My grandfather's house was nestled on a rocky promontory very close to the sea, so close that when there was a storm, the big waves would hit the stone walls and the foam would slide down leaving little snails embedded in the chinks. They were trapped there and condemned to die.
Since his strange disappearance a month ago, the house has been closed, and the Keep out sign was taped to the wooden door.
The police's opinion was that my grandfather had fallen into the sea and his body was swept away by the strong currents or crashed against the cliffs and eaten by fish.
The people of the village had another opinion, as they considered my grandfather to be a man who practiced communication with beings from beyond. Since my grandmother died, he has changed and had become more solitary, isolating himself from his neighbors.
Mrs. Beatriz, his closest neighbor, a woman of short stature, about 70 years old, who wore thick glasses, and whose head was always covered with a scarf that revealed a few strands of gray hair, confessed to the police that she had seen him wandering along the shore of the beach.
"One night before Antonio disappeared, I went out of the house to call my cat Mimi because it looked like it was going to storm, and I could see him. He was wearing a red hooded jacket and was walking along the sand. Suddenly, I saw him sit down and raise his arms to the sky. He was probably invoking something. I shivered and ran into the house. As I closed the door, I heard my cat meow and run in through the window"
Mr. Saul, with whom my grandfather used to fish, had told the police that his friend had been very quiet and thoughtful for days.
"One day, he was knocking at the door of his house and heard him talking".
"And could you hear what he was saying?", the policeman asked him.
"I could only hear clearly the word Clarita, the name of his dead wife. I kept knocking and the door opened".
"And what did he say?"
"His eyes were red, and his hair was disheveled. He looked at me and mistook me for Pepe, our friend who drowned during a storm last year. He greeted me and asked if I wanted to come in. I got scared, said no and left."
Strange things started happening on the beach. Some people said they had seen my grandfather walking along the edge of the cliffs, and others said the lights in the house went on and off at night. And during storms, fishermen would see a searchlight that would guide them back.
My mother and I decided to return to my grandfather's house once the police concluded their investigation and stopped looking for his body.
We had arrived in town since we were notified of my grandfather's disappearance and stayed at an inn. We took a train after flying 4 hours from the city where we lived. During the trip I remembered happy moments with my grandfather and grandmother, when he came to spend the vacations.
I was a little girl with long, thin legs and tousled hair, and I loved being with them. My grandmother was very sweet and loving. I helped her in the kitchen. There I learned to cook my favorite recipes: cheesecake, grilled fish, mashed potatoes and chocolate cake with strawberries that she grew herself in her garden.
My grandfather was a short man, in contrast to my grandmother, who was a tall woman. His skin was tanned by the sun, and his gray eyes were furrowed with wrinkles. His hair was abundant and of a light brown color. He had been a sailor in his youth and then a fisherman. He had a boat that he named Clarity. I loved it when he took me with him to sail, even though my grandmother and my mother were very nervous when they saw us leaving from the dock.
The sea was his passion, and during those trips, I learned about the sea currents and the north wind. And of the birds that accompanied us in their flight, the pelicans with long beaks and elegant flight and the seagulls with their noise and looking for the easy catch. But the movement of the waves sometimes scared me.
Don't be scared, Cora; the sea is our element, that's where life originated.
When we arrived home after fishing, I felt happy, full of the smell of saltpeter, and with my skin tanned by the sun. And when I lay in bed, I felt the waves rocking me; their sound lulled me to sleep like a baby.
My mother and I went to the
my grandfather's house in the morning hours. We could hear the sound of the waves hitting the cliff. We walked through the garden, which I remembered as full of cayenne and senecio bushes, with their grayish leaves and small purple flowers. Now they were drying up.
I opened the door, and the sun shone into the room. The table was strangely clean, and the room was tidy. In the kitchen, there were some cups and plates in the sink.
"Mom!, this is strange. It would be the police that left them there, it seems that they used them recently".
"Yes, daughter, it's possible they went in and made coffee. The brew bag is still wet".
We heard as if someone was hammering on the back of the house, and we walked slowly, trying not to make noise, towards the kitchen door, and through a stone slab corridor, we arrived at the backyard.
There was my grandfather, hammering some boards. He immediately raised his head when he saw us standing there, paralyzed with surprise.
"Dad!, what are you doing here?"
"It's a good thing you came. Your mother and I were waiting for you, and leaving the hammer on the floor, he ran to hug us".
"Where have you been all these days, Grandpa? We have been looking for you".
