“Run! It's only a few minutes before they close the door”.
Joana, a tall, stocky twenty-five-year-old, is ahead, hurrying her friends Lorena and Maryuri. The pavement is shiny with humidity, and there is very little light illuminating the street.
“Are you sure it's this way? We didn't get lost?”. Maryuri gasps, trying to keep her black hair under her yellow wool cap as the wind blows against her. The cold of this country affects her greatly. She is used to the warmth of her homeland.
“This is the address we were told. Look, there is the door. Let's go”
At the end of the blind street, there is a black metal door with a golden lock and lightning bolts sticking out and shining in the gloom. There is no name to indicate where it leads to.
The walls are painted with graffiti. You've reached the end, You'll find what you're not looking for, Life is a dream, Come back, Don't go in, You're going to have fun.
The young women arrive in front of a tall man with blond hair and dark glasses.
“Do they have their tickets?”
“Yes, here they are”. Joana hands them the three black tickets with golden rays.
Three days ago, she and her friends were sitting in the university cafeteria. As psychology students, they were discussing the effect of music on helping to overcome depressive states.
Samuel, a tall and thin young man, fellow student, wearing a cap and a red scarf , sees them and approaches them.
“Hello girls! I wanted to invite you to a new place that opened between 5th and 4th avenues. They say it's crazy, good music and drinks”.
Maryuri looks at him with her big black eyes, which make Samuel uncomfortable.
“And what's crazy about it?”
"Well, they tell me that there is a man there who predicts the future, and suddenly you can feel like you are in another era, because of the way they are dressed and the music they listen to. People who have been there leave amazed but come back".
"But, you haven't gone in?"
"No, that's why I want to go with you".
Lorena is a girl who is used to sometimes very heavy teasing. Her tender face with light brown bangs and green eyes deceives those who don't know her.
"Hahaha, you are afraid to go alone"
"I've already bought four tickets for Friday night". Samuel pulls them out of his pocket and shows them to her.
"Gee!, don't you think you were a little fast. We haven't said yes yet". Joana smiles and looks at her friends.
"And what do you think, Shall we go with Samuel?"
"I say yes, I'm intrigued that Samuel invited us". Maryuri puts on her coat and approaches Samuel with a wink. He hands her the tickets with sweaty hands. I should have put on my gloves, he thinks in embarrassment. He can't help but get nervous when he's very close to her. He likes her a lot but he hasn't told her.
The evening breeze begins to cool. They all agree to meet at the cafeteria on Friday to go to the new place. But Samuel didn't show up, excusing himself by saying he had a cold. The girls decided to go alone.
"They can come in".
The man in dark glasses opens the heavy metal door, and they enter a corridor with wooden walls decorated with seashells.
They enter a bright and crowded room. An orchestra plays Latin music. The notes that come out of saxophones, the drums, the accordion, and the guitar are combined in a rhythmic and vigorous sound of merengue that invites you to dance.
The three friends sit at a table that they have reserved. A young man in a red and black pirate outfit and an eye patch waits for them.
"Good night! That they will take?".
"I want a cold beer". answers Maryuri. The music brings back memories of her land. Years ago, she immigrated to this cold and misty region, nothing like the warmth of her Caribbean island.
"With this cold, hahaha, you're crazy!". Lorena tells the young pirate "I want something hotter".
While Lorena and Joana finish ordering her drinks, Maryuri's thoughts go back to that moment when she said goodbye to her father at the airport. That was her last goodbye. The tall, slim figure of hers stared at her until she entered the departure area.
When saying goodbye, her father tells her "Have fun, daughter, but don't forget us."
That was the last time she saw him, a month later he had disappeared when he was fishing in the sea.
Suddenly, the lights go out, and a tall, thin man dressed in white with a white hat appears on the stage. His face is not visible, but his voice is very deep.
"Good evening to all present and absent. The time has come to celebrate life and also death, which is nothing more than the passage to another plane".
