The 2026 Page Awards
GREAT Exposure for Contest Winners & Finalists!
Back

THE BOY WHO CARRIED TIME ON HIS BACK

THE BOY WHO CARRIED TIME ON HIS BACK is not a story about saving the world. It’s about returning what was never ours to keep. From childhood, the boy walks—never running, never stopping—his spine bent under an invisible burden: the grief of widows, the unslept nights of mothers, the frozen seconds before goodbyes. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t weep. He carries. Villages whisper his name. Children leave offerings of river stones. Elders bow as he passes, knowing he holds the debt of their survival. But one evening, beneath a sky heavy with stars, he kneels. The weight cracks his ribs. And as he whispers, “It’s written,” the time flows back—not to clocks, but to hearts. Somewhere, a woman sleeps without nightmares. Somewhere, a man laughs without guilt. Because the boy gave back what he was never meant to hold. A film for those who believe cinema can heal the soul.

Written by:
Format:
Short Story
Genres:
Posted:
01/11/2026
Updated:
01/11/2026
Author Bio:
Meireles André is an internationally awarded Angolan writer, mythmaker, and screenwriter whose work redefines the boundaries between literature, cinema, and ancestral memory. Born in Uíge and raised between the silence of Huíla’s highlands and the echoes of northern Angola, he crafts stories where trauma, resistance, and the supernatural converge—not as metaphor, but as lived truth.

His novels—Herança das Sombras, Cidade de Serra, Crônicas de Elandor, Órfãos, and O Sangue de um Monstro—have been published across Brazil, the United States (Dirty Magic Magazine, Star Spun Lite), and Lusophone Africa, earning acclaim for their poetic intensity, metaphysical depth, and unflinching exploration of collective pain, identity, and spiritual rebellion.

Show More

Go Pro!