SHORT STORY A LITTLE MILK
SHORT STORY A LITTLE MILK
Automatic traslation from the original story in Spanish. Not checked manually
Miriam wakes up at 6 in the morning. She goes to work at the supermarket at 9 am, but first she has to walk the dog, get ready, take the children to school.
Since her husband died, her life is in chaos.
Luis is a security agent; he gets up at 7 am and goes to work at the supermarket at 9 am.
He likes Miriam, the cashier, but he has never dared to tell her.
Her widowhood, so young, due to an accident, makes him repress himself even more. It would be inappropriate now.
Judith looks at her baby, malnourished, crying… her neighbour complain about the screams…
And she is hungry and so is her baby… Caritas supplies have run out and Father Damien’s parish has closed.
They have told her to call another parish, but she is so depressed, so tired, that she doesn’t feel like telling her life again…
As she washes her face and ties her own hair into a knot, she gets the idea of her…she will steal the milk and whatever she needs for the baby.
But… what if they catch her and take her to jail? She looks at the crying baby and thinks that she is going crazy.
At 9 am the supermarket opens.
People who enter fill their carts with food.
Miriam is collecting in the box half sleepy.
Luis walks through the aisles of the supermarket thinking about Miriam.
Judith, trembling, in the children’s area, stuffs things under her jacket. The baby is sleeping.
Luis follows her to the box where she is going
Miriam notes to Judith that she is carrying a baby and nothing more.
“I’m not wearing anything, can I come in?” Judith says shakily.
Miriam nods.
Luis looks at the malnourished baby and says nothing.
Suddenly the alarm sounds.
Judith bursts into tears, the little boy wakes up and cries too.
“It is,” Judith stammers, as she sets things down on the tape.
Miriam realizes that everything is food for the baby.
She is about to warn Luis — she has to, even if she doesn’t like him, he can’t afford to lose his job — but he is already there.
—Miriam, this girl is my cousin, that’s why she hasn’t taken a car. Then I’ll pay you.
Miriam grabs a bag and hands Judith the things.
The young woman has stopped crying and she thanks them both.
That afternoon Miriam will tell Luis to go out for coffee.
That night Judith, already calm, will call the parish that they have indicated to her.
The boy smiles as he drinks the milk. What Judith will never know is that although there are security cameras in the supermarket and more agents, no one stopped her and they would not have done so even if Luis had not paid for her purchase.
A Little Milk – Short stories series – Copyright ©Montserrat Valls and Juan Genovés