This flash fiction by László Krasznahorkai  is philosophical in nature. As you read, consider: What does Krasznahorkai achieve by using the verb tense “would”? What tense is this? How does repetition make the story build one sentence after the other? This version, translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mullet, is published in The New Yorker.

I will add more of an introduction to this eventually. This is the only short story by the great Toni Morrison. Zadie Smith highlighted the story in her New Yorker article: ‘The Genius of Toni Morrison’s Only Short Story” https://www.cusd80.com/cms/lib/AZ01001175/Centricity/Domain/1073/Morrison_recitatifessay.doc.pdf