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Ancora
It was a summer morning. The whole house was in commotion.
There was a lot of noise because we were getting ready to
go see our grandmother. Since she lived in a town named Ancora
far away from the border, neither my brothers or I had ever
met her. My father did not like that town. When he left that
place, he had planned to not ever go back, but my grandmother
would insist that she did not want to leave. She would say
that all her memories were there. My mom convinced my dad
to make the trip, and to not come back without my grandmother
this time.
Once on the road, I was very excited. Ciudad Juárez
was soon far behind. We passed through various cities before
arriving to a long dirt road that would make my dad´s
car jump. Now and then, on the roadside we would see a tree.
All of them seemed old, dusty, with the green of their leaves
barely notisable. They all had their branches down, as if
they were sad and tired of been there. I also saw some lizards
passed near the road, walking in between the bushes that surrounded
us.
While we were traveling I remembered that my father had told
me that when he was a child, he didn´t like to go with
my grandmother to the hills to pick up wood. He had told me
tha when he was a child, he would go everywhere with her.
He would tell me and my brothers about how proud he had always
been of his mother. I tried to imagine the kind of person
she was. I had heard that she was a vigorous, loyal and brave
woman. My dad had also told us that in the times of the revolution,
she had been a guerrillera.
When we arrived to the town, stones streets surrounded us.
We enconter a silence that gave the impression of a ghost
town. Our surroundings contrasted with the noisy town that
we had heard my dad talked about. It seem as if it was all
empty. There was no one in the streets. No one even lean out
when listening the car’s motor.
All the houses had very tall doors, but none of them had windows.
It was as if the houses themselves were sleeping, as if they
didn’t want to see the place where they were at. It
was a town of which all the men had departed in search of
better opportunities. Suddenly, my dad stopped in front of
a brick house. In some parts of its facade the adobe could
be seen in between the rectangular holes. It was a dusty place.
Everything around it looked gray. The houses and the few trees,
all was cloudy. We knock the door, and when it opened, an
old and sad woman leaned out. I saw how time had hold that
face. When she saw my father, her eyes filled with tears,
and she hold him for a long time, as if she never wanted to
let go. She was an old woman with white hair and trembling
hands. She was my grandmother. No longer that other woman
I had hear so much about, no longer that woman I used to imagine,
and when she hold me, I knew she was happy.
When we walked into the house, we found rooms with very hight
ceilings. In the roof we could see the beams. The house was
still furnished with antiques. We were told that there was
only one store in town. I didn´t see any children, and
the few people that I later saw, were old people.
That night my father told my grandmother that we were there
to not go back without her. “I knew you would come”
she answered. “I was just waiting for you because now
I do want to leave this place.” I saw my father’s
face filled with joy, finally my grandmother had accepted
to leave that town.
The next day my parents’ expressions were different.
My dad was sad, he was crying. I did not understand. I asked
for my grandmother, and then they told me what had happened.
My grandmother had died. It was just how she had said, she
was just waiting for my dad so that she could leave. Now I,
just like my father, do not plan on ever going back to that
place.
BY: SILVIA BARRIOS
TRANSLATED BY: MINERVA LAVEAGA DUARTE
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