"But how strange is this speech! ". Lorena was having a lot of fun while Joana looked at Maryuri.
"You feel good, Maryuri?. You're gone. You don't like the place?.
"If I like it, it is only because it has brought me many memories. And the voice of the man has impressed me".
The voice continued to speak.
"Here are some people for whom we have a big surprise. We have brought each of you a special gift. I am going to mention them, and they will go up here on this stage.
People were going up and down, some smiling, others crying, and others surprised. Some went up alone and went down accompanied.
"Maryuri!"
The voice was heard even deeper, and Maryuri walked slowly until she was in front of the man. Don't look at his face He took her by the hand and told her "You have to have fun and celebrate. I'm fine".
A shiver ran through her body. It was her father's voice. Tears began to run down her cheeks. From the back of the stage, Samuel came out and approached her.
"Happy birthday, Maryuri!. This is a surprise from your friends". He hugged her and accompanied her to the table where Joana and Lorena were waiting for her, smiling in front of a chocolate cake with 26 candles.
Maryuri was still in shock, but she blew out the candles and hugged her friends.
"What madness! Many thanks friends".
"Yes, I must admit that the place is a bit strange and especially the man in the hat, but he's great". Lorena's green eyes shone with joy.
"For a moment, I felt on my own".
"That's the magic", Samuel looked at her with great tenderness.
"But how did they know? I haven't told anyone".
"Did they know that?", asked Joana.
"What my father told me the last time I saw him and this..."
Opening her hand, there in her palm was a pink pearl like the one her father fished for in the blue waters of the Caribbean.
Samuel approaches him and says, "When I came to this place to organize the birthday surprise, they asked me what you wanted the most, and I told them that you missed your family and your country very much".
"In this place, we do magic and Maryuri will listen, and see what her heart desires". That's what they told me. But I don't know how to explain what happened tonight.
Maryuri hugs Simón and whispers "Thank you for this moment" while squeezing the pink pearl tightly in her hand.
Thanks for reading. This is my story for The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #124.
The image of the presentation was edited in Canva.
Translated into English at www.deepl.com
What a heartwarming story of friendship and sacrifice! I wish we have friends like Samuel who would go all the way to make our heart wishes come true. Maryuri is lucky! Lovely story. !LUV 🙂
@popurri, @kemmyb(1/4) sent you LUV. | tools | discord | community | HiveWiki | <>< daily
! help(no space) to get help on Hive. InfoFriends are a blessing and Samuel, knowing of Maryori's sadness, did everything possible to make her feel at home.
Thank you very much @kemmyb I am very glad that you liked it.
Greetings 🤗
hello @popurri, in order for us to curate your story, please could you image source your header image using a clickable URL that takes the reader back to the source of the royalty-free image. I assume that you have used an image from Canva as you mention editing it in Canva. If so, are you aware that if you click on the three dots in the top right hand corner of a Canva image and then click on the image description, it will take you to the dedicated page for that image on Canva? You can then select that URL for your image sourcing.
Hello @theinkwell. I didn't know that you had to place the font when using free images in Canva.
Thanks so much for the explanation.
I already looked for it and edited the post.
Greetings 😊
hi @popurri you bring us an interesting story of three young friends who visit an intriguing new club in town, and for one of them, the experience brings her a lot more than she bargained for. She finds herself reacquainted with ghosts from her past and walks away at the end of the evening feeling comforted and at peace. A nice combination of narration, action, and dialogue moves the story along at a good pace and keeps the reader engaged. I felt like I was running with them along the city streets. The graffiti was a nice touch and lent an air of mystery to the place. There is a slight curiosity in that mention is made of the club being home to one who can tell the future, but then when they get there they encounter someone more akin to a medium. If I can add anything else, make sure you watch out for switching tenses during your story.
Hello @theinkwell . Thank you very much for your comments and for those observations of the text very important ones. I will be watching.
Regards 🍃