Breaths

She would have colored

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She would have colored gracefully with embarrassment had she not possessed the complexion of one of those “heathen Italians,” as her mother said, who never colored, gracefully or otherwise. (Convincing her mother that Christianity had, to all intents and purposes, originated with the Italians, thus making them the exact opposite of heathen, was a waste … Read more

Lord Macon deposited his

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Lord Macon deposited his wife into a chair and then knelt next to her, clutching one of her hands. Tell me truthfully – how are you feeling? Alexia took a breath. Truthfully? I sometimes wonder if I, like Madame Lefoux, should affect masculine dress. Gracious me, why? You mean aside from the issue of greater … Read more

Since i couldn’t remember

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Since i couldn’t remember the real first time i’d lost my virginity, this would have become my de facto first time. I wanted a better story then: I did it with this boy who i wasn’t very into and who had mysterious Gaterade breath; in his room decorated with sports equipment; at least he was … Read more

The house became full

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The house became full of love. Aureliano expressed it in poetry that had no beginning and no end. He would write it on the harsh pieces of parchment that Melquiades gave him, on the bathroom walls, on the skin of his arms, and in all of it Remedios would appear transfigured: Remedios in the soporific … Read more

He recognized her despite

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He recognized her despite the uproar, through his tears of unrepeatable sorrow at dying without her, and he looked at her for the last and final time with eyes more luminous, more grief-stricken, more grateful than she had ever seen them in half a century of a shared life, and he managed to say to … Read more