LUKA AND THE FIRE OF LIFE

'Luka's' strange story begins with a dark curse, uttered unwittingly toward the grandmaster of a poorly run circus. Observing how destitute and pitiful the animals seem, Luka fumes and speaks scathingly during a hushed moment of a performance: "May your animals stop obeying your commands and your rings of fire eat up your stupid tent." To his surprise, the effect is profound. Beasts of all kinds "mild and fierce" revolt the absoluteness of the Grandmaster's control. Wrathful but horrified, the awful man flees in terror, and ever since, Luka has enjoyed the company of his two renegade pets: a dog named Bear and a bear named Dog.

Playful and mischievous, the 12-year-old has won notoriety among his peers with his playground exploits. He's the treasured child of older parents who regard him as a gift from the heavens, having brought them life and the experience of knowing perpetual youth. Yet as Luka matures, he's grasping their physical fallibility, and his father's mental capacities have been waning. Then one particularly eventful evening slows the old storyteller even further. One starry, clear night that is blessedly free of smog, the sky appears so animated that it actually draws people into the streets to dance and celebrate the "carnival of stars." Perhaps there is real magic behind this energy that fills them up and takes Rashid to his land of dreams. In any case, it is the last night Rashid is awake and talking, and it may be that it's his final hour in the world of the real.