Joy, Fear, Confidence, Anger, Sadness, Friendship, Disgust Calm, Surprise, Shame, Enmity, Anticipation, Compassion, Kindness, Envy, Emulation, Contempt, Gratitude, Admiration, Pride, Jealousy, Sympathy, Obfuscation, Irritation…
NOBODY DIES ON CHRISTMAS EVE
A phrase that resonated in my brain every December and that had a lot of meaning throughout my childhood each time a family member or friend got sick was, nobody dies on Christmas Eve. My mother would repeat it to me, while she caressed my hair when she saw me worried about someone’s health. Then my Spirit would rejoice, my faith strengthened and the hope that everything would be okay was reborn in my heart.
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?
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.
“I’m really sorry, but Ana won’t be able to go home with you. I have also ordered that Eduardo and you be tested for covid-19. ” Said the doctor, but her words bounced off the void of silence existing in Susana’s brain that she continued to be stunned by the news. Eduardo was the first to react, “Doctor, I want to see my wife before I go home.”
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.
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.
Pálido y consternado, Eduardo no pudo contestar inmediatamente. El sentía como todo su cuerpo vibraba, mientras su masculinidad se despertaba al sentir el rose de las manos de Ana que le acariciaban el rostro y el pelo. Aturdido y con la mente enajenada por el cumulo de sensaciones que despertaba el olor a rosas en primavera que emanaba el perfume de Ana, lentamente balbuceo “Sssi, Si me quiero casar contigo Ana”. Mientras observaba como los rojizos-dorados cabellos de ella brillaban a la luz del sol deseando que ese momento se volviera eterno y que nunca terminara.
Susana watched the clock constantly. Ten minutes had already passed after school was dismissed and Ana did not come out. Ten more minutes passed, and Susana began to despair. Something was not right, Ana might be two or three minutes late, but twenty minutes late was unusual. Susana looked for a place to park the car and began to walk towards the school office. She was nervous thinking about what could have caused Ana’s delay. Just as Susana was about to talk to the secretary, she heard Ana’s voice, “Susana, I’m here. Are we going home?”
Ana grew up being the center of the universe in Susana’s life. Ana’s childhood was full of fun and love. Susana gave herself completely to the care of her granddaughter, providing Ana with everything she needed or wanted, in such a way that Ana developed a strong character, and although sometimes uncompromising, she had a sweetly cheerful spirit and a benevolent heart.
With a pale face, trembling legs and holding the baby car seat, Susana was in front of the hospital doors when her friend Irene came to pick her up, to take her back to her apartment. The tragic news of the collapse of the little train was resounding in all the media, while in Susana’s heart it echoed like an explosion of anguish and fear for what might have happened to her family.
Trying to calm Susana’s visible concern, Irene spoke to her in a gentle voice, “Do not worry in advance. We will go to the scene of the accident. You will be waiting in the car, while I look for your family. You will see that they are fine, the news always exaggerates events. “
