Blood on the Saddle

Few manage it on the outside as well, in front of others, but in front of oneself, on the inside, who hasn't imagined himself to be exceptional?

from Blood on the Saddle
by Rafael Reig
Translated from the Spanish by Paul Hammond
Serpent's Tail, 2005

The Forbidden Stories of Marta Veneranda

It's not easy to admit that something perfect is perhaps not perfect for you.

from The Forbidden Stories of Marta Veneranda
by Sonia Rivera-Valdes
translated by Marina Harss
Seven Stories Press, 2001

H2O

I turned the TV on and then turned it off before the picture even appeared. It was the twenty-first century, and everything in life aspired to the condition of television, with commercial breaks and programming interchangeable.

from H2O
by Mark Swartz
Soft Skull Press, 2006

The Jasmine Trade

On the desk where he had been sitting were four tiny but perfect works of origami, as if a magician had been sitting there, transforming a reporter's dross into art. An angular cat. A bird. A frog. And a dagger. Put them together and you had some twisted nursery rhyme.

from The Jasmine Trade
by Denise Hamilton
Scribner, 2001