Dream Chaser (a 5o-Word Story for @jayna)

in #fiftywords6 years ago (edited)

Greetings, 50-worders and readers. This is my entry to @jayna's #fiftywords challenge. This week’s prompt is
Chase
. You can see the details of the challenge here:

https://steemit.com/challenge/@jayna/fiftywordstorychallengeandsomefunthings-0jjlo0mu42

Source

         To Anton and in memory of Tía Mama

Dream Chaser


"Chase your dreams!", his Grandma told him in his sleep.
She died that day. Her lost mind rested.
It took young Antonio three buses, three planes, 90 hours to get from Cumaná to Mar de Plata.
No video game had ever provided him such adventure.
This was just level one.


Commentary: My wife’s aunt died some days ago. Afflicted by Parkinson and other complications. A beloved member of a big family, her death occurred two days before Antonio, one of her two grandchildren, joined the Venezuelan diaspora. Mixed feelings have overwhelmed the family, which keeps losing members either to death or migration. Antonio joins the dozens of relatives my wife alone has lost to the diaspora. I had not made up my mind about what to write for this week’s challenge, when I read a text from Antonio´s mother, summarizing in numbers her son’s journey, which went by without any inconveniency thanks to, they all agree, his grandma’s protection. To @eleidap I owe this vignette.

Buscador de sueños (una historia en 5o palabras)

Para Anton y a la memoria de Tía Mama

Vuela alto, le dijo su abuela en sueños.
Murió ese día. Todos sus recuerdos perdidos en la fosa de Parkinson, pero respaldados en la maleta de su nieto.
Le tomó a Antonio tres buses, tres aviones, y 90 horas para llegar de la punta del Mar Caribe hasta el Sur del Océano Atlántico.
Ningún juego de videos le había proporcionado semejante aventura.
Y este era apenas el primer nivel.

Source


Thanks for your reading. Looking forward to your comments.

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I’ve been wondering why so many Venezuelans have been going overland through Colombia to Peru. Is it easier to find work in Peru rather than in Colombia? Or is there some other reason, like continuing on to Chile?

Greetings, @preparedwombat. It depends on every person's situation, contacts or relatives waiting, etc.
However, historically there have been considerable tensions between colombians and venezuelans. From the independence war and the eventual separation of the Gran Colombia (which gave birth to Venezuela and Colombia as separate countries with Santander on the Colombian side and Bolivar on the Venezuelan side), both peoples have seen each other as potential traitors or enemies.
That tension has had episodes of solidarity and union because of obvious commonalities. But it has been a complicated love-hatred realtionship.
When Colombia was a mess caused by druglords, guerrilla, etc., millions fled to Venezuela and there they prospered and had families. Venezuelans then saw that as an unwanted invasion. Many colombians suffered discrimination and stereotypical labels.
I think that today is paybacktime for Colombians. That would explain some of the crimes that are being committed against Venezuelans.
So, Colombia may be atractive, but at the same time offers many potential complications.
Peru and Argentina because of how far they looked before (obviously they are, but you know what i mean) do not share that history, had not dealt with many venezuelans before; theoretically have nothing against them and shoudl actually thank them for having received them when they were the ones leaving their countries, plus they have offered some advantages in terms of paperwork (less).
Chile did it for some time, but it has started to tighten up. Can't blame any of them. We are talking about an unprecedented migration whose real numbers will take some time and honest counting to determine.

Throughout the world there is strife at the borders. It's heartbreaking. I know I have a simplistic view, but I just wish nations would realize that by building up enemies they kill themselves.

For some bizarre reasons i can't fathom, some politicians benefit from building up enemies and destroying their own countries. The New York times published an op ed where Daniel Corrales argues this very compellingly
https://www.nytimes.com/es/2018/09/16/opinion-corrales-crisis-venezuela/

Rise, get up and run for fulfilling your dreams.. .. Both life and death are true. These are things that are not in our hands. No one has survived death, yet we should do something that people in the world know us, remember our actions. Losing the main member of the family is very sad. In these odd circumstances, we need to maintain courage, and the need to handle the family.

