Bullying can oftentimes turn schooling into a living hell, if nothing is done to combat the spread of the dreadful scourge. Sipho Zulu is excited to start high school at Mater Dei. Unfortunately, in the early weeks of the first school term, he makes an unfortunate mistake that makes him a target of bullies. He and his friends, Roy and Sharon, put their heads together to find a way to save him from the wrath of the Evil Forest, the latter a group of ruthless seniors who prey on juniors. Will their plan work?

Mark Mngomezulu is a writer from Eswatini. He holds a B.A in Social Sciences from the University of Swaziland, and an M.A in International Relations from New York University in the United States. Some of his short stories have appeared in the Kalahari Review, Short Story Day Africa’s anthology “Water: Stories from Africa” and Africa Book Club anthologies.