Morning Train to Paris
The small boy took a bite out of the doughnut he held in one hand and extended the remainder of the half-eaten, chocolate-glazed circle toward Sylvere. The boy, who was seated on a yellow...
The Big, Brown Car: Paris
Sylvere opened the back door of the small car, placed the saxophone enclosed in its case on the back seat, and closed the door. The air outside El Bulle Petite was fresh. He could...
A Congolese Man in Paris
“Watch where you’re going, Little Man,” Sylvere said, speaking in Kikongo and placing his hand on the head of the small boy. Sylvere stood next to the open drawer of his desk inside the...
Eternal Goodbye: Rome
Esby looked away just for a moment from the streams of cars with the image of her face appearing before his eyes. The digital watch strapped to his left wrist showed 7:15, its round...
All the Innocent Ones Back Home: Paris
Sylvere placed his saxophone next to its case on the small stage, walked to the bar, and sat on a stool near one end, staring into the black, heavy night. Outside it was hot...
Ch. 6, Pt. 1: The White Boat – Xi Ming
The seat behind the steering wheel was empty. The driver stood in the sand next to an old man in a white robe. As I walked up the aisle toward the front door of...
Ch. 5, Pt. 4: Road to Podor – Sofi
Everybody was silent, looking out the windows at the unfolding landscape. The bus moved along Route N2 as the road began curving eastward. Now, we decelerated. On the left side of the road, I...
Ch. 5, Pt. 3: Road to Podor – Ricardo
The barren landscape of sand and scrub brush stretching toward the horizon on both sides of the bus was interrupted by a line of steel towers, each connected to the next by three power...
Ch. 5, Pt. 2: Road to Podor – Hercule
“We’re going to head east now,” Raphael announced in French as the driver turned left on a road, called Route N2, directly in front of a large gas station displaying a sign with a...
Ch. 5, Pt. 1: Road to Podor – Raphael
Music drifted through the warm air. At one edge of the dining room on the threshold of an open glass door leading to the courtyard a tall floor fan turned slowly on its axis,...