You are listening to a Clarksville magazine podcast with your host and narrator Kate Baker.

Greetings Clarksville citizens. I hope this podcast finds you extraordinarily well.

Welcome to the sixth story, the month of December 2021, our second to last story

for the year. I do hope you can come back to listen the last one before we turn over to 2022.

I wish nothing but the best for you and yours as we cycle the calendar. As we make another

revolution around the sun. And as always, thank you for your ongoing support.

If you'd like to support us even further and like to donate some monetary support,

you can go to Clarksvillecitizens.com or patreon.com for its last Clarksworld. Every dollar helps.

Our story is titled just one step and then the next is by EN Diaz.

EN Diaz is a Mexican non-binary author of speculative fiction. Their short story, Mama,

Chios Magic Lesson, can be found in the magazine of fantasy and science fiction.

Their work focuses on people not often center spot in this type of fiction.

They are often inspired by the members of their family and the stories told by them

of fantastic occurrences in everyday life. It is just a family fact that one of their great

aunts used to box with a bear in a family circus. They write in both English and Spanish.

So my dear listener, I hope you can sit back, relax, and let me tell you a story.

Danya Tui was sitting in her living room, the heavy smell of the summer rains

wafting into the open door. She hated that smell, but the house was too warm,

and her air conditioner no longer worked, so she had to leave windows and doors open to keep it cool.

She didn't worry about anyone coming in, not anymore. She wasn't fearless, just tired.

She didn't have anything else to lose, so anyone was welcome to the crumbs.

Danya Tui placed her needle in cloth napkin next to her on the cream colored sofa.

...