A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a short story that begins with a couple, Pelayo and Elisenda, finding a very old man in their courtyard during a stormy afternoon. They watch in astonishment the enormous wings attached to the body of the old man as he struggles to get up from the mud. Their neighbour comes over and lets them know that the old man is an angel. Pelayo locks the angel in a chicken coop overnight. Tired of having too many visitors, the couple decides to charge an entrance fee to see the angel. The story progresses and describes the community's reduction of the old man to a freak and its brief fascination with him, only to be replaced with a new spectacle.