Stories by Leon de la Garza
The baby has been crying for days. Has it been a week? Has it been two weeks? In the mountains Jerome never counts the days. When he or Lily are thirsty, he brings water from the well. Hunting is an everyday endeavor. The sun tells the time. The seasons guarantee a motion through the years….
Muffled sounds of explosions and bullets echoed, at times, from the mountains to the north. My side had stopped bleeding and now a coagulated mass of dark, cracked blood had dried on my skin, crinkling with every step I took. I didn’t think the injury was too serious. My left arm had also bled somewhat…
The eye is now upon me. I can feel its gaze, its invisible pricks stinging the skin beneath my mouth. I’ve been biting my lower lip to distract myself from it. I’ve been biting my little finger, too. It itches every now and then as I stare into the growing thing on my bedroom wall,…
“I stepped once, on earth and stone, and I gazed upon immense oceans. Water reflected the light of our star, the sun, in myriad waves. I can vaguely now remember. I can barely form an image in my inner eye. It was blue. It was blue…” “What else?” “The sky. We didn’t have perfect lives….
The time is 1:21 AM. You are walking across a park in your neighborhood. Sleepless nights curse you. Your mind swirls with terrible ideas from half-baked nightmares. You awoke tonight with the unsettling vision of a massive mattress overpowering a fragile old gentleman. He wanted to carry it, but it was too heavy, and now…
The night had been uneventful and I was in the middle of falling asleep in my bed when a voice whispered in my ear. “You have one wish.” Immediately, and without thinking about it very much, I answered: “I wish for more life.” “How much more life?” I was asked. It was a good question….
Start by ignoring it. For weeks on end pretend it doesn’t exist and take the long way towards your destination. During this period, every time you see it, feel a burst of goosebumps running down your back. Let the goosebumps increase on a daily basis until the thought of encountering it gives you a headache…
An alarm clock rings. Its beeping wakes you. Your eyes are sticky and your mind foggy from the nightmares you’ve endured. For an instant reality is uncertain. Mouthfuls of dirt were delicious just moments ago, but it can’t be. The rational mind is telling you it’s inedible, but a craving stalks you. The thought of…
The sun is shining through your window. You watched the sunrise after getting into the office, and now you watch the sunset. It’s spectacular, but you’ve been seeing it every evening for the past few months and now you’re bored of it. The day has been long and messy, and it seems it’ll go on…
Start on a Monday. Wake up listening to the alarm clock. Yes. Listen to the beeping and chirping and the vibrating of your phone. “Wuurrrrrr, wuurrrrrr, wuurrrrrr” it says. It’s time to get up. It’s time to take a shower. Walk half-naked towards it remembering the dreams you used to have and notice you stopped having them….