Afghan Dreaming

“If I stopped and gave money to a child, others came running. I slipped one boy five thousand afghanis�about ten cents�and when I looked back in the rearview mirror it seemed that the other boys were practically tearing him to pieces. On a road bend where no other beggar could see, I gave a twenty-dollar bill to a boy who stood beside the carapace of a Soviet armored personnel carrier, and he took it and held it as if he were dreaming.”

William Vollman’s Letter From Afghanistan