Winter moon
Dec 19, 2023 22:51:52 GMT -5
Post by account_disabled on Dec 19, 2023 22:51:52 GMT -5
The woman with the child arrived at the turn of winter, when the wind was blowing away the last autumn leaves from the trees and the cold and humidity clung to each other, biting into the flesh like hungry dogs. She arrived shuffling in worn slippers, dressed in a long skirt and a dusty, faded men's jacket. She held the baby close to her breast, wrapped in a woolen cloth, as if ready to breastfeed him at any moment, a little bundle that cried at times, reminding the world of her presence. “I'm looking for my husband,” she said as she entered the shop.
He didn't notice the shelves full of canned Special Data food and the baskets of freshly baked bread, and the man behind the counter wondered if that emaciated mother who had just appeared was real. «Did you see Him?» “No, I haven't seen any foreigners in town,” the man replied. "Except for the carnies, but they left two days ago." "Two days," he repeated and stared at the other as if expecting him to speak again. "Are you hungry?" «No, I'm looking for my husband». She smiled. «Thank you, maybe he was with the carnies, he worked there many months ago. Does he know where they went?" «I saw them take the provincial road. It's the road that leaves the town." "Thank you.
Thank you very much". "Don't you want something to eat?" he asked, but the woman didn't hear him, she was already on the street, heading who knows where, at a brisk pace under the first drops of rain that were falling haphazardly. She held the child close, whispering something that perhaps not even she herself heard. She kissed his hairless head and set off along the long road, following the trail of a caravan of people she had never seen, anchoring herself in the faint hope of finding the man she said was her husband. He left the last houses behind when the rain became a downpour and the woman's hair became a compact mass of water and dirt, sticking to her head like tights. The little boy began to cry, because the cloth had become soaked, and it was no use to him as the woman kept him under her jacket, which was also made of wool and quickly got soaked.
He didn't notice the shelves full of canned Special Data food and the baskets of freshly baked bread, and the man behind the counter wondered if that emaciated mother who had just appeared was real. «Did you see Him?» “No, I haven't seen any foreigners in town,” the man replied. "Except for the carnies, but they left two days ago." "Two days," he repeated and stared at the other as if expecting him to speak again. "Are you hungry?" «No, I'm looking for my husband». She smiled. «Thank you, maybe he was with the carnies, he worked there many months ago. Does he know where they went?" «I saw them take the provincial road. It's the road that leaves the town." "Thank you.
Thank you very much". "Don't you want something to eat?" he asked, but the woman didn't hear him, she was already on the street, heading who knows where, at a brisk pace under the first drops of rain that were falling haphazardly. She held the child close, whispering something that perhaps not even she herself heard. She kissed his hairless head and set off along the long road, following the trail of a caravan of people she had never seen, anchoring herself in the faint hope of finding the man she said was her husband. He left the last houses behind when the rain became a downpour and the woman's hair became a compact mass of water and dirt, sticking to her head like tights. The little boy began to cry, because the cloth had become soaked, and it was no use to him as the woman kept him under her jacket, which was also made of wool and quickly got soaked.