Fridays are different. Every other day of the week, the Colonel and his ailing wife fight a constant battle against poverty. But on Fridays the postman comes and he hopes he'll be handed an envelope containing the army pension promised to him. Whilst he waits, his hopes are pinned on his prize bird and the upcoming cockfighting season. Until then, the bird - like the Colonel and his wife - must somehow be fed...

No One Writes to the Colonel is re-issued on Gabriel García Márquez 's birthday to celebrate the publication of his books as ebooks for the first time.