Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story)

by Daniel Nayeri

I guess the point of all this is to say I don’t like the cream puffs here in Oklahoma, which they call Twinkies.

One, every story is the sound of a storyteller begging to stay alive. And two, the story of Aziz could have gone a million different ways.

Suddenly evil isn’t punching people or even hating them. Suddenly it’s all that stuff you’ve left undone. All the kindness you could have given. All the excuses you gave instead. Imagine that for a minute. Imagine what it means.