This illustrated book delves into the intricate task of reconstructing and appropriating the life of Armando Nieto, whose story met a tragic end in 1979 in Bogota. Seamlessly blending elements of truth with imaginative fiction, the author draws from personal childhood memories—moments tinged with both profound despair and fleeting glimpses of hope. Additionally, the author delves into dreams of the future, explorations of love and sexuality, and a multifaceted imagination that continues to challenge him. Through the lens of Armando's formative years, the narrative also navigates themes of future aspirations, the complexities of love and sexuality, and a layered imagination that remains both a source of solace and struggle. At its core, the tale illuminates the dual nature of desire: a deep-seated yearning for genuine connection juxtaposed against a mercurial, often relentless, obsession.

At the moment when Armando Nieto did what he did that morning in 1979, I was only one year old and lived in Medellin, where I was born, and my brother Santiago was only a few months old. My mother quit her job, and my father worked for an American company established by William Burroughs' grandson, selling computers that are now museum pieces. A few months ago, I read Armando's story and felt an immediate connection, not because I don't respect my parents (although, sometimes, I admit, I became so obsessed with them that I lost sight of my respect for them) but mainly because I felt similarities between us that revealed the strange and complex nature of childhood. I say I "felt" this because I don't know more about Armando than what he wanted to do that morning at the age of twenty-four, which some news notes immediately associated with mental illness, abuse, and depression. However, what I want to do is imagine his childhood and adolescence, beyond the yellow headlines in the press and the post-traumatic stress that hit Bogota that morning in 1979. 

Gabriel Mejía Abad, 2021