The Cry of a Child in the Nocturnal Darkness

About the Book

The story of a child who cries for help in the dark in hopes of finding a way to the light, without knowing that he is part of that darkness and light himself. The child was born between two tribes: darkness tribe and lightning tribe. His mother, Adjo, wandered off from the darkness tribe to meet her lover, who was the child’s father, Kafui, from the lightning tribe. They both knew their union could be fatal because of the differences of their tribes, but their love blinded them to know how different they were. Their inevitable love was rejected by both the darkness tribe and lightning tribe.

Worried about the outcome of their forbidden love, they suddenly got scared and fled from the mistake they had made; the two lovers realized how their difference could not be reconciled. They both rejoined their tribes for fear of meeting again, but it was too late because the seed of their love already began to sprout into an unborn child. From their inevitable love came a newborn child who was a combination of the two tribes of darkness and lightning and whom the two tribes decided to eliminate.

There was an elderly woman in the darkness tribe named Pauline, who seemed to be the child’s grandmother and who had supernatural powers that could balance both darkness and lightning. The elderly woman then secretly took the child for fear that both lightning and darkness tribes could destroy the child and that the mother could not balance the two combinations of darkness and lightning within the child and protect him at the same time. The elderly woman Pauline escaped to many different tribes to raise the child; she named the child Komla, meaning “the birth of two strong powers.”

Growing up, Komla realized he was part of the darkness and the lightning tribes, who rejected him, and that he lost the only sparkle of light that cared and protected him. He felt lonely, and out of blame, he projected himself into a nocturnal darkness.

About the Author

Agrey Emile A. Coudakpo: I was born on May 22, 1984, in Lome, Togo, the smallest country in West Africa. At the age of eight, I moved with my grandmother to Ghana as a refugee. When I was ten, I met my stepfather, who was a photo journalist and refugee representative in Ghana West Africa. I was trained in photography by my stepfather. In order to have a better education, in 1995 I moved with my mother and my stepfather to Mali. After receiving my high school diploma in French education in Mali West Africa, I went to the art establishment of Mali, but I did not get the opportunity to finish it. In 2002, I attended Art Festival and Photo Pana African with the goal to learn more about different cultures. I traveled to many countries, and I can speak many languages as well. On October 3, 2006, I came to the United States of America in pursuit of more opportunity, with the dream to show the world my talents. I learned English in Baltimore City Community College in Maryland as a second language. After six months in English class, I decided to take courses of fiber optic, copper cable, coaxial cable, and electrical wire technician in 2008. After receiving my certificates, I found a job as an electro-mechanic. I worked fifteen months in my job where I was discriminated against for being foreign. I became unemployed and faced the difficult situation to pay my bills; that is where I had the inspiration to tell my story and to encourage people who were in the same situations that they can overcome as I did. I also wanted to teach children courage and perseverance. It was not easy for me to write my story in English as a second language but with persistence and a strong will; I did with the help of my younger sister Christa Akouete, who is in high school. She translated the book I wrote in French to English, The Four Brothers of Hodak, which was my personal experience through the years. I took my story to teach children courage, perseverance, and the importance of education. After publishing my first book, I decided to share my childhood story that I experienced with my grandmother in the form of a fictional book. I decided to make my second book (The Cry of a Child in the Nocturnal Darkness) a book of fiction because once I lost my grandmother, I viewed my life as an imaginary world in which I fell into. During the loss of my grandmother, I became lost within a world where I felt lonely and abandoned. The Cry of a Child in the Nocturnal Darkness described my pain and suffering that I was experiencing in this world. The book is a shortcut of my biography written in fiction that I am trying to share with the world.