Annoyance

That was another one of those episodes of long lasting silence. She, with that serious expression on her face. He, trying to guess the reason for that. She, sitting on the sofa watching television. He, commenting a scene and receiving no reply. And, from time to time, evidences of reconciliation.

A connoisseur

He received a call to wish him Happy New Year. He had lived by himself for many years. He wouldn’t open a bottle of  cava as he only liked French Champagne. He would drink a glass of cider to celebrate the New Year on his own at his small apartment.

A snowman on el Moncayo

They had never made a snowman together. The journey took one hour as far as the ancient mountain of the region. The temperature gradually decreased. When they arrived, there was only a thin snow layer. All they could make was a forty centimetre snowman, all having much fun. Mission accomplished.

Deadly love

Ferdinand was a lonely sad fellow. He everyday saw Miranda going to school. He was in love with her, though she ignored it. He stopped his van and kidnaped her so that she had the opportunity to get to know him. A week later, a policeman found a dead girl.

The climbing Santa

Johnny’s father entered one of those “Everything at one euro” Chinese stores. He bought a climbing Santa the size of a sheet of paper surrounded by small light bulbs. The small red Santa got stuck at the bottom left corner of a window on an industrial district decaying dirty wall.

Slothful existence

He got up late in the morning. He washed himself, had a decaf coffee for breakfast and switched on his television set in the living room. Later, he had lunch. Afterwards, he lay on the sofa watching television and sleeping alternatively. It was a typical day in his exciting existence.

The canister

Mercedes was ninety-three. That day she felt very bad. A doctor came and sent her to hospital. She knew something was going wrong. A senior doctor entered and told her daughter: “Don’t worry, she will not feel pain”. Ten minutes later, a morphine canister was empty, just as Mercedes’ life.

The amateur cyclist

He kept his bicycle in an old dark storage-room. When he saw the blue sky a grin appeared on his face in glee. He went on cycling on the green urban cycling-path, feeling the freezing wind on his face and fingers. He had felt alive for an hour once again.

Silent night

Within four hours it would be Christmas Day. Just a few thoughtful walking shadows here and there walking lonely, not knowing what else to do. Just walking and feeling cold on their faces. All of them struggling to delay their arrival at home. Silent night, sad night, night of tears.

The puddle

A foursome surrounded him and walked to the patch of trees near their school. Fear made him bite one of the threatening boys. The leader took a rope and, some minutes later, Ricky was hanging from the branch of a pine-tree. On the ground,  a small puddle of warm urine.

The birth of a nation

All countries voted “Yes” for the creation of the new country in the U.N. People everywhere felt excited and happy for that important step. The day after, thousands of people left their countries towards the new one. Then, Assholeland became one the most crowded countries in the world.

Hunger

He’d had his last meal two weeks ago that cold wet November. Hunger was tearing his stomach. He felt dizzy and sleepy at the same time. Luckily, he came across a ten euro note and entered a restaurant. He ate a steak but eventually he couldn’t help throwing it up.

Unrequited lust

The previous day they had had an argument. Now, they were sitting on the sofa watching T.V. She got up to have a shower. When she returned she was only wearing her colored housecoat. They kept on watching commercials. They felt appealed to each other, but they made no moves.

The director

I pay my five interns and three employees differently. They know I will renew their contracts only if they are “motivated”. “Motivation” means working twelve hours and accepting hunger salaries. My workers do their best. When I call them to my office, I say their production isn’t worth their salary.

The girl who longed for a family

She was a beautiful interesting young woman. She wanted to build a family and have children. Nevertheless, once again, she’d met a boy. They had had fun for some time. Whenever she asked for a more serious bond, her partners got insecure, left her alone, desolated, and feeling herself guilty.

Shit island

The monkey lived on a shit island. There were shit palm-trees with the shape of a shit. The coconuts were made of shit and were shit stinking. “Monkey”  was used to those coconuts and loved their smell and taste. One day, he got the enlightenment and escaped from the island.

