A Mask That Reveals the True Face of Its Wearer but Erases Their Name

by Jason Roberts

Story 1 wasn't about a hero's journey, a forbidden romance, or a daring heist. It was about a stapler. Not just any stapler, mind you, but a vintage Swingline 747, the kind with the satisfying *thunk* and the heft of solid metal. This stapler, affectionately nicknamed "The Boss" by its owner, Elsie, was the central character of Story 1.

Elsie, a meticulous archivist in a crumbling library filled with the scent of old paper and forgotten dreams, treated The Boss with reverence bordering on worship. She’d inherited it from her grandfather, a renowned but eccentric historian who’d used it to bind countless research papers, each staple a tiny monument to his tireless work. Elsie believed The Boss held a fragment of his spirit, a whisper of his genius embedded in its worn metal casing.

154 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 14, 2025

About the author

Jason Roberts is a writer of nonfiction and fiction. His most recent book is Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life. His previous book, A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler, was a national bestseller and finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A contributor to McSweeney’s, The Believer, and other publications, he lives in Northern California.