“African women in general need to know that it’s OK for them to be the way they are – to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence.”

—Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmental activist and Nobel Laureate

'This is a tale you will only hear once.' Is this because you can only experience it for the first time without any prior knowledge once? Because all possible endings are undesirably finite? 'Then it will be gone in a flash of green light.' Green in anticipation for the end. Green is for life and green for envy.

The author offers some possible endings; perhaps all will be well, maybe the ending will be happy, 'maybe there is nothing but darkness when the story ends.' This last option seems especially final. And darkness is not explicitly a bad ending, just an unknown one. All together there are three possible endings, and in this story there are three women, does each woman get one of these endings?

They were three women, three friends, though being a woman is apparently first. Rain, the narrator, and protagonist, makes the three of them wigs. Witchy techno wigs.

Is it possible that the name Rain is symbolic? Water is often used as a metaphor for awakening and clarity, and Rain is the one able to step away and see how the wigs have been corrupted from their original purpose.

'Like the nation we were trying to improve, we became backwards. Instead of giving, we took.' This seems to draw a parallel between this story and the political scene of Nigeria, perhaps the darkness of this story is the unwritten future of the country. Technology is often developed with the intention of bettering our lives, but often its intended use is not the one it becomes used for.

The opening sentence of the 'Dawn' section tells us a lot about the story very quickly. 'With the wig finally off, Coco and Philo felt more distant to me. Thank god.' It seems that perhaps the wigs are difficult to remove, they somehow link the wearers together, and Rain is extremely grateful for the distance created by their removal. However, just having the wig next to her was enough for her to still seem her friends. She warns that witchcraft and science are related and will both conspire against you. That together they make you relinquish control. Conspire is an interesting word choice, it would imply a sort of agency, granting intentionality and a sort of deceptive allure. It would seem to imply there is an inherent malevolence to them.

She sits in the flowers and gets to work undoing her work. The nature seems necessary to somehow counter act or neutralize the techno-craft of the wigs. Wigs which apparently burned off her hair. Was the burning a malicious act by the wig? If the wig is a symbol for power, as later sections seem to imply, does that mean that the wig burns away your own power, leaving you dependent on it?

The wig calls to her to put it back on, seemingly sentient, crackling with blue electricity. Rain plugs in the wig into her laptop, and puts a protective barrier of cowry shells, alligator pepper, and blue beads. Nigeria has several ethnic groups including, Berome, Hausa, Fulani, Idoma, Igbo, Jukun, Mwaghavul, Tiv, and Yoruba. Cowry was historically used as currency and in ritualistic offerings. Because of its vulva like appearance and origin from the ocean, it is sacred to gods of the ocean and love, though it can also be used to protect against the evil eye, or to specify a particular woman. Alligator pepper is an expensive spice that seems to be used for baby-welcoming, naming, and welcoming ceremonies. The blue beads however, I'm less sure of. Perhaps it is a thematic choice, as green and blue come up repeatedly.

'Philo had been in Jos when the riots happened. I knew it was her and the wig.' This seems again to arc the story of the wigs with the political events happening in Nigeria, as well as contextualize the timing of the story. In 1945, 300 Igbo were brutally massacred by several Northern peoples, notably the Hausa, in Jos, a cosmopolitan melting pot in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, an event speculated to be an originating outburst igniting the Bifran civil war. The conflict seemed to originate with market good competition and be amplified by status insecurity. Though this clash was mostly undocumented, memory lives on.

After the riot, Rain says Philo went on a shopping spree, seeming to indicate Philo's motivations for the riot was purely self-enrichment. The shopping spree Philo takes in Paris, thought Rain clarifies that the use of the wigs requires one to not leave Nigeria for more than a few days, another reference to how the story of the wigs is tied to and parallels that of the country.

The next section, 'The Market', follows Philo through a market, a repeat of the experience in Jos. She walks through the booths, looking put together and beautiful, except for her hideous wig, which 'sat on her head like it knew it didn't belong there.' People hand her free wares and money, unsure why they are doing so, compelled by Philo as she takes their life essence. To do so, she looks in their eyes, her own eyes changing to a glowing green. Taking feels good.

There is a lot of emphasis on how much she loves herself, the empowerment she feels. Her power and appreciation of herself are brought up frequently, things that would conventionally be good for a someone to have, but here are presented as vices. Perhaps this is because of the dependance on the wig to experience them? It is also interesting that the wig so obviously doesn't complement her appearance. Perhaps because it is unnatural? Hair is sometimes thought of as an indicator of health and beauty, perhaps the disheveled appearance of the wig is meant to indicate the corruption the women are experiencing. Where they possibly beautiful once?

Rain calls, the ring tone 'Hello Moto', which the story is named after, the link embedded. Perhaps the emphasis on the cell phone is about the failure of technological communication in giving connection and instead resulting in self-absorption? The language used to describe Philo is harsh and animalistic. She is described as rattling in heavy jewelry, her canines pointed. The phone call seems to transmit something to the wig. The phone glints the same psychic green, though it doesn't seem to entirely take, and Philo vanishes in another flash of green light.

The next section, 'His House' follows Coco. Her wig itches, irritating her scalp, again referencing how it doesn't belong, but she doesn't take it off. The ugliness of the wig is referenced again, in strong contrast with Coco's other wise immaculate appearance. 'Her hair was power.' The phone call from Rain attempting to transmit damage to wig is received, and fails again. Coco disappears.

Next bit is written in italics. Perhaps a reference to the unclearness and variable outcome of the ending mentioned in the beginning. Philo appears in front of Rain, trampling the lilies, trampling over the healing nature. They argue, Rain says 'Stealing from people is not what I made these for! I made them to help us give! To cure the deep seated culture of corruption by giving people hope and a sense of patriotism. Remember?' Does that mean that one might transfer life to others? How would that work, would they be giving their own essence?

Coco appears, and Rain puts back on her wig. Their teeth all elongate, vampirically, preparing to fight. Rain then takes back off her wig and throws it aside, 'Come then!' and the story ends, fading out with '...' ( )

Excellent, creepy short story. Much shorter than I was expecting, but Nnedi Okorafor knows how to pack an universe into a handful of words. ( )

When you mix juju with technology, you give up control. You are at the will of something far beyond yourself.

This was a really intriguing tale about witchcraft and technology, and the consequences that come from blending the two. I only wish there'd been a little bit more to the story, but overall I really liked it. Available here. ( )

I liked parts of this, it has elements of power and how people handle power. There seems to be a magic element, I'm not clear on whether it was supposed to be tech or magic, and that's part of why it's a middle of the road rating. It's the start of a good idea, has the beginning of good characters, but it felt like a sketch of a story, without the full story, and as a short story, I would have liked just a little more to round it out and feel complete. ( )

It's really more like 3.5 because the magic/science idea behind the story is just so interesting, I had to. Its ending, however, is very abrupt, and I would have preferred a little more detail - it feels like we just walked into the resolution instead of watching a plot arc. ( )