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Miguel Prays While His Mother Cries

by Steve Rasnic Tem
Steve Rasnic Tem is a past winner of the Bram Stoker, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy Awards. He has published over 430 short stories. His next collection is The Night Doctor & Other Tales, out in September from Centipede.

The blessed truck would arrive at midnight to carry them out of Phoenix. Each day Miquel prayed to the Virgin for her forgiveness: for hiding in the basement of this house he did not own, for dragging his own mother out of her home while Guatemala burned, for promising that life would be better here, for hiring that coyote to take them into an abandoned city whose summer temperatures averaged over 150 degrees, for not stopping el diablo when he opened the door and dumped them onto the melting asphalt, for not insisting that his mother wear gloves, or shoes.
The End
This story was first published on Thursday, August 8th, 2019


Author Comments

I enjoy the challenge of writing extremely short stories. This particular piece is a "drabble," a story of exactly 100 words. Sometimes the pressure of that extremely small word limit helps you go right to the emotional heart of your theme.

- Steve Rasnic Tem
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