Grandmaster Tu Eats Glass

This story was originally published in Day One, a weekly literary journal dedicated to short fiction and poetry from emerging writers.Tutu hates being ordinary. So when a Qigong practitioner visits Tutu’s small village in the province of Heilongjiang with promises of health, longevity, and magical powers, the small, sickly boy vows to become a master.Years later, Chinese immigrant and fourth grader Mary feels like just another faceless cog in the vast machinery of Los Angeles. But one day, her father takes her to see Grandmaster Tu—the once-feeble boy Tutu, who is now a grown Qigong grandmaster with plans to conquer America and all its riches. In a beige, bleak conference room, Tu performs a disturbing feat to prove his power, but the small crowd that has gathered to watch him is more disgusted than moved. Mary alone is inspired, and from that bizarre act she can envision a different, more daring life.Told with astute humor, Grandmaster Tu Eats Glass reveals the timeless dream of the average seeking the extraordinary.