SHORT STORY I WILL CLOSE THE DOOR
I WILL CLOSE THE DOOR
Automatic traslation from the original story in Spanish. Not checked manually
When you have been mistreated day after day, month after month, year after year, in eclipses and nights, there comes a time when you can’t take it anymore.
It’s not about the blow, or the insult, or even the baby starting to cry. It’s the fear, absolute and piercing fear.
The sound of the keys when he is about to enter is enough, or when you start eating, not knowing if the glasses will end up crashing against the walls. It’s the screams that you no longer hear but that flood your being as if it were acid on your face.
I think about all this today. This morning like other mornings, but in a different way. I’m packing my bags and I take what is essential for my baby.
The phone rings. It’s him.
I don’t pick it up, I’m opening the door.
My name is Irene, my baby Calpurnia.
As they say in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, you can’t kill nightingales, they just sing and make your life beautiful. So, I’m leaving with Calpurnia, I’ll close the door and please… don’t say anything to anyone.
I Will Close the Door – Short stories series – Copyright ©Montserrat Valls and Juan Genovés