Twilight's Flash Fiction / Relatos cortos crepusculares

Descartes and the Whole I had always admired Descartes’ legacy: the idea of dividing a problem into parts in order to understand it better. However, I had to live through an extraordinary experience to discover that this principle is not universally applicable. The whole can be more than the sum of its parts. The hybrid cyborg industry began to develop in 2030, following the revelation of the existence of alien beings and the subsequent coexistence and collaboration with them. It was they who introduced the first hybridization techniques. Thirty years have passed since then. The evolution of these systems, together with their growing ability to undertake increasingly complex projects, led to an exponential growth in their production and deployment across countless environments and activities on Mars. But that is not what matters. My brother and I founded the company in 2030. Six months ago, he died from a strange virus. Among his final wishes, he stated that he wanted his organs to rem...

Where the Waves Disappear Life is sometimes a solid rock, sometimes water. As we move toward twilight, it becomes more like water: elusive, fluid, touched by the gentle movement of the waves. And within that movement, old longings begin to reveal themselves, but now in peace, as though they had become part of the landscape, as though they no longer belonged to us. And when, at last, the waves disappear into a small, secluded cove, movement ceases, and stillness softly calls us to rest. It is then that infinity comes to visit, and the gentle face of life’s meaning allows itself to be seen. READ · WATCH · REFLECT READ — Read Where the Waves Disappear in English and Spanish. WATCH — Explore the visual interpretation of the story. REFLECT — Discover more stories, images and reflections. Donde las olas se pierden La vida es a veces una sólida roca, a veces agua. A medida que se avanza hacia el crepúsculo, se vuelve más agua: inasibilidad, movimiento acariciador de las olas. Y ...

The Thing And God said to the Human Being: —Consciousness receives the thing. Then thought arrives and covers it with everything memory holds. It compares it. It judges it. It interprets it. It translates it. And with every word, every memory, every judgment, it moves a little farther away from it. Until the thing is no longer the thing. And it becomes what you desire from it, what you fear from it, or what you believe you can do with it. God fell silent for a moment. —And remember one more thing: the moment I called it “the thing,” I too moved away from it. La cosa Y Dios le dijo al Ser Humano: —La conciencia recibe la cosa. Después llega el pensamiento y la cubre con todo lo que guarda la memoria. La compara. La juzga. La interpreta. La traduce. Y con cada palabra, con cada recuerdo, con cada juicio, se aleja un poco más de ella. Hasta que la cosa deja de ser la cosa. Y se convierte en lo que deseas de ella, lo que temes de ella o lo que crees que puedes hacer con ella. Dios gu...

Reflections While a slice of watermelon was being devoured by an eager diner, it said to another slice that was about to suffer the same fate in the jaws of another diner, a friend of the first: —They don’t know we can talk. —But what kind of perverse being would create a world in which some creatures have to kill and eat others in order to survive? —Perhaps it is all of us, and there is no single being responsible for anything. —Do you mean that, in reality, that being would be us? —I mean that, because it is so horrible to accept that reality, we invent an answer that allows us to feel absolved. Reflexiones Mientras una rodaja de sandía era devorada por un ávido comensal, le dijo a otra que estaba a punto de correr la misma suerte en las fauces de un amigo del primero: —Ellos no saben que dialogamos. —Pero ¿qué perverso personaje sería capaz de crear un mundo en el que unos seres tienen que asesinar y comerse a otros para sobrevivir? —Puede que seamos todos nosotros y que no exi...

We We are not ourselves. We imagine that we are. Nosotros No somos nosotros. Imaginamos que lo somos.

Unrepentant Letters Four fifty p.m., June 15, 2030. Zarzuela Palace. The Prince’s Pavilion. A mounted emissary approaches the main entrance and requests an audience with His Majesty King Felipe VI. Clad in metal armour, the stranger identifies himself to the Royal Guard as Don Íñigo de la Cruz y Manrique. His mission is to inform the King of a plan to bring fifteen Walloon regiments back from Flanders following the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706. The regiments are to reinforce the Bourbon forces in the War of the Spanish Succession. Five p.m., June 15, 2030. An enormous craft hangs motionless in the blue sky above the Prince’s Pavilion. A faint beam of light descends upon the building, passes through the roof and reaches the King’s private offices, where Felipe VI is accompanied by Don Íñigo, who has just presented his credentials. Within the beam, two humanoid figures materialise. They identify themselves as Seth and Ra and claim to exist in the year 4024 of the terrestrial calendar....

A Christmas Tale For Childs These were the last days of 1899. A girl was leaning against the wall, tired. The snow was covering his scarce clothes, and his little trembling hand stretched asking for an alms. A horse carriage stopped in front of her. The coachman hurried to open the door, and an old man, with some difficulty, descended from the carriage.   “Hello little girl.” “Sir...” “I am coming to get you.” “Why?” “It's Christmas Eve and I want you to come to dinner with my family.” A smile was drawn on the girl's face. The old man took her by the hand and helped her into the carriage. When they reached the palace, a maiden escorted her to a large room. After bathing her in hot water, she helped her put on a beautiful pink dress that was on a large bed. That Christmas Eve was very special. The next day, the girl told the old man: “I must go. Thank you very much for your kindness. You are a wonderful family.” And the old man answered her: “I have a sur...

Home Sweet Home As usual, I came home late, and the little ones were already asleep. I can only enjoy being with them on weekends. Their mother takes care of feeding and raising them the rest of the time. Today has been a terrifying day. Shortly after I arrived, a huge and strange earthquake began. The vibrations repeated every five seconds or so, shaking the very foundations of our home. Frightened, I looked out the window and discovered what was happening. Someone, armed with a huge axe, was cutting down the gigantic tree we have lived in for years. Ignoring my desperate cries for help, he kept striking the base of the trunk again and again. During our neighborhood meetings, we often comment that this part of the forest has become a dangerous place. We are a peaceful community of parrots, parakeets, and canaries. But lately, these restless humans have been making our lives impossible. Hogar, dulce hogar Como siempre, he vuelto tarde a casa y las crías ya están durmiendo. Solo puedo d...

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