Presented here for the first time in English, the cult writer Charles Chahwan—"Lebanon's answer to Charles Bukowski"—tells a tale of rival militiamen euphoric with violence.   Under the gentle afternoon sunlight, Serge’s body appeared limp and more slouched than usual as he rested against the back seat of the shared taxi, a Morris Princess. He was the sole passenger in the service as it made its way down the coastal highway, as if other potential...

A furry creature named Raur discovers the power of hugs in this story for young readers. This is Raur. No, not him. Him. Under the stairs. That’s the one. What’s he doing there? He lives there. You’ve trodden over his roof a hundred million times. Every time you’ve come to preschool, you’ve gone up the stairs and trampled on Raur’s roof. And every time they’ve come to pick you up from preschool, well, you’ve stepped on Raur’s roof...

This twist on a traditional fairy tale features a reclusive witch and an inventive young woman. A war raged on for years. Witches had little choice but to protect themselves. Some gave up magic and passed as humans; others fled to the mountains and severed all contact with villages and towns. Still others, hoping for compensation, became castle witches and fought alongside lords of the realm at the battlefront. Through all of the fighting, the witches’ ways of coping were as varied...

A dragon gives a boy the courage to face a life-and-death situation in this children’s story by Hooda El Shuwa. Khidr’s heart was pounding as he stepped into the house. It was almost sunset, and his mom wasn’t usually this late. Was she on an emergency visit to the hospital to see his dad? Then a buzzing sound sliced through the sky above the camp. It was a familiar sound—the continuous whirring of a drone, the sound of the monster that harassed the camp...

An East Asian boy struggles with racist bullying at school and pressure at home in this children’s story by Sandrine Kao. “Yes, Sybille, I would like you to back off . . .” I didn’t allow myself to actually say it. But I really would have preferred it if she just went her own way. I needed to walk alone awhile and think. Her chatter stopped. She was waiting for an answer. I was only half-listening to what she was saying, and she could tell. I wasn’t that...

 A girl discovers her grandmother’s hidden talents and taste for adventure in this children’s story by Angelika Glitz. Some people are like surprise eggs. You know, the chocolate ones with a tiny toy inside. You don’t discover what’s inside them until you’ve nibbled away some of the outside. And Granny Hilde was an egg with an extraordinary number of surprises. She’d totally fooled the security guard, and that was just the start. While he was...

Mr. Gimbal’s Incredible Invention follows Danny, a bright and curious boy, and his neighbor, Mr. Archibald Gimbal, who is an inventor. Since becoming friends, they have acquired two Sussex hens named Sherlock and Watson, who roam freely around the garden and can travel through gaps in space and time in search of lost belongings. There is also a cat that divides its time between the two houses, going by the name of Spigot in one and Fluffy in the other. Unbeknownst to them all,...

A boy is visited by a mischievous demon in this children’s story by Pietro Albì. Translator’s Note: Farfariel: The Book of Micu is set in rural Abruzzo in 1938. The narration shifts between the scribe who is writing the text and the mischievous devil Farfariel, whose sections appear in red. The crossed-out sections are parts that Farfariel thinks should not be included in the scribe's text.   Summon me. No, it’s too soon to summon me, or...

In this dispatch from Mexico, Milena Solot provides a glimpse of daily life in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Rocío’s brother Carlos came back today. I wasn't worried but Rocío was, or at least she seemed to be. Maybe Rocío was worried for her mom, rather, because her mother was worried about Carlos. They hadn’t heard from him for a week. They thought he might be in prison, they wondered if he was dead. The boy he went with, Ely's...

A woman discovers the true nature of her enemy in this short story by Khalida Hussain. Therefore, every thought was a decision, and she hid in corners and crooks to escape the decisions. Even though she knew very well that actually every moment is a decision, and she was always standing in the witness box. She could only escape decisions if she escaped moments—if she escaped time itself—but it is impossible to escape time, absolutely impossible to both exist and escape time....

