@ShadowTalesNG 24 June 2026 more from that month

* I Stole Star From The sky To Bring My Brother Back I wasn’t supposed to find the compass. It was buried under my grandfather’s floorboards, wrapped in oilcloth and warnings. Brass. Heavy. No needle. Instead, a tiny ball of light floated in the center, pulsing like a trapped firefly. The note said: _It points to what you’re missing. Never use it twice._ I turned it once. The light shot up, tore through the ceiling, and dragged a star down from the night sky. The star shrank, fell into the compass, and the light inside turned silver. The air smelled like ozone and winter. Outside my window, the sky had a hole. One less star. “Missing what?” I whispered. The compass spun, then pointed at my chest. At the empty space where my brother used to sit before he vanished 3 years ago. I turned it again. The rules don’t matter when you’re desperate. The light screamed. A second star ripped free and dove into the compass. Now it glowed blue-white. Footsteps echoed behind me. Not mine. My brother stood in the doorway, exactly like I remembered. Same scar on his eyebrow. Same crooked smile. But his eyes were black holes, and constellations swam inside them. “You brought me back wrong,” he said. Voice like wind through broken glass. “A star for a soul. Fair trade.” He stepped forward. The floor froze under his feet. Frost climbed the walls. The compass grew hot in my hand. New words burned into the brass: _ONE TURN LEFT. CHOOSE._ Keep him, but lose the sky one star at a time. Or send him back and live with the empty chair. The stars outside were flickering out, one by one, like candles. My brother reached for me. His hand was cold as deep space. I looked at the compass. At him. At the hole in the sky. I made my choice. The third star fell. #shortstory #nigeria #fiction #twist #suspense