"I was fishing with Pepe, the boat turned over and the current took me to a cave in the cliff. When I woke up I couldn't remember how to get to the house. And there I stayed until Clarita found me and brought me back".
¿How my grandfather survived all those days? is a mystery. His mind had created a reality; we don't know if it was because of the blow he received or because of his advanced age. He was wandering around unnoticed until he could reach the house.
It was not good to take him with us and he could not be left alone. I told my mother that I would stay with him and take care of him at home, in front of the sea that he and I loved. It was a way to repay him for all the love he felt for me, and I was sure we would have fun together.
Versión en Español
Mi abuelo está perdido
La casa de mi abuelo estaba enclavada en un promontorio rocoso muy cerca del mar, tan cerca que cuando había tormenta las grandes olas golpeaban las paredes de piedra y la espuma se deslizaba, dejando a pequeños caracolillos incrustados en los resquicios. Quedaban allí atrapados y condenados a morir
Desde su extraña desaparición hace un mes la casa estaba cerrada y el aviso No entrar fue pegado a la puerta de madera.
La opinión de la policía era que mi abuelo había caído al mar y su cuerpo fue arrastrado por las fuertes corrientes o estrellado contra los acantilados y devorado por los peces.
La gente del pueblo tenía otra opinión, pues consideraban a mi abuelo como un hombre que practicaba la comunicación con seres del más allá. Desde que murió mi abuela, él había cambiado y se había hecho más solitario, aislándose de sus vecinos.
La señora Beatriz su vecina más cercana, una mujer de baja estatura, de aproximadamente 70 años que usaba unos gruesos lentes y su cabeza siempre estaba cubierta con un pañuelo que dejaba ver algunos mechones de cabello canoso, confesó a la policía que ella lo había visto deambular por la orilla de la playa.
Una noche antes de que Antonio desapareciera, yo salí de la casa a llamar a mi gato Mimi, pues parecía que iba a ver tormenta y pude verlo. Llevaba puesto una chaqueta roja con capucha y caminaba por la arena. De repente lo vi sentarse y elevar los brazos al cielo. Seguro estaba invocando algo. Me dio escalofrío y me metí corriendo a la casa. Al cerrar la puerta escuché a mi gato maullar y entrar corriendo por la ventana. Me persigné por si acaso.
El señor Saúl, con quien mi abuelo solía pescar, había contado a la policía que, desde hace días, su amigo estaba muy callado y pensativo.
―Un día estuve tocando a la puerta de su casa y lo escuché hablando.
―¿Y pudo entender lo que decía?, ―le preguntó el policía.
―Solo pude escuchar con claridad la palabra Clarita, el nombre de su esposa muerta. Seguí tocando y la puerta se abrió.
―¿Y que le dijo?
―Tenía los ojos enrojecidos y el cabello alborotado. Me miró y me confundió con Pepe, nuestro amigo que murió ahogado durante una tormenta el año pasado. Me saludó y me dijo si quería pasar. Me asusté, le dije que no y me fui.
Cosas extrañas empezaron a suceder en la playa. Algunas personas decían que habían visto a mi abuelo caminando por el borde de los acantilados y otros decían que las luces de la casa se encendían y apagaban en la noche. Y que durante las tormentas los pescadores veían un reflector que los guiaba de regreso.
Mi madre y yo decidimos regresar a la casa de mi abuelo una vez que la policía dio por concluida la investigación y dejaron de buscar su cuerpo.
Habíamos llegamos al pueblo desde que nos avisaron de la desaparición de mi abuelo y nos alojamos en una posada. Tomamos un tren después de haber volado 4 horas desde la ciudad donde vivíamos. Durante el viaje recordé momentos felices con mis abuelos cuando venía a pasar las vacaciones.
Yo era una chiquilla de piernas largas y delgadas y cabello alborotado y amaba estar con ellos. Mi abuela era muy dulce y cariñosa. Yo la ayudaba en la cocina. Allí aprendí a cocinar mis recetas favoritas: pastel de queso, pescado asado, puré de papas y torta de chocolate con fresas que ella misma cultivaba en su jardín.
Mi abuelo era un hombre de baja estatura en contraste con mi abuela, que era una mujer alta. Su piel estaba curtida por el sol y sus ojos grises surcados de arrugas. Su cabello era abundante y de un color castaño claro. Había sido marinero en su juventud y luego pescador. Tenía un barco al que le había puesto el nombre de Clarita. A mí me encantaba cuando me llevaba con él a navegar, a pesar de que mi abuela y mi madre se ponían muy nerviosas cuando nos veían partir desde el muelle.
