But the ground felt damp and cold under his knees and a whiff of sulfurous air stung his lungs and the cold sun playing on his skin seemed to stir the cigarette burns to pain, and the pain brought home to him that what had happened, and what was about to happen, were no dream.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Legends'

Another woman, Intisar, wordlessly pulls the base of the tent out to show me how damp the gravel is under the tent.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

It was dark, out on the narrow lane that ran past the sawmills, dark and very green, the boundary wall a dim colony of moss and ferns, the shadows under the trees damp and still.

NEWYORKER: The Bell Ringer