Thanks for stopping by, @certain. Yes, people have to move on and plow their own field. Their legacy will be determined by their work and character, even if the dreams were never fulfilled.

Thanks sir for encouraging.

Great story. Rich in undescribed detail, or at least it leads me to imagine so...

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Thanks, @goastrighter. This excercise puts us in a difficult possition. We can only do so much. Either decribe or move the story forward. Hard to do both in 50 words. Glad it gave you inputs to do the imagining that fills the spaces. Much is left unsaid and ambiguous.

@hlezama...amigo querido, así mismo es. La mecánica de la espiritualidad y el amor se conjungan en un solo tiempo, en un momento justo para dejarnos aleccionados y comprometidos.

Una mágica combinación. Un fuerte abrazo.

I love the spanish version.

Yeah, right? That's how i wanted it, but it did not fit in 50 words. It's a tough narrative excercise. Thanks for stopping by.

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Thanks for the encouragement, @minnowsupport.

A sweet and sad story, @hlezama. May your wife's aunt rest in peace. And may your family hold together through challenging times.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss, and of the economic struggles in Venezuela. Thanks for the story.

😄😇😄

@creatr

Thank you very much for stopping by and for supporting.

Another great entry from @hlezama. 🙂
I really liked the parallel between life and the game. We really need some protection when playing the big game, right? And we usually feel protected by those who cared the most about us, parents and grandparents.

Sorry to hear about your wife's family troubles. It is very unfair what happens in Venezuela. I sincerely hope things will get better.

Thanks, @roxy-cat. I really appreciate it. Life here has become a crazy video game, some sort of maize. Unlike in the video games, though, we don't have extra lives.

I saw some news about the situation overthere. It is so sad. The reporter was showing what is happening in the Venezuelan hospitals. If you don't bring your own medicines, you are left to die? The doctors were working pro bono and they felt so helpless.
And so many good people forced to leave their homes.
Why can't we just restart the bloody game and adopt a different strategy? 😞

That's the million-dollar question. We know of a pediatrician (my wife was his son's teacher) who killed himself because he got too depressed seeing kids die every day before his powerless eyes. The bolivarian revolution is a disgrace, it's run by a bunch of psychos. They take pleasure of people's suffering and they go to the UN and say with a clean face that there's not such a crisis and that we don't need help.
And the international community is still debating what to do, for christ's sake.

The international community? What "community"? A bunch of well paid individuals who ha e no idea on what is happening. Or they do not really care if there's nothing for them.
I'm not a fan of going out and do your own justice but in your country's case I don't see other options.

You are right.

  1. There is no sense of community. If anything is done in the next month it will be because every border country (Colombia, Brazil) and the most wanted destinations (Peru, Chile and Argentina) will react to the threat we represent now for their own social and economic peace, not because they feel our pain and want to do something about it.
  2. Something must be done here, by ourselves, but it is not easy. Unlike other countries, where civilians have access to weapons, we don't. The military is too corrupt and committed to the government. Plus, way too many have left, many of them were the motors of protests and organization.
    Those who still stay are way too demoralized, demotivated and concerned about immediate things. The government controls everything and that makes it very difficult for anyone to organize anything. Imagine that we are getting to a point where you can't even joke about the government. There are two firefighters being prosecuted now for "instigating hatred". Their crime: to make a video joking about the president being an ass/donkey. They face 16 years in prison.
    Now, they will have to put in jail some 10 million people, including kids. We all think, with enough evidence, that he is an ass.

Maybe this is the solution: invading other countries. Since their financial stability is threatened, they might react somehow.
I know what you are saying about putting people in jail for joking. We had the same troubles during the comunist period. An innocent joke about the "beloved" leader could put you in jail for years. Some have even disappeared.
I don't know what can be done to stop this abuse. Maybe if I had the solution, I would have been somewhere else being able to help.
I still believe that people should find some motivation and act. What will they do? Imprison the entire population? Being united is the key.
I really hope something will happen soon and things will get better. It has to as so much suffering is not fair.

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