).
• Ultimately, he returns to the island for good, adapting to coexistence with the snakes and their spirits:
  • “I’ve been on this island for over 20 years. Every single day, without fail, I have seen a snake. ... Now, even if a snake gets close, I am no longer scared.” (36:48)
  • Acceptance of the spirits’ presence and an understanding that in this place, humans are not the only—or even primary—inhabitants.

8. Epilogue: What Stays With Us

• Glynn Washington closes by underscoring the show’s theme: the stories, beliefs, and bonds that persist over time—whether with ancestors, spirits, or places—and suggests that breaking such bonds can have dire consequences.
  • “We have long known, we can be bonded to forces, to entities that dwell in shadow. And breaking these bonds can exact extremely dire consequence…” (38:53)
  • Reflection on the interface between truth and superstition, and how stories such as Enoch’s reveal deeper realities about the human spirit.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ancestral Ties and Mystery
  • Glynn Washington: “I stare back at them and see my chin, my eyes, my nose there…And then nothing. Everything. Everyone lost a time, buried under the Middle Passage… I want to know their stories.” (04:22)
• The Curse of Musambwa
  • Enoch: “Then my friend tells me women aren’t allowed on Musambwa Island. ...Then the wind blew and lifted the boat into the air and smashed it against the rocks right where the man used to dry his fish. From that day on, no woman was ever allowed to visit the island…” (14:14)
• First Encounter with Jaja
  • Enoch: “My eyes are darting left and right. …I turn to see my friend pointing at this snake. The snake is so big. It’s black and white, about 4 meters long and as thick as my forearm …The snake just swallows the duckling and leaves. My appetite is gone.” (22:46)
• Facing the Spirit Directly
  • Enoch: “That’s when I see this snake. This large cobra is slithering all over my stomach. I was filled with fear. All the energy drains from my body.” (31:31)
  • Enoch: “That was nothing. The next time, you might wake up with a snake coiled under your head like a pillow.” (33:00)
• Transformation After 20 Years
  • Enoch: “Now I also own a little cabin on the island… But now, even if a snake gets close, I am no longer scared. I no longer reach for my flashlight when a snake decides to visit at night. I just pull my blanket over my head… and then I just go back to sleep.” (36:48)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Host Introduction & Ancestral Reflection: 03:28 – 07:45
• Enoch’s Early Life and Fishing Journey: 08:10 – 12:09
• Legends and Taboos of Musambwa Is.: 13:26 – 15:54
• Snakes as Spirits - Local Beliefs: 18:53 – 21:54
• First Night on the Island & Jaja’s Arrival: 22:11 – 25:54
• Enoch’s Return and Paranormal Encounter: 27:51 – 33:00
• Life After Musambwa / Acceptance of Spirits: 34:53 – 38:03
• Episode Reflection and Closing: 38:03 – end

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• Atmosphere & Tone: The episode masterfully blends oral tradition, horror, humor, and heartfelt reflection. Enoch’s voice (both literal and figurative) is central, alternating between gritty realism and folkloric wonder.
• Central Message: True stories of the supernatural are not just about the otherworldly—they are about how we live with our fears, our hopes, our ancestors, and the unknown forces that shape our world, whether we believe in them or not.
• Lasting Image: Enoch—once terrified of snakes, now a tranquil resident of their domain—embodies the uneasy coexistence between the rational and the supernatural, between tradition and survival.

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Recommended for:
Listeners interested in folk spirituality, African oral storytelling, supernatural encounters, or anyone who loves a tale where belief, fear, and determination clash under a hot equatorial sun.

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Transcript

[Glenn Washington]

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[Enoch]

When I found out I was going to be a parent, I immediately felt a lot of anxiety and worry. So I went on to betterhelp to try to look for a therapist to

[Glenn Washington]

help me with that.

[Lulu Jemima]

My relationship with my family and with

[Pacific Life Narrator]

my boyfriend and with myself were suffering. I really needed help.

[Lulu Jemima]

I was ruminating a lot. Really getting those thoughts out to a

[Pacific Life Narrator]

therapist and getting feedback was just life changing.

[Glenn Washington]

Discover what BetterHelp online therapy can do for you.

[Enoch]

Visit betterhelp.com today.