A mother sheep tries to protect her lambs from a devious wolf in this Qatari folktale, translated by Rana Elmaghraby.   In the name of God the Merciful: Pray to the Prophet, peace be upon him. Majana1 ela kheer lafana w lafakom w shar ta’adana w ta’adakum: May nothing affect us but goodness for us and you, and may evil stay away from us and you. ~~~ There once was a small sheep with children. The innocent sheep would take care of her lambs. She woke up every...

A magical fish helps a young woman escape the clutches of her evil stepmother in this folktale from the Qatari oral tradition, translated by Kholoud Saleh.  Translator’s Note: The fish in this story—a two-banded porgy that lives in the Arabian Gulf—is known as Al Fisaikra in Qatari dialect (and Fusijaira, Fusikaira, and Bint Al-Nowakhtha in standard Arabic). In Gulf Region folklore, Fusijaira is a supernatural being who helps deserving people in need.  In...

A pious merchant confronts a difficult business decision and an untrustworthy friend in this Qatari folktale, translated by Tariq Ahmed. Once upon a time, a Sunni man in Qatar had an ungodly friend who was a seasoned merchant. The Sunni was just an ordinary person. One day, the Sunni inherited a large estate with which he bought a large ship named Saphar. Saphar was built for long voyages, and had sailed to Oman and Aden, then from Aden to Mombasa, and from there to as far as India. One...

After learning that he is officially dead, Brazilian writer J. P. Cuenca tries to understand who stole his identity and why. A dead man’s greatest virtue is honesty. —Machado de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas   I found out I was dead when I started to write a book. It wasn’t this book yet. I was living with my wife in an apartment two floors above a restaurant. The kitchen staff would get together on the restaurant’s back...

A game of checkers has life-and-death consequences in this short story by Ada Rémy and Yves Rémy. General Arthur Shine-Levis tells his friends he fought eight battles during the campaign of Winter ’44 to Spring ’45. Eight times over, he emerged victorious. “Because I’m a solid checkers player,” he adds. He is entreated to explain himself. He obliges. “It was the eve of my first battle. A quiet night. Not a whisper in camp, just the...

In this short story by Daryll Delgado, a devastating typhoon unearths an unexpected childhood memory. ­Masasarop an baha, pero diri an baba. The flood may be contained, but never the mouth. —Waray proverb   “. . . it was pointless to search in the places where people were instructed to look. Sense was only to be found in secrets.” —John Berger, Here Is Where We Meet: A Story of Crossing Paths    “Less than 12 hours from a devastating...

In this short story by Robert Marcuse, a man attempts to rid himself of his own shadow. When a man looks at his shadow, it’s because he’s thinking about something else: he looks at it without seeing it, lost in thought, and his gaze barely touches it. We’ve lived with our shadows so long that they no longer attract our attention. They’re withdrawn and rather mysterious beings often hiding just behind us, or they peek out from the soles of our shoes. They...

A homicide investigation takes an uncanny turn in this short story by Luiz Carlos Lisboa. Listen to Luiz Carlos Lisboa read "His Very Last Case" in the original Portuguese. "Walt! Walt! Walter!" Janice repeated in an increasingly strained voice, running her fingers through the white hair of the man lying on the bed. Standing behind him, the maid and a male nurse watched the scene unfold, not moving. Somewhere in the neighborhood a car horn had begun sounding and took several minutes...

Karaoke unites a group of Filipina expats in this short story by Genevieve Asenjo. She arrived as a guest and departed as an accomplice to a crime, after sitting down to a dinner of pinakbet and sinigang with the Kim family. At least, that’s what she tells me in between mouthfuls of peanuts and potato chips. We are at Janga Norebang in Koejong. Listen. One night in this Korean family’s typical apartment in Busan, tap water was gushing from the faucet onto the sink. There...

In a group of tales by Tito Valiente drawing on a Filipino storytelling tradition, a supernatural beast seduces a young woman.   Editor’s Note: A Sugilanon is a form of story told orally. The power of the Sugilanon or tale depends on the skill and charisma of the narrator as he weaves the details of the story. Erlina's Sugilanon Begins Erlina was the all-around maid in my maternal grandmother's home. We did not have a wet nurse because by the time she arrived in...