Seven centuries ago, the Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio wrote a series of stories, presented as tales told by a group of travelers seeking refuge from the Black Death in a house near Florence. The tale-telling takes place over ten nights, giving the work it's title: The Decameron.
In the present era, our plague isn't quite as deadly, and people are taking refuge in their own homes (though I might risk a case of COVID-19 if I can spend a couple of weeks in a villa outside Florence). It's a good time to read some stories.
A group of SF and fantasy authors have created the Decameron Project, a Patreon operation to raise funds for Italian Coronavirus relief. There's a new story every day, with an ongoing frame story written by Jo Walton. And today's story is a brand-new piece of my own, called "The Code of the Expats."
It's based very loosely on an anecdote my mother used to tell, about something that happend to a friend of hers in Mexico in the 1950s. I hope you all enjoy it, and please drop a donation in the plate at Patreon.
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