By Sydney Koeplin
Mid-American Review fiction staff chose “The Fall of Virgilio” by Michael Garcia Bertrand for publication in Volume XLIII, Number II.
The short story begins with the titular character Virgilio—a Cuban emigrant back in his home country for his yearly visit with family and friends—falling down the stairs. He lands in a coma and is rushed to a dilapidated, undersupplied local hospital, where he remains for the rest of the narrative. This is the plot, in the simplest terms. But within this frame, Bertrand explores Cuban identity, memory, and history.
Coma stories can be challenging to craft because it is hard to move a story forward when the character is, by the nature of a coma, stuck in place. But “The Fall of Virgilio” overcomes that narrative pitfall. In Virgilio’s comatose state, he meets el Comandante, flies over Havana, and watches his family at his bedside. It resists sentimentality but still asks us to consider what constitutes a life well lived.
We discussed this story on November 6th, 2024, when we at MAR—and many millions of other Americans—were contemplating what the election results would mean for our health, mental well-being, and safety. Bertrand’s story was exactly what I needed to read that day. I choked up as I read the following passage aloud to the editorial team:
“I say it, too, to everyone I love or care about. Ten Cuidado. (Be Careful). Cubans tend to say it in place of Goodbye. It is part of who we are. The occasion does not matter whether we are going to the supermarket or Cuba. We are not pessimists, though. We do not say it out of fear (well, maybe a little fear). Do not make that mistake. We are the most joyful people alive. Even in adversity, we find ways to sing, dance, eat, drink, play, make love. Ten Cuidado is our way of pretending that we can ward off catastrophes, that is all.”
“The Fall of Virgilio” is a tragedy in the sense that any accident is a tragedy. But the story is also a story of hope, resilience, and the will of a people to continue living even under the most dire of circumstances. It explores what it means to return to—and die in—a place you’ve left. It is a testament to the human spirit delivered in prose that is all at once lyrical, surreal, humorous, and sharp.