I have this little book called The Book of Brevity, which is a book of Latin American short short stories or mini-cuentos. I came across it because the translator Jose Chaves taught at the community college I was attending. I like to take it out every now and then and thumb through it. They are funny, charming, and thought provoking. They are little puzzles without answers for you to sort out and have fun with. I'll share a couple with you.

The Burro and the Flute

A flute that no one had ever played had been lost in the country for quite some time, unitl one day a passing burro blew hard into it, making it produce the most beautiful sound in their life; that is to say, the life of the burro and the flute.
Incapable of understanding what had happened -as rationality was not his strong point, and they both believed in rationality- they quickly separated, ashamed of the greatest thing either one had accomplished during their sad existence.

Augusto Monterroso (Guatemala)

The Arms of Kalym

Kalym took off his arms and threw them into the abyss. When he arrived at home, his wife asked him, astonished: "What have you done with your arms?"
"I was tired of them, so I threw them away," said Kalym.
"Well, you had better find them. You're going to need them to eat lunch. Where did you put them?"
"They're sitting in an abyss, miles from here."
"How did you even manage to get them off?"
"I just took my right arm off with my left and my left arm with my right."
"That's impossible," cried his wife, "You needed your left arm to take off your right, but you had already taken it off."
"I know sweetheart, my arms are a very strange things. Let's just forget the whole thing and go to bed," said Kalym embracing his wife.

Gabriel Jimenez Eman (Venezuela)

...and my favorite...

The Dinosaur

When he woke up, the dinosaur was still there.

Augusto Monterroso (Guatemala)