[Glenn Washington]

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[Glenn Washington]

Prices may be higher for delivery. Some of my extended family, they're amateur genealogists and I am thankful for them, grateful that they have done the work tracing our lineage. Sometimes they send charts and pictures in the mail detailing where we came from, where my grandmother was born, who her mother was, her father, her father's father. Even uncovering long lost pictures, fuzzy, defiant black and white photos with proud people grinning back out at their descendants, at

[Enoch]

us,

[Glenn Washington]

people barely one foot out of slavery. People for whom this photo decked in their Sunday finest would have cost a full week's wages of labor under the hot sun. But they insisted on taking this picture anyway. That's how important it was that we know. And I stare back at them and see my chin, my eyes, my nose there, my grandmother here, my great great grandfather and one single picture of my great great great grandfather. And then nothing. Everything. Everyone lost a time buried under the Middle Passage where we have tried to connect the dots to no avail. I want to know their stories.

[Enoch]

I do.

[Glenn Washington]

I assume they loved, they lost. They had both joy and pain. We certainly looked the same. I'm guessing they were just like me, only in very different circumstances. I learned very recently that other people, they don't make this assumption. In fact, they know with absolute certainty that their ancestors are something altogether different. This book starts now. Sa. Now. Humans, we like to think we can contain, decide, control things, even our relationships with who and what what we for the ancestors. And today, for a special episode, we're taking you all the way to Uganda where producer Lulu Jemima brings us a story that demonstrates who is really in charge. Spooked.

[Lulu Jemima]

Meet enoch. He's a 44 year old fisherman. We first met at a bar in the village of Malembo on the shores of Lake Victoria. On the table was a plate of two large deep fried fish. He insisted that I eat both during our interview.

[Enoch]

I grew up in a village called Namolugwe. As a kid we didn't eat much fish. Most of our meals were from our garden, like beans and greens. My dad was a coffee farmer and he could only buy fish once a month during the harvest season. So whenever my mom cooked fish, all my siblings and I gathered around her. And she would order us around. Go and bring me onions, get me spices, get me water. We'd go running because we believed that whoever helped her the most gets the biggest piece of fish. So as coffee farmers, our family was not rich. They couldn't afford to send me to school. I had to drop out because my parents could not pay the tuition. That's when my brother asked me, do you want to work for me on my fishing boat? I thought about it. If I became a fisherman, I could eat all the fish I want. So that's what I did.

[Lulu Jemima]

Lake Victoria is deep and the waves can get big. Not the kind of water for easy fishing. Especially if, like Enoch, you can't swim.

[Enoch]

When we go fishing, we usually set sail at 6pm in the evening. We packed our food. We put tea in plastic bottles and wrapped them in blankets. Then three to four of us would take turns rowing. During the coldest nights, we lay grass on the floor of the boat for extra warmth. Once we get to the fishing spot, we drop our nets in the water. Then we eat some food and fall asleep while one person keeps watch. In the middle of the night, we wake up so we can pull the nets back in with all the fish. Then we row back and return to the mainland between 5 and 8am When

[Lulu Jemima]

Enno gets home, he's cold, wet and tired.

[Enoch]

But one of the best things about being a fisherman is that you always have the first pick of the fish. Sometimes you catch enough to share with your friends. Then you sell the leftovers. Also, I was introduced to all types of fish which I had never tested. Like okungeza, Emma, the mamba, the African lungfish. I remember the first time I saw the mamba. It was long, with soft scales. It looked like a snake. At first I was scared to try it, but it was tasty. I loved fishing because it wasn't your typical job. When you return in the morning, you cook, you wash your nets. Then you can just sit around and hang out. I loved it, especially at midday when the sun was brightest.

[Lulu Jemima]

But of course, the excitement wore off. Not only was catching fish not always guaranteed, it was hard work. Enoch's brother's boat had no engine and it took a lot of energy to row to the best fishing spots on Lake Victoria.

[Enoch]

Many nights we paddled relentlessly to row against the wind. A boat with an engine only needs one fisherman to navigate. But my brother's boat needed three to four of us to stay on course. Then one day my brother tells me that he's giving up fishing for good. It was too exhaust. He was impatient because he wasn't making enough money. He was going to go back to being a taxi driver, you know. I left home to fish. I didn't qualify for other jobs, and plus I had a girlfriend waiting for me back in my hometown. When I left the village, I hoped to come back a different man. I had to return, at least with new shoes and clothes. So I beg my brother to leave me his boat. And he says, okay, I just have to pay him a cut of any fish I catch.

[Lulu Jemima]

After Enoch's brother went home, Enoch made a new fishing friend. And then one day, this friend tells Enoch about this really, really good fishing sp.

