“Love, Breath, and Salt” by Caroline de Verteuil
The long wooden pirogue knocked lazily against the concrete pillars of the jetty . . .
Tag: Trinidad
“The Tale of the Soucouyants” by Crystal Medina
It was almost dawn when a loud shriek of anguish and pain could be heard at the end of Guayaguayare village . . .
“La haine de la diablesse” by Rajendra Shepherd
We never give up being wanted . . .
“Albert and the La Diablesse” by Robin Montano
Albert was cross with himself. He had left Annabelle’s home far too late, at 9:30 in the evening and now faced the long ride back to St. Joseph from Arima in the dark . . .
“Daddy Bats is Not Coming to Save You” by Justin Haynes
Daddy Bats lives with you in a one-bedroom flat in Belmont—until today. This morning, Daddy Bats flicks the cold from the corners of your eyes, and just after Radio Trinidad announces the day’s deaths, he marches you between lively trucks and horn-blowing super saloons up the hill to the orphanage.
“Don’t worry, son,” Daddy Bats says as he kneels before you. “Is only for a few days. Then I will save you . . .”
“Careful what you wish for” by Barbara Jenkins
Hark!
When the First People found her sparse remains, Karinya’s body had already entered the Eternal Circle of Life, her spirit as free as the corbeaux circling overhead.
Wait. It’s chilly here. Let me get more comfortable . . .
“Ilyeana” by Sharon Millar
When the young soucouyant first realised there was a baby growing in her, she held the thought in her head tightly, boxing it in the same way you might wrap a pastelle: fold one side over and seal before folding the other side . . .
“the story daddy never know” by elisha efua bartels
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam . . . her mother’s words seem an echo but come from inside, making the chorus of a song (something she cyah remember doing since reaching double-digits) with verses of mondayjanuarysixthtwentyfourteen and eighteenthbirthdayfirstdayofmylife—sometimes she hearing first-day, sometimes last, but mostly first; annoying, even so . . .
