EFÍMERO, a short story

For a class project we were asked to write a short story under 20 minutes based on a picture of our liking in order to exercise our writing skills and boost our creativity. I’ve always felt a little vulnerable and scared to translate my feeling s into words, and even more when others read it. For this assignment I chose to write about a picture one of my best friends took during one of our many adventures and the story my mind went with I then realized was completely linked to something someone once told me, one of those people that you cross paths with and you never expect that are going to mean something to your life. Hope you enjoy and be sure to let me know what you think on the comment section below.

 

EFÍMERO

A Short Story by Isabel Acevedo

Photo by Camila Rivero Pooley

Every time she heard the creak of the door and a cold breeze sneaked into the house there was still a little hope inside of her that it was him coming back, her love, her one and only; but that never happened. Three years have passed, but for her, life passes in lapses of thirty minutes and then it all goes back to the beginning, to the moment her beloved one  the last words she would ever hear come out of his mouth – “Ya vuelvo cielo, voy a ver a mis chiquitas” (I will be right back my sky, I am going to check on the little ones). With an accent that only she, Doña Maria, and a few from their family could understand. For her it was only another of his many trips to the garden to check on his flowers, something that in her head will always remain the same.

On the evening of May 10 of 2013 Don Ricardo was pronounced dead on an ambulance on the way to the small town’s hospital after suffering a stroke. It was a shock for the whole family; they were not ready for this. It was a day like any other, or so she thought. The old couple woke up, had one of their typical breakfast discussions about whatever crossed their minds that day, and after a call to their oldest grandson Doña Maria parted her way to her favorite chair and Don Ricardo went to the backyard.

This time it was different, he did not go there just to look at the flowers he planted, he went there to make a bouquet for his soul mate. That day was the couple’s 50^th anniversary and she, like many other times, was not even aware of the date. He gathered as many flowers as he could, the ones that smelled the sweetest, the ones that looked the brightest and on is way back it all ended, unannounced Don Ricardo left and she, Doña Maria, will never know. No matter how many days have passed, and no matter how many times his son reminds her of their loss, for her, every thirty minutes it all goes back to being that evening of May 10 of 2013.