Far in the distance

In thirty minutes he would be dealing with teenagers in a classroom. It was eight on a cold autumn Monday. He hardly listened to the radio news about how disastrous the country’s economy was. Suddenly he got shocked by the beautiful snowed mountain top. The first snow of the year.

The snail shell guy

Everybody said he was lively, ongoing, a socialite. He had a different concept about himself. He talked to lots of people and had fun, but he appreciated silence, feeling himself out of the sights and words of the world. He wished he were a snail, always protected by its shell.

True wizard

Manolo was always there for us. He was a genuine computer literate. His knowledge was awesome, not only with respect to computers but also to cell-phones. Whenever his coworkers asked for his assistance, he always helped with a smile. He was both a good guy and a humble wise man.

1

Good Samaritan

When the toddler released her mother’s hand, she left towards the road and crashed into a van. It didn’t stop. Another vehicle slowly went over her bloody body. Some pedestrians avoided the blood stained road and kept on walking. A few minutes later a homeless stopped and asked for help.

Homage

She didn’t like her own name. Her husband was deeply in love with her. She gave birth to a girl. They didn’t get an agreement on the new born’s name. So he secretly left towards the town hall to inscribe her as “Gregoria”. It was a homage for his wife.

Sensei

In the kendo dojo he mastered the techniques and knew how to teach them. When a kendoka fought against him, the trainee always had the feeling of beating him at the end of the fight. That sensei beat himself to show his mastery and strength. He was the best ever.

Feelings

Before being born he felt nothing. Being a baby he had to be fed, washed and put to bed. Eighty five years later he had to be fed, assisted, washed and taken to bed with the help of sleeping pills. Some time later, after his death, he felt nothing again.

The test

The board of examiners was sitting in front. He saluted them and his sword according to the protocol. Then, he started his “kata”. Once he finished he sat on a seat of the stands. He then realized it had been his body which had done the test, not his mind. 

The death row

The “units” crossed the barrier. They were taken into a room. They were slit ruthlessly, the floor full of fresh blood. They carried the bodies out of the room. Then, they were placed carefully in a row in the large oven. “I’d like a roast chicken, please” said a customer.

The Japanese interpreter

160 people were listening to him. Nobody could understand a single word, except the interpreter. She admired him, his teachings and his effort coming to Spain two or three times per year. Tears of emotion and love blurred her sight when she publicly acknowledged how much those kendoka appreciated him.

A life

He got married, had two daughters, and worked hard. After lunch, he had a cigarette and a cup of ice-cream. Afterwards, he got asleep in the sofa, while his wife watched South American soap operas. In the evening, they usually went for a walk. And so, until he passed away.

Burning love

She remembered that time they were making love. Both of them burning with desire, wishing to melt in the other’s body. Her hands slid slowly along his back, while his softly caressed her pearled skin. They were rhythmically sinking in a sea of desire, when their baby said: “Mom, piss!”

The swimmer

It was irrelevant whether it was cold or hot, winter or summer. His palms were always wet with sweat. He knew people didn’t want to shake hands or be touched by his hands. His pockets were full of tissues to dry his hands. He was only happy in the swimming-pool.

Charlie

Charlie was eleven. One day he got up while his science teacher was teaching and began to walk amongst the desks. The teacher asked him to sit down. Charlie went on walking and miming as he really believed he had the power of becoming invisible to people when he wanted.

A writing skills teacher

He always did his best, teaching his students what to do and how to start when they were asked to write a composition. Back at home, he sat at his desk and, as always, he threw the blank sheet of paper into the wastepaper bin after an hour of frustration.

The candidate

Eventually, the smiling candidate became elected president of the country. Soon, experts warned him of a coming financial crisis. He said they were alarming people. Meanwhile, he continued smiling. Millions of people lost their jobs and the trade unions organized a general strike. And yet, the president kept on smiling.

A respectable Moroccan seller

Two foreigners had been haggling for some cheap clay pieces  at his stall. The shop-keeper wrapped the pieces with newspapers. The foreigners put them in their car trunk. They were about to leave when he ran to give them a fifty euro note they had dropped carelessly amongst his pottery.

