preview

Essay-The Short-Short Story

Decent Essays

He came in without a word. I was stropping my best razor. And when I recognized him, I started to shake. But he did not notice. To cover my nervousness, I went on honing the razor. I tried the edge with the tip of my thumb and took another look at it against the light. Meanwhile he was taking off his cartridge-studded belt with the pistol holster suspended from it. He put it on a hook in the wardrobe and hung his cap above it. Then he turned full around toward me and, loosening his tie, remarked, “It’s hot as the devil, I want a shave.” With that he took his seat. I estimated he had a fourdays’ growth of beard, the four days he had been gone on the last foray after our men. His face looked burnt, tanned by the sun. I started to work …show more content…

But the sight of those mutilated bodies kept me from paying attention to the face of the man who had been directing it all and whom I now had in my hands. It was not a disagreeable face, certainly. And the beard, which aged him a bit, was not unbecoming. His name was Torres. Captain Torres. I started to lay on the first coat of lather. He kept his eyes closed. “I would love to catch a nap,” he said, “but there’s a lot to be done this evening.” I lifted the brush and asked, with pretended indifference: “A firing party?” “Something of the sort,” he replied, “but slower.” “All of them?” “No, just a few.” I went on lathering his face. My hands began to tremble again. The man could not be aware of this, which was lucky for me. But I wished he had not come in. Probably many of our men had seen him enter the shop. And with the enemy in my house I felt a certain responsibility. I would have to shave his beard just like any other, carefully, neatly, just as though he were a good customer, taking heed that not a single pore should emit a drop of blood. Seeing to it that the blade did not slip in the small whorls. Taking care that the skin was left clean, soft, shining, so that when I passed the back of my hand over it not a single hair should be felt. Yes. I was secretly a revolutionary, but at the same time I was a conscientious barber, proud of the way I did my job. And that four-day beard presented a challenge. I took up the

Get Access