Clau: What life taught me (By Osvaldo Cantun) Chapter 1 Clau clasped a bunch of dried stalks and placed it near the fire-hearth. She sighed upon looking at her every-day-more-slanted wooden fire-hearth which she had managed for years to keep upright. Not only was her fire-heart in terrible shape but it was now all exposed; the wind had blown away her only form of shade . Clau removed the garbage bag she had placed on top of the fire-hearth to avoid it from getting wet. She touched the remaining ashes. Wet. The rain of the day before still managed to add in to her misfortunes. Years of experience had taught her though to put frustration way off her mind. She had just enough problems to be distracted by her present predicament. She blew and blew in futile attempts to start the fire instead it provoked a cloud of ashes that cover her tired face. She patiently wiped her eyes with one hand accidentally touching and hurting her cheeks which made her remember. She caressed her injury from last night and was surprised to notice how little it hurt now. Her face, her body and all her being were getting used to pain. She finally started the fire. She gazed at her neighbor’s house; they aren’t home yet. What a beautiful family, she thought but made it dwindle away quickly. She ran to her neighbors pit just to the border of her yard, fetched two pieces of oxidized zinc and carried it to her fire-hearth. She placed both in an angle against the wind to protect the fire from getting off. “Clau, Clau what have you become,” she sighed. For a minute, she let memories fill her mind; memories of joy; memories that have been so well hidden for her own good. Memories, now that she thinks of it are more dreams than realities. She smiled; for the first time in weeks, she smile. A smile so real, so powerful to strike down all her worries, all her problems, all what she have become—for at least a minute. She came back from her enchanted world at the sound of bawling. She breathed deeply and went to see her now fully awaken baby boy. There he was indeed; his baby hair pretty long for a baby, such a smooth petite nose being the only thing that favored her. Baby tears oozed from his now red eyes begging to be comforted in her mother’s arms. Clau stopped swinging the hammock for a moment and contemplated her only child, so innocent, so fragile, so vulnerable, so dependent, yet with the power to refill her with energy with the simple sight of him. “You don’t deserve this world I have brought you in,” she now cuddled her baby. Her eyes brimming with tears, she analyzed what she had just said. She heard the back door of her house slam hard filling the inner wooden house with an echo that awoke her adrenaline, which expressed itself in her sunburned but still young skin. She knew perfectly well what was happening; her body was now so well adapted to adrenaline, to quick thinking and to face any consequences for her actions. She still had some time. She grabbed a piece of clothing she had in the line to dry and covered with it the baby’s face. She ran. Clau heard her name from behind but she never looked back. She ran with baby in her arms tightly secured to her breast. Curses over curses she heard dwindling away but she ran never looking back. Elena quickly ran to see who was banging at her door. There she was again with baby in hands; her best friend Clau with eyes ready to discharge and begging in behalf of its owner. Not again, she thought, not because she didn’t want to offer her shelter but because she knew just like everybody in the village knew how sad her case was. Elena looked at her friend then shifted her gaze to the baby. He smiled upon catching her glance paying her in excess for her troubles caused by them. She smiled back. They all smiled. “Come on in. I think he recognizes me already”
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 00:39:52 +0000
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