Francesca, a leggy young woman with a blue streak running through her thick mane of hair, crossed the park quickly. The dry leaves on the path crackled pleasantly beneath her feet. The scent of roasted chestnuts was coming from the nearby boulevard and she could hear the rattle of the spoons as they clanked against […]
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Gila was a lovely girl, a little plump, and when she laughed she’d laugh to tears, while Hansie was a lovely and slender girl whose smile was also slender. They would both shine on dance nights, Gila dancing with whoever made her laugh and Hansie, for all her beauty and despite the long queue of […]
Lacking any alternative image, we turn to the moment of creation. The form bursting from the awkwardness of matter. No, not the awkwardness, the indifference towards being. This time, I am ready; this time, I’ve prepared. Through the night I lay awake, going through the stages in my mind. Not to waste precious time on […]
The defining period of my youth stretched into my mid-twenties, and more than any other afflictions, it was plagued by deep seated agitation. I engaged in minor, almost perfunctory, identity crises, but overall I willingly acceded to the existing order of things. The agitation was palpable nonetheless; during the bad times I remember experiencing dead-end […]
“Did he talk to you?” “Not a word till Bilu Junction.” “And then?” “And then he slowed down and showed me the ugly shopping center they’re building there.” “Well, it all came as a surprise to him, you know.” Dad returns with an orange and rolls it down the counter, Mom catches it, slits the […]
Light snow fell on Bilbao. We sat there beneath the Guggenheim Museum and waited for it to open. A few meters away stood the famous architect Frank Gehry, carefully examining the extravagant structure whose planning had brought him world fame. The snow soundlessly hit the titanium sheets and it seemed as if the wind carrying […]
It was Detective Chief Superintendent Fassaro’s last case, but he did not know that yet. He lingered by the closed door for a moment, and then strode quickly into the room, trying to hide the turmoil inside him. Room 303. The room. As the door opened and the room spread out before him, Fassaro saw […]
I live in the dread of silence. But am I not the soundless of all? Grey, humped, rat-like monsters with reddened eyes shadow my life. I detect them. Recognize them. Catch their scent as they come closer. The signs are invisible – stealthy arrival; a floating, hesitant gaze that becomes alarmed when they cross my […]
The stuff remakers of dreams are made of Joel would always cherish the day he met Morris Sadovski. Sitting in a living room whose walls were covered to the brim with colorful oil paintings, Morris looked like an ambassador from other worlds: a handsome, tall man with smooth skin and oiled hair; a slight squint […]
She was so glad the wedding was over. The unadorned car stopped in front of the hotel at the far end of the esplanade. They stepped out, he and the driver, his best friend, hugged before they parted. She wondered whether she should spit on his friend, who had nettled her throughout the entire wedding, […]
Bella loved it, to drive through the sleepy burnt out city, nothing but a few lit windows; and outside the darkness, thin and tangible. This time she was completely guilt free, despite leaving her two babies behind. She knew she would never have made it to the newsroom without the warm transport vehicle consigned to […]
There by the long, plain, flour-dusty carts, which usually stood idly in the middle of the spacious empty square, beside the pot-bellied road which sprawled somewhat in the spring sun, with the scrawny little horses which seemed from afar to be frozen in rigid dreams, standing like a wall-painting, but for the occasional switch of […]
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