Fiction: History of a lie/ Historia de una mentira (ENG/ ESP)

in The Ink Well28 days ago


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History of a lie

I should have guessed, but I was very young at the time. I should have noticed the signs, but I was preoccupied with other things. The only obligation I had was going to school and occasionally bathing Tedy, our chow chow dog. I went from home to school and back. In the afternoons I spent playing or sitting with my friends on the iron benches in the town square. That's where my mother's cries came from when it got dark:

"Lola, it's late and you have school tomorrow. Come to sleep". -My mother would say from the window or the door and I would run into the house.

My mother was a woman with a docile character and a permanent smile on her face. She was also hard-working and full of energy. Those who knew her admired her for maintaining her temperance, despite the vicissitudes:

"We've never seen your mum angry",_ my friends would tell me whenever they could, _"we've never seen her sad either".

And indeed, although mother had had a childhood of orphanhood and deprivation, and my father had abandoned her before I was born, she always maintained a positive, bubbly attitude that made her stand out from everyone else in the village.


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Pixabay

I should have realised when that second week of January, after the Christmas holidays and before school started, mum told me to go to the doctor.

"I don't have any pain, mum. I don't want to go," I excused myself childishly. My mother looked at me sideways and with her characteristic calm, insisted:

"Let's go to the doctor: both of us. I want to make sure everything is all right,’ she ended the conversation and went on with her chores.

The next day, we went to the doctor's office. There the doctor examined me and sent me for tests. When it was time to check my mother, she asked me to leave the office. I did so and waited for her outside for a long time. When my mother came out, she informed me with a big smile that we would be going to the city for a long stay. As I saw her happy, I shared her happiness and could only jump for joy. I didn't ask her why she wasn't going to school and I didn't want to either.

I must have imagined that something strange was going on when I was at a camp that week, while mum sorted out some banking matters. However, even though she looked very tired, she always kept her optimistic and cheerful attitude:

"What did you do today?" -he would ask me every time I came in. At that time we talked more than we had ever talked before. I remember once, in those long conversations we had, I dared to ask her:

"How did you manage to keep your spirits up, despite all the things you've been through, Mom?"

"We don't gain anything by being unhappy, Lola. We can't change life just because we are sad. On the contrary, if we cheer up, we can get ahead. So we always have to keep our heads up, put on our best smile, even if inside you're dying,’ Mum confessed, looking me in the eye.

When we returned to the village, despite my disinterest and anger, I began to take on more and more responsibilities. When I came home from school, my mother was waiting for me to make lunch:

"Come, I'm going to teach you",_ she would always say to me and we would start cooking, even though I didn't want to.

I also learned, I swear, to clean the house and make the utility payments:

"You're a big girl now, Lola and you need to learn a few things". Mum affirmed with old-fashioned patience.

It was also around this time that Elvira began to spend a lot of time at home. Elvira was our neighbour with whom my mother got on very well.

"Lola, what do you think of Elvira?" -she asked me once while we were washing the dishes.

"Good," was my sparse and sincere answer.


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Pixabay

I must have sensed that something was happening, but nothing crossed my mind. The small changes that were taking place in my life were imperceptible to me. By the time I realised, it was too late.

One morning in May I went to school. Mum had been feeling sick all night, but Elvira and I had been by her side. When I came back, I found Elvira on the sofa in the living room and she told me that my mother wanted to see me. As usual, I left my backpack on the table and went into her room. Seeing her lying down made me feel afraid. Reality was beginning to unfold in front of my face. Mum was very pale and had lost a lot of weight. How had I not noticed that?

My mum asked me to come closer to her. She was smiling as always:

"I love you so much, Lola. You're the best daughter I could ever have. What did you do? How did it go today?" -I told her, but I didn't know why my stomach hurt and my chest hurt. I wanted to cry so much. Mum noticed and, with great difficulty, she said to me:

"Cheer up, Lola. Lift up your face. Always defend your happiness. Remember everything I have taught you," she said and let out a strange sigh.

On that day in May, the woman who had loved me the most and whom I had loved the most, died. That day there was a bustle of people crying in and out of the house, coming and going to see my mother for the last time. She was quiet, smiling, as if she were sleeping.

All images are free of charge and the text is my own, translated in Deepl.

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Thank you for reading and commenting. Until a future reading, friends

