People get wiser in all sorts of ways, not all of them expected, and not all of them good.
They learn in school, of course, where enduring lessons can transcend the curriculum, as happens in the Sherman Indian High School.
They learn on the street, sometimes painfully, as happened to a woman who calls herself Mia when she came to America, only to find herself working in a massage parlor.
They learn by chance, as happened when a man from Sweden in need of a cheap place to live found a landlord who offered an unexpected lesson about life.
They learn in ways that reveal that we are capable of dark things we never thought possible, as happened to a boy named Moses when he was abducted into the murderous Lord’s Resistance Army.
And they learn in moments of despair, as happened to when a reporter, overwhelmed by years of reporting on the devastation of climate change, met someone whom she learned just might offer a path toward hope.
Welcome to Issue # 4 of The Delacorte Review.
This issue also marks the debut of a new feature: Delacorte Review True Short Stories
These are stories not connected to the news, events, a particular place, or phenomenon. Like their fiction equivalent, they are timeless.
We hope you enjoy them.