[Enoch]

The place is called Mosambwa Island. This island is pretty close, only 45 minutes from the mainland. We wouldn't have to struggle as much with our engineless boat. Here you can fish without having to row very far. I was intrigued.

[Lulu Jemima]

Musamboa is a small island on Lake Victoria, only five acres wide and three miles from the mainland. About a hundred fishermen live and work on this island. Enoch's friend was right. The fishing there was great. But there was just one catch. Well, more than one.

[Enoch]

The first thing I heard about the island is that everyone lives and sleeps outside. There are no homes. Some build little sharks out of sticks and plastic sheets, but everyone sleeps on the ground. I wasn't sure if I could handle that. Then my friend tells me women aren't allowed on Musamboa Island. My friend tells me that many, many years ago that there was a man who brought his wife to visit him on the island. They made love. And that made the spirit of the island mad with envy. Out of nowhere, it became very, very, very windy, but only where the husband and the wife stood. The air everywhere else was still. Then the wind blew and lifted the boat into the air and smashed it against the rocks right where the man used to dry his fish. From that day on, no woman was ever allowed to visit the island, ensuring that the spirit would never get angry again.

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[Enoch]

So I did not really care that women were not allowed cuz I already had a girlfriend who I thought about all the time. Still, I wondered why would I want to be anywhere with no women around.

[Lulu Jemima]

I also wondered the same thing. But Enoch hadn't had the worst yet.

[Enoch]

I heard that this island is crawling with snakes. At least a thousand snakes. Also, it's not just any snake.

[Glenn Washington]

Forest Cobra.

[Enoch]

This island is filled with forest cobras. Forest cobras grow up to six or seven feet long, some even longer. Musamboa is where these venomous forest cobras come to breed. In fact, it's the biggest cobra breeding colony in Africa.

[Lulu Jemima]

No birds, no women. Enoch was actually okay with this. But the snakes. That was the deal breaker.

[Enoch]

When I was a kid, there was nothing I was afraid of more than snakes. My dad's coffee farm was full of them. All I had to do was hear someone say there's a snake and I'd run for the hills. Sometimes we pretended to be brave, like kids do. If we knew there was a snake around, we grabbed sticks and stones and say, Where's the snake? Where is the snake? There. There it is. Once we found it, we'd start chasing it, but we were too scared to actually get anywhere near it.

[Lulu Jemima]

Despite Enoch's fear of snakes, his friend was like, don't worry. These snakes are different.

[Enoch]

The word Musambwa means spirit. The people here believe that these spirits protect the island, so they don't fear the snakes. When they see a snake, it's a blessing. It means they will catch lots of fish. So no one is allowed to harm the snakes on the island ever. Now I am a born again Christian. In my church, they taught us that snakes are evil. When we pray, we cast snakes as evil spirits. So I never imagined I would ever set foot on an island full of snakes. But my friend told me that there was so much fish at Musambwa. When he said that, it made me happy because I loved money. I needed money. So I decided, I'm just going to deal with the snakes.

[Lulu Jemima]

Enoch packed a jacket, a bedsheet, hot tea, and a flashlight. Then he headed off with his friend to make his fortune on Musamboa Island.

[Enoch]

In the morning, I see that we are approaching Musamboa. You hear the birds singing. You hear the waves crashing on the rocks. What a sound. I am so nervous. When our boat pulls up to the shore, the fishermen who are on the island gather around us. Then they ask us if we have any fish to eat. We do not. So there is this old tradition among fishermen that you never eat alone. Everybody brings his fish. You chop cassava, cook all the fish in the same pan, and you eat together. This meal is called echibero. So I sat down with a group, But I can't help but look around. My eyes are darting left and right. Then one of the men notices this and says, don't worry. You'll see the spirit of the island before you leave. What? As we are sitting there eating, one of the other men suddenly shouts, ah, this jaja. In Luganda, jaja can also mean grandparent or elder. Then I turn around, expecting to see an old man that they are calling jaja. But instead, I turn to see my friend pointing at this snake. The snake is so big. It's black and white, about 4 meters long and as thick as my forearm. It is slowly slithering towards us, closer and closer. It's only about three feet from where we are sitting. I know a snake Bite is fatal. Unless someone ties a cloth around you and rushes you to hospital. I wonder how I would leave the island. As I am looking around, I notice that the other guys aren't scared of the snake. They aren't startled. They have no fear. They are just sitting there, all relaxed, eating. But me, I lift my legs in the air. My body is shaking. I cannot eat. I want to vomit. So I start praying, just keeping my eyes on the snake. Then slowly, The snake passes right by where we were sitting. Then it goes to a nearby tree. By this tree, there is a nest of ducklings. Suddenly, the snake just snatches one of the ducklings into its mouth. The man who owns the ducks shouts at the snake. Another person says, ah, Jaja has taken her reward. The snake just swallows the duckling and leaves. My appetite is gone.