El mar era su pasión, durante esos viajes aprendí de las corrientes marinas y el viento del norte. Y de las aves que nos acompañaban en su vuelo, los pelícanos de largos picos y elegante vuelo y las gaviotas con su algarabía y buscando la pesca fácil. Pero el movimiento de las olas a veces me asustaba.
No te asustes, Cora mira que el mar es nuestro elemento, allí se originó la vida.
Cuando llegábamos a la casa después de pescar yo me sentía feliz, llena de olor a salitre y con mi piel bronceada por el sol. Y cuando me acostaba en mi cama, sentía que las olas me mecían, su sonido me arrullaba y yo me dormía como un bebé.
Mi madre y yo fuimos a la casa de mi abuelo en horas de la mañana. Se escuchaba el sonido de las olas golpeando el acantilado. Atravesamos el jardín al que yo recordaba lleno de arbustos de cayena y de senecio con sus hojas grisáceas y pequeñas flores moradas. Ahora estaban secándose.
Abrí la puerta y el sol alumbró la estancia. La mesa estaba extrañamente limpia y la sala ordenada. En la cocina había algunas tazas y platos en el fregadero.
― ¡Mamá!, esto sí es extraño. Sería la policía que las dejo allí, parece que las usaron hace poco.
―Si hija es posible que ellos entraran y se hicieron café. La bolsa de colar todavía está húmeda.
De repente escuchamos como si alguien estuviera martillando en la parte de atrás de la casa y caminamos lentamente y tratando de no hacer ruido hacia la puerta de la cocina y atravesando un pasillo de losas de piedra llegamos al patio.
Allí estaba mi abuelo, martillando unas tablas. Levantó de inmediato la cabeza al vernos allí paralizadas de la sorpresa.
―¡Papá que haces aquí!
―Que bueno que llegaron, su madre y yo las estábamos esperando ―y dejando el martillo en el suelo, corrió a abrazarnos.
―¿Donde has estado todos estos días abuelo?. Te estuvimos buscando.
―Es que estuve pescando con Pepe, la lancha se volteó y la corriente me llevó a una cueva en el acantilado. Cuando desperté no recordaba cómo llegar a la casa. Y allí me quedé hasta que Clarita me encontró y me trajo.
¿Cómo mi abuelo sobrevivió todos esos días? es un misterio. Su mente había creado una realidad, no sabemos si por el golpe que recibió o por su avanzada edad. Estuvo deambulando sin que nadie lo notara hasta que pudo llegar a la casa.
No era bueno llevárselo y tampoco podía quedarse solo. Le dije a mi madre que me quedaría con él cuidándolo en su casa, frente a ese mar que él y yo también amaba. Era una manera de retribuirle todo el cariño que sentía por mí y estaba segura de que nos divertiríamos juntos.
La traducción al inglés la realicé en www.deepl.com y la corrección ortográfica en https://languagetool.org/es
i enjoyed reading this though i felt bad at first, but later I got okay knowing he was found.
I'm glad you liked it. I like happy endings too.
Thank you very much @treasuree and happy day 🌼
A story with an ending that no one expected, I thought it was a ghost until you told how it had disappeared. A beautiful narrative that immerses we in the action and settings.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Good day.
Hello @rinconpoetico7.
I appreciate and thank you very much for your comment.
Happy day 🌻
You weave a story that makes us believe that something strange and supernatural might have happened to the MC's grandfather. There are many theories about his disappearance. It turns out that the old man had an accident at sea. The boat he was fishing in overturned and he was swept away with the current. He likely suffered amnesia and wandered around for days until he returned home. He thinks he was only able to return when his deceased wife came for him. The story makes me wonder what happened to his friend Pepe, with whom he was fishing at the time of his disappearance. It feels a little anomalous that Pepe's disappearance wasn't investigated alongside that of the MC's grandfather. Surely this would have resulted in the mystery being solved sooner? Nevertheless, an interesting read :-)
Hi @theinkwell
What a good comment you make about the story I wrote because I understood that sometimes what you write is not clear to the reader's eyes.
The grandfather had an accident at sea but he was alone at the time. His friend Pepe had died a year before, but he imagined or believed he was with him. His mind made him see it that way.
Thank you very much.
Greetings and happy day 🌻
What a wonderful solution, her staying with him :) Maybe she even got a boat for the two of them!
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Hello @wrestlingdesires
I'm glad to read your comment. Thank you very much for your support.
Have a wonderful day 🌻