No Substance #152: Death in Spring by Mercé Rodoreda
You live in a village with no name.
You watch a man with a scarred face cut open a tree.
The man was once chosen by lot to swim in the river at your village.
He was given the task of swimming under the village to make sure no rocks had been dislodged.
The town could not wash away, you see.
Others had swam before him.
They swam naked.
Sometimes they would be crushed against the rocks and die.
Sometimes they would just be horribly scarred.
The scarred man cutting open the tree is your father.
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