Source
Araya
Araya, a town in eastern Venezuela, is located in a xerophilous area, with very little vegetation, only cacti and a plant called "yaque", with very few leaves and many thorns, this was the only thing that allowed that infernal semi-desert climate.
The saltpeter of the environment did not allow the constructions to last long, and all the houses suffered the oxidation of their bases, the paint fell off the walls and they crumbled over time
All in the village were extremely generous, too much altruistic, were able to sleep on the ground and offer you their bed, it was a kind of collective detachment, and all were surrounded by a feeling of honesty, it was difficult for someone to take something that was not his, anyone in town would feed you, just as a courtesy.
In the town square, only in one corner there was a light bulb, which was placed by Don Ricardo, owner of some fishing boats.
In that town the old people said goodbye to their relatives and only asked that every now and then they throw a bucket of water on his grave, to "cool down", because the suffocating heat of those latitudes reached 42 degrees centigrade in summer.
It was a fishing village, where only primary school was studied and when you passed to secondary you had to decide between the only three options available:
- Leave the studies and work the fishing.
- Getting someone pregnant, quitting school and working the fish.
Working at the salt mine meant going into the salt ponds to destroy your skin, hands and feet for a miserable wage.
Those were hard times, the 20th century was ending.
This old town was in those circumstances when Melchor visited it.
Melchor came from the capital, he was a poet's apprentice, and a law student, he had already been involved in some political causes, but above all he was a dreamer, a lover of lost causes, and those people were, so what happened , It was inevitable.
That Lenten season came, in Venezuela, as in all the Spanish ex-colony, the crucifixion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is commemorated.
These young people had come from the capital to enjoy the paradisiacal beaches, to abuse liquor and occasional sex, in short, to live life.
It was then when Melchor saw her, her name was Carmen and he was captivated by her beauty, by her youthful body and unparalleled beauty. Carmen was the most beautiful creature his eyes had ever seen, she was in a hurry, she had to do the shopping and she passed by him, at that moment those eyes met, one came from knowing the world and its miseries and the other, although she was completely unaware of that world, she already had a good dose of those miseries on his shoulders.
From that moment, Melchor no longer shared the same with his friends, he only thought of her, in the possibility of meeting her, of declaring his love for her, that although only had a few hours, he already felt that he had always loved.
The next morning, Melchor, went directly to Carmen's door, knocked and still did not know what he was going to say, (Only love is capable of provoking such things), he was lucky, when the door opened, it was her.
They were speechless, it was as if their eyes were saying everything they felt, and they began a dialogue, which although absurd, served their initial purpose.
- Hello, what can I do for you?
(Melchor let go, as if measuring his answers).
- And, since when were you looking for me?
(She said as if measuring it too).
- I just wanted to meet you.
- Well, nice to meet you, I'm Carmen, and you?
- Well, you found me and you know me, anything else?
He felt some indifference in that last question, and as if to play along, he said no, that was it.
He left in defeat, feeling that he had lost his chance to conquer her, so he returned to his companions.
When he arrived, Jennifer, who had also come from the capital, asked him:
He looked up and in response just said:
But Melchor was unaware of the devastating effect this encounter had on her. In a second, all her dreams had mutated into an escape to the capital city, with Melchor, the shy and daring young man that knocked at her door, the one that with one glance had changed her being, and already in her mind there was no room for anything else, everything was outside, far away, with Melchor.
Her mother, Doña Aurora, who almost never heard her speak in that house, warned her that those boys were only looking for fun, and that dream could become a nightmare in less than a blink of an eye.
In the evening she looked for him at the dance, among the people, until she found him on the seashore, half drunk, sad and lonely.
They looked at each other and it didn't take a word, he sought her lips as if they had always belonged to him, and they got lost in the darkness of those lonely beaches, she gave herself to him without reservation, it seemed that it was something everyday, but deep down she was giving him her virginity and if her father knew, her life.
The next day, it was time to say goodbye, Melchor did not find her anywhere, he looked for her on the beach, on the runway, all over town, but he could not find her, so he met his friends and they went to the port, from where he would leave, with a wrinkled heart for not having said goodbye to Carmen, and with one promise to return, to come back for her.
It turns out that her parents had punished her for disappearing that afternoon, and they didn't let her out until after the holidays, and the boys from the capital had left town, so their girl's integrity would be safe.
But that outburst of love and passion had left its fruit, fruit that would change forever the destiny of that people abandoned by God.
