Fiction: The priest, his car, my tears, and my embarrassment

I walked past the priest on Pendelis Street. He was unlocking a shiny black bug. I was down. Athens was already crushing me. I knew the city was dangerous. I already sensed the chaotic cadences and perilous passions. I was already scared. And yet, this fear I felt transformed me. Slowly, of course. At first [...]

Fiction: On a balcony in Athens, 1998

I step out onto the balcony. The balcony floor is decorated in a flat mosaic pattern, dull pinks and blues and greens. The railing is cream where it hasn’t rusted. Where it has it is brittle brown-red. It falls away when I hold onto it. But it is sturdy enough and I lean over it. [...]

Fiction: The apartment in Athens, August 1998

The apartment on R. Street was a dump. No one had lived in it for years and I’d been offered its keys from a friend of a friend of a friend.
The first thing I remember seeing when I opened the door for the very first time was a pair of shoes. A pair of men’s [...]

Fiction: The photograph sparks the memory

There is a photograph of me on the balcony of the flat in Athens. This is the flat I lived in when I first moved to Athens. It’s the flat I lived in for the years I was there. It’s a blurry photograph. Well, parts of it are blurry. The parts where there is action. [...]