Wednesday, February 10, 2010

PYGMY KING: A VERY SHORT STORY

As pygmies go, Mbogo was a veritable giant. Though only 70 centimeters tall, he was a Zulu warrior to his tribesmen.

He stood before them in the jungle clearing behind the abandoned refinery, contemplating the sign written in letters of the colonial past: “VERBODEN TE ROKEN!!!”

Mbogo would never admit to his men that he knew no Flemish... or any of the other languages he claimed to speak fluently.

Pulling a large Cuban from his pocket, he unsheathed his golden lighter as though it were a machete. He thumbed the flint...

...and the town went up like a fused atom.

[Based on a story by Cousin Eli.]

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