He was stationed on the beach of Sa Ràpita, where with four other men, they had to keep watch – imminent in all likelihood – on the disembarkation by sea of the Republican troops. They had been given provisions based on dehydrated foods that put you off only by looking at them, and they had also been armed with rifles, which presently Jeremies could hardly remember anything, except for the detail that they were so antiquated and obsolete that, in the case of a possible confrontation, they seemed more efficient as sticks than as weapons. While the summer heat lasted, the best they could do was to spend the nights in the open air, taking turns to sleep lying on the sand, but asthe air cooled down they would be forced to share the tiny space of a machine gun hole that had been designated as a surveillance and operational centre.

Sara i Jeremies (Sara and Jeremias), 2002

Translated by Núria Cohen.

(Llucmajor, 1972). Sebastià Alzamora is a writer, literary critic and cultural agent. He combines these three facets with poetry, novels and essays, as well as collaborating with the press, scientific magazines and other media outlets. Among his works are Rafel (1994), Mula Morta (2001, L´extinció (1999)“Extinction”, Sara I Jeremies (2002), La pell i la princesa (2005), and the recently published La malcontenta (2015).