Darkness, silence, and unconsciousness inhabited Susana’s brain until she slowly opened her eyes. Strident pulsations hit her senses, as she woke up to the painful and unexpected reality of knowing that Ana had passed away. The news was so shocking that Susana fainted at the same moment that she saw Ana’s body through the window of the room where she was in the clinic. Her heartbeat could be heard a meter away by the force with which it hit her chest. The tears in her eyes flowed uncontrollably. And a question floated over her nebulous mind, how many times can a mother’s heart suffer the loss of a child before it is finally broken?
AUTUMN COLORS IN SPRING (PART IX)
La oscuridad, el silencio y la inconciencia habitaban el cerebro de Susana hasta que lentamente sus ojos se fueron abriendo. Pulsaciones estridentes golpeaban sus sentidos, mientras despertaba a la dolorosa e inesperada realidad de saber que Ana había fallecido. La noticia fue tan impactante que Susana se desmayó en el mismo instante que vio el cuerpo de Ana a través de la ventana de la habitación donde estaba en la clínica. Los latidos de su corazón se podían escuchar a un metro de distancia por la fuerza con que golpeaban su pecho. Las lágrimas de sus ojos brotaban incontenibles. Y Una pregunta flotaba sobre su nebulosa mente, ¿Cuántas veces puede el corazón de una madre sufrir la pérdida de un hijo antes de quebrarse definitivamente?…
The doctor’s words provoked a chemical reaction of acidity that gnawed at Susana’s insides while dissipating all her body heat. Her legs began to tremble, and her lips turned white and cold as ice.
Las palabras del doctor provocaron una reacción química de acidez que carcomía las entrañas de Susana al mismo tiempo que disipaba todo su calor corporal. Sus piernas comenzaron a temblar y sus labios se tornaron blancos y fríos como el hielo.
Ana held on tightly to her pencil, as her exam sheet fell to the floor, where she had two questions left to answer, but she couldn’t help but writhe in pain. Her belly had hardened and left her feeling as if a cramp ran through the lower part of her hips, pressing on her back, and causing an increase in the intensity of the pain that she was experiencing; pain that was enveloping her in a terrible and inexplicable way. Feeling her bones break inside her, she let out a resounding scream that paralyzed all the activity within the classroom.
Ana sujetaba fuertemente el lápiz, mientras la hoja de su examen caía al suelo, le faltaban dos preguntas por responder, pero no podía evitar retorcerse de dolor. Su vientre se había endurecido sintiendo como si un calambre recorriera la parte baja de sus caderas, presionando su espalda, provocando un aumentando en la intensidad del dolor que estaba experimentado y que la fue envolviendo de forma terrible e inexplicable. Sintiendo que sus huesos se partían en su interior dejo escapar un grito resonante que paralizo la actividad total dentro del salón de clases.
Con paso lento y sin saber hacia dónde ir, Eduardo caminaba con la tristeza aprisionada dentro de su pecho. Sus pensamientos no coordinaban sus pasos ya que el sabía que no podía pedirle ayuda a ninguno de sus amigos. Sin embargo, su cerebro instintivamente comenzó a guiarlo hacia la casa de Susana. El camino era largo y las sombras de la noche comenzaron a aparecer por todos lados. Eduardo camino por cuatro horas hasta que sin darse cuenta estaba parado frente a la puerta de la casa de Susana. Quería tocar y pedir que le permitieran entrar, pero no se atrevió a hacerlo. Eduardo tenía miedo al rechazo por parte de Susana. También se sentía avergonzado por no tener nada que ofrecer. Sintiendo pena por si mismo, se dejó abatir por el sentimiento de impotencia que había arrastrado entre sus pies, desde que salió de la casa de sus padres como una pesada carga. Sintiendo que no tenía esperanza alguna de obtener la aprobación de sus padres para casarse con Ana, lentamente se fue deslizando sobre su espalda repesado en la puerta hasta quedarse dormido sobre el suelo abrazado a su mochila escolar.
With a slow step, and without knowing where to go, Eduardo walked with sadness imprisoned inside his chest. His thoughts did not coordinate with his steps since he knew that he could not ask any of his friends for help. However, his brain instinctively began to guide him towards Susana’s house. The road was long, and the shadows of the night began to appear out of everywhere. Eduardo walked for four hours until inadvertently he was standing in front of Susana’s door. He wanted to knock and ask to be allowed in, but he didn’t dare to do so. Eduardo was afraid of rejection by Susana. He was embarrassed too because he had nothing to offer. Feeling sorry for himself, he allowed himself to be overcome by the feeling of helplessness that he had dragged alongside him between his feet since leaving his parents’ house, which felt like a heavy burden. Feeling that he had no hope of obtaining the approval of his parents to marry Ana, he slowly slid onto his back, leaned into in the doorway until he fell asleep on the floor hugging his school bag.
Pale and dismayed, Eduardo could not answer immediately. He felt his whole body vibrating, while his masculinity woke up when he felt the rose of Ana’s hands caressing his face and hair. Stunned and with his mind alienated by the accumulation of sensations awakened by the smell of roses in spring that Ana’s perfume emanated, he slowly stammers “Yesss, Yes I want to marry you Ana”. As he watched as her reddish-gold hair shone in the sunlight, wishing for that moment to become eternal and never end.
EMOTIONS AND PAPER STRIPS 