A stupid electrocution

He was a renowned sword swallower. One day he swallowed a fluorescent bar the length of a sword. There was a blackout in the hall and he lit the lamp in his stomach. People saw the light through his skin and clapped. He bowed. Then, the lamp broke into pieces.

A ten dirham coin

He was standing motionless in the middle of a narrow street in Fez Medina. He was like a dark skinny wooden statue asking for some alms, wearing a worn out djellaba. His mahogany face shone in the sun crossed by deep wrinkles. A foreigner gave him a ten dirham coin.

Two friends

They were on the beach in the shining sun. Mariano had fair hair while Evgueni had brown hair. They were being friends for half an hour. The children were laughing together, splashing together, speaking loudly together, throwing wet sand together. Mariano could only speak Spanish and Evgueni only spoke Russian.

The pub terrace musician

It was supper time and people were eating at hotels and restaurants. He was about sixty, long white hair and black glasses. He was singing rock and roll old songs. White plastic chairs in an empty beach pub terrace were his audience. Nevertheless, he struggled to get a good performance.

The strong man

He could pull from a big truck, throw a dish-washer metres away. He was able to raise heavy stones and grab a bull by its neck and put him on the ground. He was asked the diet he followed. He said he followed a strict diet: eating lots of everything.

The sofa

Joaõ’d arrived at the beach with his friends. They all had made arrangements to spend San Juan’s Night having a good time. People prepared the fires. Joaõ jumped full of energy, but he crashed against the arm of a burning sofa. He burned  to death. Nobody dared to do anything.

Animal warmth

She lived alone in her tiny apartment. When she returned home from work, no noisy children were waiting for her. Everything was quiet...except her cute playful puppy. It was the only living being that died for her caresses. After its cancer, it had to be sacrificed. She got disconsolate.

A nail house

They had lived there for ages. That house had been the result of thousands of hours of effort and of millions of  yuans. The government wanted to expropriate him for a few yuans. He refused the offer. Now he lives in a nail house in the middle of a motorway.

The barbecue

His life did not change after the motorbike accident. He kept on running his beach pub. One day he was preparing a hamburger at his barbecue when the telephone rang. While he was talking, he smelled burnt meat. It was the fingers of his paralyzed arm. He hang up.

Freedom

The master and his disciple were discussing about the meaning of freedom. The disciple argued: “The highest expression of freedom is having the ability to choose at every moment what to do.” Then, the master asked him: “What if one decides to become a slave for the rest of his days?”

Envy

The two brothers stood in front of their father. He told his younger son: “I decided how to split my legacy: you will get forty; your brother sixty”. The son, full of envy, replied:  “I do not care how much to get, provided it is not less than my brother.”

Long live the Samurai! Long live my friend!

That fun small man turned into a gigantic real samurai when he wore his kendo armour. Four years after his liver operation he spent  again some fun days in Zaragoza revisiting his friends. He refused to take his bogu back to Japan. Three months later Yoda Yasunori sensei had died.

The birthday

She had turned 54 at night. She dressed in a short black dress with a black silvery belt around her. In five minutes she would be driving to school for another tiring day. The phone rang. Her son wanted to be the first one to say “Happy birthday”. Her face shone.

Parking the car

There were few parking spaces on both sides of the road. Suddenly, he saw one. He moved his car backwards. On the  road, he saw the dead body of a cat. He felt a slow bump when one of the rear wheels went over the remains of the dead cat.

No privilege

He didn’t want privileges for being a famous politician who had defended the Public Health System. He had to share the room with an old woman. Her sphincters relaxed and tons of faeces gushed on her bed, flooding the room with an unbearable stink. He wished he had been alone.

Great expectations

He’d been studying hard for a year. There were only three posts and more than 300 people who wanted them. The day of the exam arrived and everything turned out very well. He had done his best. He suffered from optimism, but there were other 300 optimistic people expecting, too.

The fly

All nurses knew that evidence. Whenever they saw a fly in the room of a very ill patient, they knew the patient’s death was a matter of few hours. It was always a nervous fly, attracted by the sweet smell of death, trying to land on the patient’s motionless head.

