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'The Chameleon’s Shapes' (Las formas del camaleón), from the flash fiction anthology Desahuciados. Crónicas de la Crisis (2013), by Álex Chico

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  • Megan Berkobien

How to Cite:

Berkobien, M., (2017) “'The Chameleon’s Shapes' (Las formas del camaleón), from the flash fiction anthology Desahuciados. Crónicas de la Crisis (2013), by Álex Chico”, Absinthe: World Literature in Translation 21. doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/absinthe.9440

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Published on
2017-03-01

Peer Reviewed

© 2013 Ediciones Traspiés

I watch the grass grow while eating breakfast. The task takes a while, fifteen minutes perhaps. Then I put on my diving suit and plunge into the golf course lake. My job is to retrieve the lost balls for the players. Later on, I strip off my clothes and begin to try out Durex condoms. A profession, it should be noted, that’s much more complicated than the last. I abandon my erection and search for la americana. I find a position in one of those big wholesale warehouses and begin counting people. I take advantage of the moment, since I’m already there, to survey passers-by. Or I offer myself up and wash their cars. Or I speak to them about a recently opened dental clinic. I am a customs official while I eat, a metal welder on break, and a hotel receptionist at nightfall. At nine on the dot I don a thermal suit and go up to the guestrooms. I warm up their beds for exactly ten minutes.