Click here to read in spanish


Historia de una mentira
Debí suponerlo, pero yo era muy joven en aquella época. Debí darme cuenta de las señales, pero estaba pendiente de otras cosas. La única obligación que tenía era ir al colegio y de vez en cuando bañar a Tedy, nuestro perro chow chow. Iba de la casa a la escuela y viceversa. En las tardes me la pasaba jugando o sentada con mis amigas en los bancos de hierros de la plaza del pueblo. Hasta allá llegaban los gritos de mi madre cuando oscurecía:
_Lola, ya es tarde y mañana tienes colegio. Ven a dormir. –decía mi madre desde la ventana o la puerta y yo salía corriendo a la casa.
Mi madre era una mujer de carácter dócil y con una sonrisa permanente en la boca. También era muy laboriosa y llena de energía. Los que la conocían admiraban que mantuviera su templanza, a pesar de las vicisitudes:
_Nunca hemos visto a tu mamá enojada –me decían mis amigas cada vez que podían- tampoco la hemos visto triste.
Y ciertamente, aunque mamá había tenido una infancia de orfandad y carencias, y mi padre la había abandonado antes de que yo naciera, siempre mantenía una actitud positiva y chispeante que la hacía sobresalir sobre todas las personas del pueblo.
Debí darme cuenta cuando aquella segunda semana de enero, luego de las fiestas decembrinas y antes de comenzar el colegio, mamá me dijo para ir al médico.
_No me duele nada, mamá. No quiero ir –me excusé en forma infantil. Mi madre me miró de reojo y con la calma que la caracterizaba, insistió:
_Vamos al médico: las dos. Quiero ver que todo esté bien –terminó al conversación y siguió haciendo sus quehaceres.
Al día siguiente, fuimos al consultorio del médico. Allí el médico me revisó y me mandó a hacer unos exámenes. A la hora de revisar a mi madre, ella me pidió que saliera del consultorio. Yo lo hice y la esperé afuera por un largo rato. Cuando mamá salió me informó con una gran sonrisa que iríamos a la ciudad por una larga temporada. Como la vi feliz, compartí su felicidad y solo pude saltar de contento. No le pregunté por qué no iría a la escuela y tampoco quise hacerlo.
Debí imaginarme que algo extraño estaba sucediendo cuando esa semana estuve en un campamento, mientras mamá resolvía algunos asuntos bancarios. Sin embargo, aunque la veía muy cansada, siempre mantenía su actitud optimista y alegre:
_¿Qué hiciste hoy? –me preguntaba cada vez que llegaba. En esa época hablamos más de lo que nunca habíamos hablado. Recuerdo que una vez, en esas conversaciones largas que tuvimos, me atreví a preguntarle:
_¿Cómo hiciste para mantenerte animada, a pesar de todas las cosas que has vivido, mamá?
_No ganamos nada siendo infelices, Lola. No podemos cambiar la vida solo porque estemos tristes. Por el contrario, si nos animamos, podemos salir adelante. Así que siempre hay que mantener la cabeza en alto, poner nuestra mejor sonrisa, aunque por dentro te estés muriendo – confesó mamá mirándome a los ojos.
Cuando regresamos al pueblo, a pesar de mi desinterés y mi enojo, comencé a tener cada vez más responsabilidades. Al volver de clase, mi mamá me esperaba para hacer la comida:
_Ven que voy a enseñarte –me decía siempre y empezábamos a cocinar, aunque yo no quisiera hacerlo.
También aprendí, a juro, a limpiar la casa y hacer los pagos de los servicios públicos:
_Ya estás grande, Lola y es necesario que aprendas algunas cosas. –afirmaba mamá con una paciencia antigua.
También por esa época, comenzó Elvira a pasar mucho tiempo en casa. Elvira era nuestra vecina con quien mi mamá se la llevaba muy bien.
_¿Lola, qué te parece Elvira? –me preguntó una vez mientras lavábamos los platos.
_Bien –fue mi respuesta parca y sincera.
Debí intuir que algo ocurría, pero nada pasó por mi mente. Los pequeños cambios que se estaba dando en mi vida fueron imperceptibles para mí. Cuando me di cuenta, ya era demasiado tarde.
Una mañana de mayo fui al liceo. Mamá se había sentido mal toda la noche, pero Elvira y yo habíamos estado a su lado. A mi regreso, encontré a Elvira en el sofá de la sala y me dijo que mi mamá quería verme. Como siempre, dejé el morral sobre la mesa y entré a su habitación. Verla acostada, hizo que sintiera miedo. La realidad comenzaba a desplegarse frente a mi rostro. Mamá estaba muy pálida y había perdido mucho peso. ¿Cómo no me había dado cuenta de eso?
Mi mamá me pidió que me acercara a ella. Sonreía como siempre:
_Te amo mucho, Lola. Eres la mejor hija que he podido tener. ¿Qué hiciste? ¿Cómo te fue hoy? –yo le conté, pero sin saber por qué sentía que el estómago me dolía y también el pecho. Tenía muchas ganas de llorar. Mamá se dio cuenta y con mucha dificultad, me dijo:
_Anímate, Lola. Levanta la cara. Defiende siempre tu felicidad. Recuerda todo lo que te he enseñado –expresó y largó un extraño suspiro.
Ese día de mayo, la mujer que más me había amado y a quien yo había amado más, murió. Ese día hubo un trajinar de personas llorando por la casa que entraban y salían para ver por última vez a mi madre. En cambio ella estaba tranquilita, sonreída, como si estuviera durmiendo.

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What a bittersweet and poignant story, @nancybriti1 It is no surprise the narrator didn't know what was happening, since she was young. But that makes it all the more heartbreaking! Thank you for sharing your beautiful story in The Ink Well, and for reading and commenting on the work of other community members.

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