Room 71

Her doctor made a mistake and the old woman died. She shouldn’t have died that afternoon. At night, at the nurse desk, the bell of room 71 rang once and again. A nurse opened the door of room 71, but the old woman had been taken to the hospital morgue.

Starry night

That was a perfect moment for her: a mild breeze caressing her long black hair, occasionally the cicada’s song, the black starred sky reflecting on the dark water of the reservoir. She was sitting, relaxed, in peace with herself. A small stone broke into pieces that mirror of the sky.

The rain

On the pavement another victim whose husband had thrown out of the window. She lay motionless on a pool of blood under her head. Soon the coroner covered her with a blanket before taking her in the truck. Next morning, the rain washed her blood away from the dirty pavement.

High winds at school

They had never experienced such high winds in the village. Experts said it was because of the climate change. On Tuesday, just after break, a tall 25 year old pine-tree fell over showing its entangled roots and leaving a deep hole just where the base of the tree had been.

The weekend

They had been looking forward to a different weekend. They had imagined themselves lying on a sunny beach while listening to the waves lullaby. They got into their car and two hours later, black clouds, rain and bolts of lightning welcomed them in the seaside resort.

Her mouth

Two paramedics were pushing a wheeled stretcher. When they opened the ambulance I saw the face of an old fragile woman. There was a transparent cannula outside one of her nostrils. Her head stood motionless, covered by a thin film of skin. Her mouth was a wide open black hole.

Hair

He wasn’t a teenager any longer, but he still loved his fair hair. He devoted much time combing it in such a way that all was in perfect order on his head. A straight line separated a part from the other. His small pocket comb was his most precious belonging.

The olympic swimming pool diver

He was on the edge of the swimming pool springboard. In a shining sun, hundreds of eyes stared at him. After seconds of concentration, he eventually jumped high in the air. Suddenly, a wasp bit on his right eyebrow. He was given the worst score in an Olympics diving event. 

The compulsive sufferer

She thought her life was collapsing. At work, everything was against her. In her private life nothing seemed easy. Besides, she felt she was redundant since her children were already adults, so she had nothing to strive for. Definitely, she was fascinated by the idea of disappearing from the world.

The drum player

It was late in the evening. The Easter parade was marching slowly under the resounding large drums. Children with serious faces opened the parade. The rest of the penitents were covered with masks, except a happy young woman who hit her drum rhythmically. She was an innocent down syndrome girl.

Revealing eyes

When she enters the office I always look into her eyes. Those dark eyes have a different meaning to unravel. Some days they look tired, or sad. Today, they revealed a touch of hidden vulnerability, but I saw a spark of happiness. What will her mysterious eyes tell me tomorrow?

The lesson

They were supposed to be studying. Nevertheless, one was reading a novel, another student was talking to his mate, a third one was writing short messages on an irregular piece of paper, two of them were continuously turning their heads back, some were looking at their textbooks pages seeing nothing.

The golden thong

People wandered in shock. You could hear cries and groans. Blocks of buildings here and there had fallen on the streets in disorder. White dust had substituted clean air. Under a cracked concrete bean an anonymous girl lay lifeless, though for me it was the girl in the golden thong.

The cockroach

The roach was running in the kitchen. It felt a dark shadow covering its body. Then it understood what it was going to happen. It ran and ran. The shoe sole fell on it. A whitish substance mixed with broken pieces of  the cockroach’s black armor stayed on the floor.

Ramón

Ramón was fourteen. He was proud of being Gypsy. He didn’t like studying, though he was very clever. He heard his teacher had got over a skin cancer. He approached the teacher when the lesson was over and said:

-“Do you pray?” “You should thank God everyday for being alive”

Resistance

She’d been working for the same school for thirty years. Getting up in the morning was a hard trial. Another day of laughter and endless humiliations in the classrooms. And her bosses making her feel useless and stupid. She could barely stand such an aggressive background. Barely..., but she could.

The flower box

At school, Spanish and foreign language teachers shared the office. Three walls were wrapped with books and papers. Beyond the windows there were ten tall trees with twisted branches covered of thick green leaves. The light purple orchid beside the computer looked contemptuously at the trees from behind the windows.

