facing fear
— On New Year's Eve in Pucón, local teenagers slaughter a lamb for tourists' supper while a volcano erupts, creating a moment of apocalyptic tension.
— A brief meditation on seeking shelter when life becomes difficult, using the metaphor of running downhill in a storm to find a cave with light.
— Hope personified as an ambiguous companion who guides the speaker across treacherous terrain while knowing them intimately.
— A cat's protective fury over its belly transforms into a meditation on violence that no one—not Earth, not people, not even the cat—truly wants.
— A young writer imagines a digital universe with corrupted code 719, where trees shake and reality glitches as everything falls apart.
— A surreal encounter at a juggle place leads to accusations of theft and a police litany of the narrator's strange misdeeds throughout the week.
— A fierce warning about tigers mixes danger with unexpected tenderness, calling them siblings to baby pebbles and the award of everything.
— A young poet confronts fear as a physical presence, describing its effects on body and mind before declaring victory through direct combat.
— A young person stands at the edge of a swimming hole, heart racing with summer adrenaline, before finally dropping into the dark blue water below.
— A girl faces sexist taunts when joining the Boys' Chess Club but wins over her teammates by reframing their shared experiences of exclusion and leading them to victory.