Short Story number 6: Inspired by the song «High Hope» by Glen
Hansard from the solo albumRhythm and Repose.
He consulted his watch for the third time while impatiently wandered
back and forth along the living-room. I’ll
be ready in five minutes! she said. He nodded his head and smiled, for he
quickly deciphered the true meaning behind those words. He might as well
surrender to the evidences, and accept the fact, that the concept of time has
different meanings to men and women.
He sat dawn on the sofa and looked around. His eyes rested on the
bookshelf where books, photographs and significant mementos, of their lives
together, were displayed. He got up from the sofa and moved toward the
bookshelf with the curious eyes and the leisurely attitude of someone, who was
unexpectedly confronted with an undesirable surplus of time, and did not know
what to do with it. On those occasions, one’s attention tends to cling to the
most inconspicuous details, which due to that unplanned and sudden approach,
are likely to be analyzed through a total new perspective. That is why,
sometimes, in life, the most unsuspicious gestures might lead us to the great
revelations, which are often concealed behind the illusory simplicity of the
ordinary things.
Lacking conviction, his hand
hesitantly reached for his once favourite book. The first contact of his hands
with its worn out cover instantly brought back distant memories of significant
parts of his life. Slightly stunned by this unexpected amazement, he returned
to the sofa and sat down. Handling with care the precious object, he carefully
analyzed all the angles of this treasure. Feeling curious, he opened the book,
touched its yellowish pages and felt the comforting smell that emanated from
them. As he turned the pages, he slowly unveiled the trails he left behind a
long time ago. Each note on the side of a page, each underlined paragraph were
once the answers to his most profound questions or an accurate verbalization of
his deepest feelings.
Just one more minute! she said. The sound of her voice soothed the
sudden swirl of emotions that assaulted him. He closed the book and stood there
in silence, just realizing that all the significant feelings, he had
experienced throughout his life, were still alive, though, carefully stored in
a safe and recondite place somewhere inside his heart. While some of those
feelings carried with them painful memories and sad moments, others, took him
by the hand and walked with him through happy and sunny days.
He recognized that he was a
receptacle for the flow of experiences and feelings collected along his way
through life and that all of them converged together to shape the person he was
now. He was not the man he was before, but he would not be the man he was now
if he were to deny or ignore his past. Ultimately, each of those moments were
like the pages of his old favourite book. If one of its pages was ripped apart,
its soul would be mortally wounded and its essence would not be complete
anymore.
I’m ready, she said. He stood up and looked at her. The perfume
she was wearing filled the air and her smile lightened up the room. It was worth the wait, he thought. He
felt in awe with her presence and her eyes spoke to him in the inexplicable
language of those sharing the indestructible bond of embracing each other,
exactly as they were, without reservations.
It had been a long journey and in many chapters of his life he doubted
if he would ever reach a happy ending. As he prepared to leave the house,
holding hands with her, he thought that, the moment he had been so anxiously
waiting for, might finally be just there, within the reach of his hand.
«For now, his journey was over but he knew that others
will follow. When that moment arrived again, he would be ready to leave,
carrying hope in his heart.»
By Raquel R. in Short Story
number 5
“Not I, nor anyone else can travel
that road for you.
You must travel it by yourself.
It is not far. It is within reach.
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born,
and did not know.
«He closed his eyes and recognized that every hazard
he had endured throughout his perilous journey, was not in vain, for he had
finally reached his destination. That conviction made the moment even more precious
to him.»
«This decisive moment, restored in him the faith that
he needed to carry on with his journey. Slowly but utterly he progressed in the
terrain and finally reached the summit of the rocky hill.»
By Raquel R.
in Short Story number 5
«If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light.
Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.»
Cesare
Pavese
Mountain partially covered with clouds, "In
Glacier National Park," Montana: here
« This inspiring vision, made him realize, that small
details, like this one, often hold within amazing revelations that, if embraced
with humbleness, might teach us priceless lessons and point us the right
direction.»
By Raquel R.
in Short Story number 5
«Climb the mountains and get
their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into
trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their
energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.»
«That stubborn resilience was the tenuous but decisive
line that separated those who survived and those who succumbed.»
By Raquel R. in Short Story number 5
«In the midst of winter, I found
there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it
says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s
something stronger – something better, pushing right back.»
«On those occasions, he clung to the certainty that he was not alone in
this journey. Many others were on the way, and like him, struggled to remain
faithful to the hope of a happy ending.»
By Raquel R.
in Short Story number 5
«We don’t receive wisdom; we must
discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare
us.»
