Lives: Stories and Thoughts
$9.99
Agotado
Lives: Stories and Thoughts is a captivating collection that explores a spectrum of tales, spanning from the palpable to the ethereal. Its focal point resides in the lives of ordinary individuals residing in a Puerto Rican neighborhood, although one could argue that these narratives could unfold in any corner of Hispanic America. Within these pages, the struggles of poverty and the profound significance of familial ties intricately shape the existence of its inhabitants.
This literary work encompasses a variety of stories, delving into contemporary themes, while others merely allude to the essence of life within these neighborhoods and the indomitable spirit of those who inhabit them, ceaselessly battling to endure. Additionally, the author delicately touches upon the profound impact of losing loved ones, offering a voice to the intricate reality one confronts when faced with the departure of the most cherished individuals in our life.
Shipping Cost: $3.00
ISBN: 978-1-7370337-7-6
Dimensions: 6 x 0.29 x 9
Number of pages: 127
The Foreigner
A man returns to his Puerto Rican barrio after many years away, hoping to reconnect with the life he left behind, only to discover that time has changed everything more than he imagined. Surrounded by unfamiliar faces and memories that no longer fit, he begins to confront the weight of absence and displacement.
Imprints
A narrator recalls childhood visits to his godparents’ humble home—a place frozen in time, filled with the smell of coffee, smoke‑stained walls, and unwavering faith. Through tender and mysterious memories, he reflects on unanswered prayers and the quiet light certain people leave behind.
The Ghost on the Dirt Path
A laborer walks home drunk along the dark rural paths of the barrio and believes he encounters a ghost that forces him to face truths he has long avoided—if not in the world, then in his own conscience.
Compadres
A man wakes with a brutal hangover and a fragmented memory of the previous night, only to receive an unsettling visit from his best friend… or what seems to be him. As he tries to reconstruct the truth, loyalty, guilt, and haunting possibilities collide.
The Sands of Time
A grieving voice sits before the ocean searching for answers that never come. Waves, sand, and horizon reflect the weight of an absence that lingers, as she tries to find steadiness in a world shaken by loss.
Eternal Trails
A woman walks through a valley of light and flowers, radiating a spiritual beauty that transforms everything around her. Her serene journey becomes a silent farewell, a poetic tribute to a grandmother whose memory blooms eternally.
Under the Flamboyán
An unemployed father struggles to feed his children while carrying a broken body and living in a country that never answers him. Beneath a flamboyán tree, he dreams, hopes, and survives.
The Emptiness of Your Presence
An intimate voice wakes with an inexplicable sense of absence and realizes that the pain she carries comes from the memory of someone she loved deeply. Grief transforms into gratitude as she reflects on legacy and love.
Because of You
A narrator speaks to an absent father whose influence remains alive in every gesture and decision. A serene tribute to the love and lessons that endure beyond death.
Anthills
A small girl abandoned on a rural path fights to survive until a stranger finds her and changes her fate. The story follows her journey from abandonment to love, and eventually to forgiveness.
Insomnia
A mother spends a sleepless night waiting for her son—lost to addiction—to return home. Between tea, prayers, and painful memories, she confronts the anguish of loving someone who is disappearing.
The Checklist
A man returns to his childhood barrio to live the perfect day he always imagined with his father. Through memories and long‑held questions, he seeks answers that might ease old guilt.
The Last Death
A son keeps vigil over his mother while reliving all the small “deaths” that her illness stole from her long before the final one. Farewells happen in fragments, not in a single day.
The Commandments
A man walks toward church convinced of his own righteousness, yet reveals—without noticing—every contradiction between what he preaches and what he practices.
My Life
Life unfolds as a single day: morning innocence, rebellious noon, weary afternoon, and a night of reflection in which the narrator accepts the inevitable encounter with his destiny.
Who Will Come for Me?
The narrator imagines his own passage into death, wondering which loved one will come to guide him: his grandfather, grandmother, a lost friend, or—above all—his father. A tender meditation on love, memory, and the hope of not making the final journey alone.