As the days passed, Carmen began to experience the changes, her belly began to grow and the symptoms began. Don Ricardo knew it immediately, he took Carmen to his mother's house, where he hid her from the world and from "society".
When the child was born, the father took him in his arms, throwing him into the sea where he had been conceived, with all the anger he felt, leaving him to drown without compassion.
After that, Carmen never spoke again, she completely lost her reason, in that heart hatred had nested, to her father for getting rid of the fruit of his love without any compassion, to her mother for allowing it, and above all to Melchor, who although he knew nothing, was guilty of everything, for not taking her to the capital and taking her out of that town, in ruins, like her, like her whole life.
Days after that horrible event, at night Carmen managed to escape from that house that had been her prison and went straight to the sea, where she met Melchor's love and without further ado, entered it, to drown while looking for the fruit of his love, while looking for Melchor among the waves, without saying a single word, he only managed to draw a heart in the white sand, as if saying goodbye, as if leaving a message for Melchor in case he ever returned.
Melchor had finished his career as a lawyer in the capital, he came out of his graduation ceremony and his family surrounded him, to congratulate him:
His father approached him saying:
- Son, what's wrong with you, aren't you happy?
Melchor looked at him and, without thinking about it, let go of that truth that almost made him abandon his studies and everything because he had fought:
- "I'm in love, father, you'll soon meet her".
When Melchor finished his studies, he only thought about Carmen, about taking her out of that town, and about that wonderful future that he had dreamt, without knowing that it was impossible.
He immediately went to Araya, to look for her, with a suitcase full of dreams.
When he arrived at the town, nobody recognized him, he walked decidedly to Carmen's door now if he knew what to do, now he was sure of what he was going to say and he knocked.
His father came out, and when he saw him he knew immediately who he was and without a word jumped on him, hitting him with his old fisherman's hands, without strength, he did not hurt him in the least, Melchor tried to hold him, until he calmed down, and When he thought he had succeeded, don Ricardo threw himself on him again with all the hatred and all the burden of conscience and guilt that he had accumulated, to try to stab him with an old fishing knife. Melchor saw him coming, dodging the blow, and went to crash his head on the sidewalk, dying instantly.
In the beginning the people were going to take justice into their own hands, Melchor, who in the midst of the blows of the crowd, managed to hear the half truth, did not defend himself, he just let himself be carried away by the tumult and when in the middle of the square they were going to finish him off, under the only light bulb in the place, an old woman came out from among the people hugging him, shouting that he was innocent.
It was Doña Aurora, Carmen's mother, who explained from the depths of her soul, the truth about Carmen and her little boy, the truth about the death of both of them, and explaining that this young man only came to seek happiness in a town where no one had been able to find it.
When Doña Aurora's story ended, no one said a word and they went home. The next day they buried Don Ricardo, Dona Aurora did not shed a single tear, in the cemetery she threw a bucket of water on Carmen's grave, and took Melchor home, like a son, as if nothing had happened.
This is how Melchor was in that town, for a long time, some said he had lost his mind, others that his conscience did not allow him to abandon Doña Aurora, some said that the town would swallow him up in time, but one day, everything changed.
The people had seen a change in Melchor, he began to be part of them, he began to fish, then he began to educate children, adults and the elderly and ended up, some years later, being the mayor of that poor but very beautiful town, beginning its renovation.
Finally everyone in the town could feel that someone cared about improving the living conditions of its inhabitants, placed the four bulbs in the square for the first time in history, and restored the town's cemetery, and although he never married, it was there for a long time, converting it over the years into a more humane town, both in its standard of living, and in the way in which each of its inhabitants faced their role.
Finally he went to the beach, where death mercilessly took the life of his newborn son, and Carmen's, his great love, there in that place he was still drawn in the white sand, a figure that he remembered well, from the afternoon who was with Carmen, a few minutes later Melchor could notice how a beautiful heart finally disappeared with the waves, the same one that Carmen had drawn, just before losing itself forever in the immensity of the sea.
The end
Declaration
I certify that my entry to the The Ink Well Writing Prize is my own original work and has been published exclusively to The Ink Well and my Hive profile. I understand that my entry may be excluded from the Writing Prize if I have not met the Rules of Entry and the Community Rules. The Ink Well and the Writing Prize is supported by the @ocd Communities Incubation Programme and the @curie curation initiative.
