In an ancient land, in a small village, there lived a wealthy lord by the name of Pazio Loco. Pazio was a kind man and had many friends. And every time he and his friends would go to the village café, Pazio would eat enormous amounts of food, and the magic was that although food he ate, nothing did his other side give in return. And his friends used to ask him “Pazio, Pazio, how can you eat so much, and not explode?” and he would always laugh in his low and rolling voice, and say “Ah, This is a secret I will bear with me till the day I die”. And for a long time his habit had caused wonder among the people of that village, and his name had gone far and wide, until one day, after an honorable meal, suffocated by cholesterol, Pazio’s heart had stopped beating, and he died. Sad as they were at his death, when his friends were carrying him to the cemetery, everybody was waiting for his secret to emerge. It so happened, that right in the middle of the burial ceremony, out of the folds of Pazio’s velvet coat, slowly, hesitating, the secret came out. In the heat of their desire, everyone had forgotten the ceremony and rushed to catch the secret before the rest. “It is mine!” one shouted, “He promised it to me” said another, “You know that I need it so much…!” whispered an old woman with tears in her eyes. And so involved they were, screaming and fighting each other, that the secret had quietly slipped away, and forever left the village. Nobody knows where did it go, nor if it had lived to this day. The people of the village however, gradually resumed their peaceful lives and had soon forgotten all about Pazio, and all about his secret.
This was written by the excellent dude over at Indra Design.
This calls to my mind a story by Quiroga, which he wrote as an homage to Poe. The Poe story was many pages long; the Quiroga, a mere three; but now it has been accomplished in only a paragraph. Progress!