A long story, set in what in the ’80s I imagined to be present-day Africa, originally intended as the opening of a novel, though by the time I placed the story at the beautiful small press literary magazine Century, I had long since given up on that idea. Let’s just say I felt lucky to even have pulled off this portion of it (to the extent I did (which is arguable)). Not many readers could have encountered this one.

• Mad Wind