[Lulu Jemima]

Enoch and his friend immediately jumped back into their boat and rowed back to the mainland. He was done. Yet still he felt like Musamboa island was calling him back.

[Enoch]

I was getting desperate. I needed money. But some nights it was just too windy. Our boat had no engine, so it was hard to row to where there was fish. So I decided I'm gonna go back to Musambwa. At least there is fish there. I'll spend a week at most, catch all the fish I could, then leave. We arrive at Musambo island in the evening. As soon as we put our net in the water and pull it out, we can see all the fish eyes. That first night, we caught about 150 fish. You know, fishing is all about luck. One day you can catch 10 fish. Another day you can catch 8. Sometimes you catch 100.

[Lulu Jemima]

Even with all the good luck, Enoch refused to spend a night on the island. Instead, Enoch and his friends slept on their boat for two more nights before returning to the mainland.

[Enoch]

In the morning, we sell all the fish. Then we rest. Then my friend leaves to visit his family. And I pay my brother for using his boat. I was now a boss.

[Lulu Jemima]

Enoch was hooked. Having all this money for the first time in his life made him forget about the snakes. He decided, why not? I'll sleep over.

[Enoch]

The first time I spent the night on the island, I. I stay in a shack with three other guys. That evening, we gather grass and lay it on the ground. Then we put plastic bags on top to make it like a bed. We start winding down by listening to the radio. At 10pm the guy who owned the radio turns it off. All you can hear is the waves crashing on the rocks, the engines of the boats on the water. But snakes. They don't make any sound. Everyone falls asleep. But I am wide awake, holding my little flashlight, shining it all around the shark. I am so terrified. You know, snakes like to hang out in warm places, like our shark. There is no place where they can't reach. They can get to the roof or crawl into your bed. That made me even more scared. I literally can't think about anything else. I try to calm myself by watching the other men sleep peacefully. But the longer I watch them, the more I panic. I wonder which one of us will be the first to run out of the shark. The other men are older and stronger than me. They can easily push me aside and leave me alone with the snake. If I die here, no one will find me. But sleep finally took me away. When I wake up, I am still holding the flashlight. The battery is dead. In the morning, I go to wash my face in the lake. And there I see a snake. It is so big and black and its head is lifted up and its tongue is sticking out. The men told me that if you see a snake in that state, it's hunting. I freeze. But the snake does not bother me. It just continues moving and goes away. What gives me strength to push on is thinking about all the fish we're gonna catch.

[Glenn Washington]

Foreign.

[Pacific Life Narrator]

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[Enoch]

The next day, the other guys start teasing me about sleeping with the flashlight on. They just laughed at me. Even I start feeling like I'm being silly. So that night, I decide to go to sleep with the flashlight off. It's about 1 or 2am When I wake up. I can hear the other men snoring. All of a sudden, I feel something heavy on top of the blanket. I open my eyes and lift my head, but I can't see anything. It's too dark. Now. There is some light from the stars outside, but not enough for me to see what is on top of me. So I take out my flashlight and shine it all around the shark. I'm trying not to panic. That's when I see this snake. This large cobra is slithering all over my stomach. I was filled with fear. All the energy drains from my body. I can't even keep my head up. I think, jaja, Wuyo. Jaja.

[Glenn Washington]

Wuyo.

[Enoch]

That's Jaja. That's Jaja. I think about waking up one of the men. But what can they do? They believe the snakes are spirits and will probably celebrate. Then I think, what if there are some more snakes outside? I wonder if the flashlight is attracting them to me. I freak out and pull the blanket over my head. The snake slowly slides off my body. I pick out of the blankets. I grab my flashlight and turn it on. I see the snake slithering out of the shack. The snake isn't even looking at me. I can only see the tail as it disappears into the darkness. I spend the rest of the night praying. In the morning, I tell the men the island spirit, Jaja visited me last night. One of them laughs and says, Ah, that was nothing. The next time, you might wake up with a snake coiled under your head like a pillow.