The cigarette

After trying sleeping pills and acupuncture he decided to switch to a cigarette of marihuana. He was not a smoker. He smoked his marihuana cigarette very quickly. Five minutes later he was about to lose his consciousness, sweating and cursing. He felt bad, alone, paralyzed and regretting that bloody cigarette.

Stained mirrors

She had always been obsessed by cleaning. Whenever she looked at herself in a mirror she discovered small stains on it. The older she grew the more stains she could find on mirrors. She had a handkerchief ready to rub mirrors. She never admitted the aging spots of her skin.  

Alvarito

The children in the village were as cruel as all children in the world. In that place, as in all hamlets, there was a village idiot. The children were in the street, laughing at him. One of them took some horseshit from the ground and invited Alvarito to eat it.

Monotony

“I love you, but I’m not just mad about you”, she said. She had known what being mad about a man was. She didn’t want to be a fraud to him, but feeling her heart beating for him again. Indifference, boredom and silences were dying their relationship. She left home.

The Algerian patient

A young Algerian was in bed, unconscious. The young nurse couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. She entered the room, approached to him, raised her arms, the palms towards the patient’s head, and told him: “Come to life, struggle to live”. Then she thought “But he can’t understand Spanish!”

The motionless sleepwalker

She was peacefully sleeping when suddenly she felt completely conscious. She sat up, got up, and started walking without moving her feet. She went through her bedroom wall and entered her son’s bedroom. She covered him with a blanket. Some seconds later she entered her lying body and continued sleeping.

Two tears

He was a renowned Sumi-e painter. However, that day he couldn’t find the exact grey for the bamboo cane he was trying to paint.  He got desperate and started to cry. Two tears dropped on his paintbrush and then he achieved the master touches he had been looking forward to.

That marvellous weekend

Life was hard. They had been longing for that weekend. It was going to be their first weekend in a seaside resort. They bought suitcases and summer clothes. That weekend came and, with it,  a front of clouds full of rain from the Atlantic. Again, on Monday the sun shone.

The last drink

It was happy that summer. It saw a car driven by a sweaty man and flew in through the open car window. It set on his neck, began to walk down and drank his delicious salty sweat. Seconds later, a wasp was smashed between the driver’s back and his seat.

Home sweet home

After a hard day’s work they would meet at their home. Many days she would wait for him to start having supper. Afterwards, they would watch television on the settee. She would lie on the sofa -her head in his lap. That would be peace after a long tiring day.

Obsession

Peter always used to do the same things at the same time. He always dressed the same way, too. He was obsessed with times. However, on a Monday afternoon he seemed disoriented, sitting on a bench in the park of another city. He had lost his wristwatch some days ago.

by Ana Cajal

A special man

Mary had been preparing dinner for him. He loved  risotto with oysters and mushrooms. She also cooked roast beef and some fish, too. “He loves fish”, said to herself. She had also bought wine and cava to celebrate. Then the phone rang. Some minutes later Mary’s eyes were in tears.

by Ana Cajal

The housewife

As every Sunday she had got up early to cook their favorite dishes: lasagna stuffed with vegetables and chocolate cakes. After a hard long morning preparing the meal, all family sat at the large table. Everybody ate silently. When they finished, they stood up quickly and left. Nobody thanked her. 

by Vanesa Acin

The self unknown man

He was well considered in his community. Perhaps, even some people might admire him. Nevertheless he hadn’t meditated a single minute in his life. One day he did it. He realized he was but a hot air balloon. He was deeply unemotional. He had always had to make up himself.

Lack of ideas

He thought of himself as a writer because he’d written a pair of compositions graded with an “A”. One day his teacher told him to write a short story. Peter took out a sheet of paper and then realized he wouldn’t become a writer. No ideas came to his mind.

Bitter harvest

They had their fields neatly ploughed. They’d used the best seeds. The artichokes were growing well and healthy. One day it snowed. The following morning was even colder and snow turned into ice. Two chilly days had ruined five months’ work. They could only harvest debts, more work and tears.

