A tedium came over me and cast its shadow. That was when my ordeal began. At the entrance to the company there are always volunteers who smile at you, wearing that pathetic expression of people who love every living creature. In those days, such treacly displays still offered me some comfort. On the way home I could always stop at … Read more →
With the help of a small fortune and in the strictest secrecy, Dr. Julio Puertas built a time machine that ran on plutonium. Such an achievement was the culmination of a childhood dream he had never once abandoned. He studied engineering, earned a doctorate in physics, and secured a succession of well-paid positions to fund his project — all of … Read more →
There was once a painter who wandered through places where no paths are written, in search of the perfect light. One day, a ray broke through the clouds and spread like a fan over the distant hills. Beneath that light, everything took on new life. The painter was captivated by that sky, but when he tried to paint it, the … Read more →
Mrs. Enríquez was born in one of so many post-war years. Among briars and mud, she knew hunger and resilience before she learned to speak. Her genes, programmed to make an athlete, had instead produced a slight, wiry little woman with sinewy limbs, defiant cheekbones, and light feet. She moved with the energy and steadiness of someone who has not … Read more →
Zaprezs placed the tips of his unpolished shoes at the exact edge of the stage. His attire had been treated with meticulous care to eliminate all light and all reflection. The only white was the collar of his shirt, which pressed the flesh of his jowl against his jaw and pushed his head backward. His entire body followed: erect beneath … Read more →
One summer night, while everyone slept, the words began to escape through the window. They were tired of being used vulgarly, offensively, or incorrectly — of being used to deceive, to lie, or to insult. And so a few of them, the worst-used ones, broke the chains that bound them to our tongue and set out on an adventure. The … Read more →