“Serenity, Courage, Wisdom” is a crime fiction short story set in New Orleans. The title is inspired by a prayer that my parents had on the wall in their kitchen.
The story features a medical student named Flor faced with the loss of her best friend, Viva. Viva’s spirit was crushed and her entire life was destroyed because she fell for the wrong man, a criminal named Mateo. Flor can’t stand the idea that Mateo can destroy people with impunity. She wants him in jail and makes it her mission to help put him there.
Of course, things don’t go entirely to plan. Flor’s obsession with stopping Mateo makes her his new target.
Edited by Michael Bracken, this story appears in Black Cat Weekly #37.