The kendoist who didn't use to sleep

He had traveled to Madrid and taken part in a long kendo tournament. After that hectic day he hoped he would be able to sleep. He needed to, but again, he spent the whole night with his eyes wide open, completely worn out. Another hard day had begun for him.

The red balloon

Mother and child were walking happily. He was proud of the floating red balloon tied to the string. A tramp came towards them. When he was beside the child, the man approached his cigarette and the balloon exploded with a bang. His mother, absolutely angered, dried the bitter child’s tears.

The first snowflake ever

It was the first time the child could see the snow. He looked up, raised his arms, opened his hands and a light snowflake touched his palm. The child looked happily at it. Soon, the snowflake started to melt. The child’s tears mixed with what once had been a snowflake.

The date

There she was at ten to eight in the morning, dressed in a black coat and carrying her briefcase. We looked at each other, silently. We wished to say hello but neither of us had dared to. Once again I had had a brief date with my daily stranger.

A bank client

Two policemen entered and took him out of the bank. Whenever somebody took out money from the A.T.M. he was there. Sometimes he was wrapped up with cardboard, or he was curled up in his dirty sleeping-bag. Whenever somebody finished operating he asked for “one euro for a coffee, please”.

The sleeper

She was cycling from her house to her work when she fell off her bike and hit her head on the ground. During the following weeks she used to fall asleep after two or three minutes while having lunch, talking to people, driving, reading...  One day she didn’t awake again.

An experienced pianist

He’d played in the same hotel for 52 years. His fingers ached and he was slow. His shabby tuxedo knew all his melodies by heart. He looked at the staves though could hardly see. The scarce customers looked at each other whenever he played a wrong note on the piano. 

Transparent teacher

He was wandering on a Sunday morning. The park was crowded: children cycling, youths jogging and retired people. He recognized a school boy looking at him and saying nothing. Later he met a known foursome. They stared at him and went past. He was another transparent teacher in the street.

An idle sad look at a small lake

The morning was sunny. Chilly winds tried to cut her face. She looked at the frozen pond. It was an icy mirror. She picked up a pebble and threw it at its surface. The stone slid smoothly as far as a crack. There it fell down into the small lake.

Wrath

His life was a wreck. Everything in it didn’t work. Even his marriage was a mirage. He was full of anger. He had the ability to make the others feel that it was their fault though. His feelings of inferiority made him afraid of people. That is how he felt.

The woman who loved her dog so much.

She had a playful dog. It enjoyed playing with her and also with other dogs. She loved it so much! She only lived for it. She wanted it for herself, so it stopped playing with other dogs and with other people. And eventually it became infinitely unhappy, except with her.

The telephone call

She was the perfect mother. She’d always cared for him and backed him up. She was for him and he was the perfect son. She thought she had an ideal relationship. It was her birthday but the telephone didn’t ring. She felt the most helpless person in the world.

The living moments collector

People said he was the best local sculptor. He only worked with blocks of pure transparent ice in a dim wax candle light. His carvings looked living beings, so real that people could hear them moan with tears of pain when the sun started to melt them in the morning.

Powers of endurance

They’d told her to go to flat 159 in one of those buildings. The elevator didn’t work so she started to climb the stairs. Many times she was on the verge of giving up her climbing. After long time and effort she arrived there, but it was the wrong building.

The worth of a puncture

“Notoril” was the only cure for her illness. Her husband rushed to the pharmacy with the prescription. The laboratories would send the medicine immediately. A courier left the labs towards the chemist’s. On the road his motorbike had a puncture. When the medicine arrived nobody needed it. It was returned.

Motionless

He remained in the middle of nowhere wearing dusty shabby clothes. He was cold. Gusty chilly winds whipped his face. A raven started to peck his eye but he couldn’t get rid of it. Later, a fox tore his feet with extreme cruelty. He had turned into a useless scarecrow.

Darkness

There was only complete darkness around him. He felt hot and began to pant. He tried to raise his hands and felt a hard lid ten centimeters above his lying body. He understood he was in a coffin, buried and ready to die in a few hours, full of desperation.