The Skeptical Alchemist

Do Not Do Any of the AboveIt was the same trick he played every year. He wasn’t the only one. In freshman biology, the teacher gave out a list… More

Risk

The Mysterious HouseWhen he said the house was “mysterious,” Papá set my imagination racing. I had imagined a dark, dank two-story English manor house, walls shrouded in thick ivy,… More

Ginger

A thing of beauty--that’s what it is. That’s what it has to be. Triumph always makes beauty its own. The perfection of a skill is truly beautiful to behold.… More

Coma

In the village, to which I rarely return since our father’s death, I drive up to the gate outside his second wife’s house; I back the van into the… More

Ice

12Dear Mama,Last Saturday there was a dance in the canteen. Those prisoners who knew how to play an instrument brought them along and played something for us. I was… More

Salvation Army

She always slept with us, in the middle, between my little brother Mustapha and my sister Rabiaa.She would fall asleep very quickly and night after night, in a natural,… More

Eléctrico W

Antonio and I had never worked together but we had come across each other several times. His photos had illustrated my investigation into the garimpeiros, destitute gold miners in… More

America Doesn’t Exist

1Maria didn’t read the papers; otherwise, the next day, she would have read about the accident that had made her and her brother, Nicola, orphans. Who could say how… More

Tirza

After Ibi began collecting the rent there were fewer complaints about moisture on the wallpaper, radiators that didn’t work, a window that didn’t close well. Her smile took away… More