Stories From Kiribati

[This story took place several decades back and at the time when there was only one main hospital ever built for all the inhabited islands of Kiribati. This hospital was at Abaokoro village on the island of North Tarawa. All patients with serious cases from the rest of the islands had to be admitted to this hospital for treatment]

An elderly man from the island of Arorae, the last island in the south, was admitted to Abaokoro hospital for treatment. Accompanying him all the way fro...

“It’s a man!” whispered my little sister quietly and with fear. I patted her back and told her to keep still. I looked directly to the figure with eyes wide open. Was it really a man? It could be.

The house was dark and quiet. The rest of the family members were sleeping in the open room. It was just my little sister and I inside the room. We remained silent for some time until I managed to gain enough courage.

I got out of the mosquitoe net, grabbed a big wind...

One afternoon five little boys of about the same age were playing hide and seek in the house. I was reading when one of them just entered my room and asked if he could hide himself there. I was going to say ‘no’ but then I changed my mind and let him in. He was the youngest of them all.

Minutes later I heard the shout of the seeker. It was a signal warning to his friends that he was on his way, looking for them. All was quiet as nobody wanted to be caught. After a while, I...

Earlier today at school, one of my pupils, a boy of 6 years, asked me if I had been to his house.

“Miss, you haven’t been to my house, have you?”

“No, boy, I haven’t … why do you ask?” I replied looking into his face with a sign of having missed something extraordinary.

Then he began his map instructions which amazed me, “Know the road? Then there is a narrow path that passes close to a wall made of woven coconut leaves which s...

It was early in the morning. The rain fell heavily. I was half awake enjoying the sound of the rain dripping onto the leaves of plants. I couldn’t go out to do my work. Silently, I did not realize that I was sleeping again. It was then that I had this lovely dream!

I was sitting, thinking about my whereabouts after leaving school. Then I saw my best friend approaching me. She seemed to have some interesting matters. When she arrived she just said,” Hey! Why are you sitting ...

Tangira was a fisherman. His wife was Akoia and they had four children, two boys and two girls. He loved his family very much. He often went out fishing for his family while Akoia and the kids stayed home doing the housework. Although the family could not make enough money, they lived simply and happily.

One stormy night, Tangira’s kids didn’t like eating dinner of rice mixed with toddy. They finally slept on their mats with empty stomach. This made Tangira sad and responsib...

On Friday afternoon after school, I quickly prepared myself before my friends came. At about 8 in the evening, my friends came and we went to the Betio Sport Complex. It was a very dark night and raining too.

When we arrived at the Sports Complex, there were many people sitting there. We walked around to find our place that we would feel comfortable to sit. I saw my brother, so I told my friends that we all must go to him. He was very surprised to see me as I was now very far away ...

It really was a dead man's body. I came across this body while I was out swimming in the sea. When I first saw it, I was very shocked!

I quickly ran up and to my house. I told everyone about what I had seen. When they heard me, they ran straight to the scene to see and prove what I'd told them. As they came closer to the body, they started smelling something very bad so they tightly covered their noses.

They brought the body onto the land and called the police. I was amo...

We did our school work every night from 7 till 9 o'clock. After doing our school work, we sometimes watched video till almost midnight. I lived with my little brother and sister in our house at the end of the village. Our dad passed away more than a year ago so we were left behind with our mum who sometimes came home late at night.

There were occassional nights, when I felt afraid of the trees that seemed moving or shaking outside our home. Sometimes I seemed to see somebody coming...

I had the same bus stop with that passenger so I rushed out after him. It was a spot close to Bikenibeu West Primary school. That was where most of my family members had to be. By now my wife should be busy teaching her students and my kids were supposed to be in their classrooms.

Half running, I went directly to the primary school compound. Well, to my surprise the atmosphere there was more than I hoped to be. Cars and trucks were there, parking unevenly around the school, but moreover...