Words on a Page

  ‘Is it enough to be remembered? Or do you have to be the one remembering?’ Bit by bit, Tito is fading from existence. He has lost weight, and he is shorter than he was. Sometimes his body flickers like the pictures on an analogue TV. And sometimes he disappears altogether. At home in Miami, Tito’s young life is in turmoil. Each of his parents seems to have rejected him, letting him know his birth was ‘an accident’ and referring to him as ‘your son’ when they argue. Finding refuge with his Cuban grandmother, Nana, he begins to learn about magic and the art of creating illusions. Illusions, she tells him, are meant to do good – to help others or oneself to see a situation more clearly. She warns, however, that there is also potential to do the opposite and to cloud or confuse a person’s ability to see at all. ‘In America, as an immigrant, we had to be invisible.’ Tito’s greatest desire, like that of any child, is to feel loved and valued. But his parents are distracted by...