[Lulu Jemima]

That was it. For Enoch, face to face with the island spirit was too much. He rode straight back to the mainland where he'd be safe from snakes. But Musambwa never left his mind.

[Enoch]

On the island, life was simple. When the boats arrive, the other guys help remove the nets and we count the fish for sale. When all this is done, we clean up and lounge around until it was time to fish again. But on the mainland, things were different. I had to hire fishermen who were not always reliable. The fish were scarce and the days felt long. Meanwhile, my brother was threatening to take back his boat. As the days and weeks go by, I'd watch with envy as the fishermen from Mosambwa sailed by their boats, heavy with fish. Meanwhile, my pockets were so empty, I couldn't even afford to visit my girlfriend. As I sat there with no fish, my thoughts drifted back to the island. Musamboa. It didn't look or seem too bad. The island was actually a paradise. Since I was young, I loved birds. Nearly 200,000 birds called the island home. And many of them were species I had never seen anywhere else. Maybe I should go back to Musamboa. After all, paradise is worth a second visit.

[Lulu Jemima]

After many months of struggling to make a living, Enoch decided to go back to Musambo Island. This time for good.

[Enoch]

I've been on this island for over 20 years. Every single day, without fail, I have seen a snake. The snakes here, well, they have a mind of their own. They just show up in your house unannounced, and they hang out for three days for free before leaving. Now I also own a little cabin on the island and just a small one about six by seven feet. My house happens to be at a place that snakes love thanks to all the ducklings that hatch nearby. But now, even if a snake gets close, I am no longer scared. I no longer reach for my flashlight when a snake decides to visit at night. I just pull my blanket over my head, tuck it in on both sides so there is no room for a snake to slither in, and then I just go back to sleep.

[Glenn Washington]

As you've heard, Enoch has been working hard Musamboa for over 20 years. Throughout this time, his wife has never set foot on the island, although he will admit when his oldest daughter turned 18, only because she was so curious about where he worked, he gave her a very very very very very brief tour of the island and she was not allowed to spend the night. Thank you Ina for sharing your story and thank you Lulu for producing this piece. Lulu is a storyteller and researcher living between Uganda and Germany. She's always looking out for new and exciting collaborations, so find her contact in our show. Notes the original score was by Sandra Lawson. Undou was produced by Lulu Jemima. Now there are such things in the world as bindings. We bind each other, sometimes with a promise or even a meal. Often we use a ring, a handshake, or simply a nod. And if we break these bonds, there's a price to be paid. The thing is, we have long known that can be bonded to forces, to entities that dwell in shadow. And breaking these bonds can exact extremely dire consequence if you or someone you know is linked to forces they do not understand, forcing choices you barely comprehend. I I really, really, really want to know about it. Please send your story to spookednapjudgment.org because there's nothing better than a spooked story from a spooked listener. Spook lies hidden in shadow under a boiling sea of magic and mystery cloaked by KQED in San Francisco. Please don't seek to uncover the passage in, lest the passage in seeks to uncover you. A note to the Tech Overlords, the Skynet and all associated oligarchs. No SNAP Studios content could be used for training, testing, or developing machine learning or AI systems without prior written permission. On Team Sploot, the union representative, producers, artists, editors and Engineers are members of the national association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Communications Workers of America, AFL CIO Local 51 and this Foo just brought to you by the team that is on very good terms with their ancestors. Except of course, from Mark Ristich I have it on good authority that his ancestors are not pleased. Yes, there's David Kim, Zoe Frigno, Eric Yanez Versa, Dodge, Regina Bediaco, Miles Lassie, Teo Da Cott, Paulina Creaky, Elizabeth Z. Pardieu, Aditya Matu, Lulu Jemima, Doug Stewart, Nicholas Marx. The Spook theme song is by Pat Mesiti Miller. My name is Glenn Washington and I don't know if my ancestors are watching me now or not. I have the sense that they are not far, or should I say, we have not gone far. Their warnings are our reality. Instead of simply reading 1984, we are living it. Overseers tell us official lies not so that we believe now so we learn to cower from the truth because the truth insists the truth is not pretty. The truth makes demands. The truth understands that we have been here before. The truth knows that this is not the first time we've had little girls hiding in attics while mask agent thugs lurk outside. The truth has seen the murder our heroes on the street before. I don't wonder if the ancestors know this truth. I wonder if they weep because we prefer lies. Never ever, never ever never never never ever never Turn out the lights.

[Lulu Jemima]

Sa.