Saturday, July 24, 2010

Empty




Every day at daybreak she gets out of her double bed and slowly walks around it to the other side. Once there, she mechanically opens the bed, sits at the edge of the mattress, raises her legs and lies down. Slowly she slides her feet in-between the cold silky sheets, immediately her warm body starts to tremble, instinctively reacting to the chilly sheets.
After getting in, she takes almost a minute to find a comfortable position, she turns to one side, then to the other, curls herself in and then stretches out; in no longer than five minutes she is sound asleep and smiling…

At 7:30 am the alarm clock began to play a tender melancholic melody. Antonia opens one eye, then another, a few seconds later she gives a lethargic glance to the diffuse early morning light coming through her bedroom window… a bright smile dresses her pretty face as she happily greets the new day. With laziness she stretches out her arms and legs covering up the whole bed… the coldness of the other side of the bed suddenly bring her back to the cruel reality…
She has to force herself to slowly turn her face to the side, the emptiness and loneliness of the other side overwhelms her with sadness. Suddenly her morning happiness evaporates, her expression abruptly transforms, given place to a harsh looking face that has no resemblance with the one that woke up five minutes ago…

Who can be playing such cruel jokes? How can someone be so malicious? What is that person trying to get from her?
A thousand questions outdo her thoughts, leaving her confused and annoyed. She can’t call the police again, they don’t believe her. They keep saying that she is making it up, that she must go for some therapy, that she is still mourning his passing…
But how can she be grieving someone who betrayed her, who left her without any warning after all his promises. She isn’t mournful, she isn’t crazy, she doesn’t need any psychiatrist help, what she needs is the useless police to catch the son of a b@#@ that is messing up with her.

From the minute she met him, she knew he was too good to be true, as good things weren’t on her life menu. Antonia was familiar to betrayals and desertions, her very own mother taught her very well about that. But, she thought God had given her a break when she met Alejandro. So she stupidly put her fences down allowing him to get into her fragile heart, believing that for the very first time in her very painful life she was going to experience love to its fullest. But, what she didn’t know and never expected was that it was going to last only two years…
Why did he have to go to pick the stupid flowers to surprise her? She didn’t need early flowers in the morning, she needed him, his smiling face waking up next to her, his tender arms hugging and protecting her, his masculine scent overwhelming her and getting deep into her skin. But he insisted that it wasn’t enough, that she deserves much more and he wanted to give everything to her.
He forgot the most important… he forgot to stay and instead got killed. An accident, a stupid accident took the love of her life away… now all that is left is an empty bed, in an empty bedroom of an empty house of an empty woman…

From the bedroom door she looks at the empty bed… both sides undone as if two people slept in it… “Maybe Alejandro comes every night to sleep with her” she says to herself, but then she erases that stupid thought, she doesn’t believe in ghosts, she only believes in what she can see and touch.
Today she is going to change all the doors locks once again, she’s going to fight back, she isn’t going to allow anybody to mess around with her. She is a warrior with strong armor and immune to warm feelings.

Antonia looks once more to the empty bed, seeing everything in black and white, she isn’t aware that since Alejandro passed away she doesn’t see colors any more…


This post is a submission to Magpie Tales #24, writing on a theme of the above photo.


© 2010 Gabriela Abalo

26 comments:

Eric S. said...

Ohh, the sadness f not seeing colors anymore. The bitter costs of a vibrant love lost to fates unbidden greed. I feel for her deep within, I do.

Well done.

Anonymous said...

ohhhhh, poor antonia!

Kathe W. said...

oh so deeply sad...such sorrow.
Well done-

Kass said...

Undone bed, undone life.

Gemma Wiseman said...

So much psychic innuendo for Antonia! But the final comment on colours is really quite dramatically cutting! A wonderful narrative!

leenah. said...

the sadness renders me speechless ...


Your words so beautifully paint her world... devoid of colours.
Loved it.

Friko said...

The sadness of unaccepted loss is palpable.
Thank you for visiting my blog.

ninotaziz said...

Friko,
Your words create the surreal world of Antonia...
Well done!

RA said...

I wrote a comment earlier, but it wanished to cyberspace....

This was beautiful. Such sorrow, such pain. Such strength. :)

Sam Liu said...

You capture the distraught desperation and the deep pain one feels when they finally open up their heart, only to have it broken. This a poignant and a heart-wrenching piece of writing.

Elly said...

impressively sad !

Anonymous said...

Very sad. Well written

Gabriela Abalo said...

Eric: I felt Antonia’s pain deep within while writing her story. I don’t know why the story developed to be that sad… but that was exactly what the Magpie picture whispered to me.
Thank you for stopping by.

Vicky: thanks for stopping by. I want to believe Antonia will find a happy turn any time ;)

Kathew: the story ended up to be a very sad one… I guess the grey sky did have an influence on me.
Kass: anything undone is good rough material… the possibilities are many, so many things can be done from them ;)

Greyscale: Thank you for your positive comment and welcome to the blong.
Leenah: I did have a strong connection with the character, I did feel her pain.
Friko: palpable is the way I like my stories to be ;) if the reader connects and feels the character, then I have achieved my goal. Thanks for stopping by.

Ninotaziz: Thank you for stopping by. Antonia’s world isn’t that surreal… there are many who go through such world every day.

RA: thanks for taking your time to comment again, I’m happy to have you by the blog with your encouraging comments.
This was one of the saddest stories I have ever written… I enjoy the process of bringing Antonia to life… now I leave it up to the reader to write the rest of it… whether she will find love once again or not.

Sam: nice to see you back! A very sad story indeed, but so real, being heartbroken isn’t easy but it is part of life. Sometimes is the only way we learn our lessons.
Elly: I do agree with you. I did cry when writing this story 


Madambutterfly: thank you for your encouraging comment.

loveNlight
Gabi

Kirk said...

"How can she be grieving someone who betrayed her?"

"He forgot to stay inside and instead got killed"

Easier, maybe more satisfying, to blame him rather than mere happenstance.

Excellent.

Brian Miller said...

delicious write...the loss of a loved one taking the color out of the world...i can believe it...nice magpie! going to be late with mine again this week...

Unknown said...

Once again we see that letting go the death of a loved one can be so difficult. As Brian said the color seems to leave the world. In time and with the realization that all is present in spirit the colors will return along with the warm sheets.

How many ways can I find to express my admiration of your talent. Gabi. Well done.

Tumblewords: said...

Oh, so sad. The color has been bleached from her life. Nicely written!

Anonymous said...

a lot of pain and loneliness... the absenc ef colours explain everything... just takes the hope away... great work...

Anonymous said...

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ds said...

This is wonderful (she doesn't believe in ghosts, sees only in black and white--very nice!). Thank you for visiting my blog today.

Felicitas said...

Love is such a wonderful thing when we have it in our lives... but when it leaves, what's left can be very destructive.

What a wonderful piece!

rel said...

when the story writes itself, as this one does, the result is magnificent. To read this is to feel the heartbreak of her loss.
rel

Anonymous said...

oh my god... this is such a sad and melancholic story..
But you've written it so beautifully... the grief of loss can drive some crazy...
You've painted a clear (although sad) picture .. an excellent Magpie

Kristen Haskell said...

Wonderful story!

R. Burnett Baker said...

I know well how those emotions can lead one to thinking they've been betrayed. Such a heartfelt story. Perhaps Antonia should continue the story of love and healing by going out herself and picking those flowers...... Beautifully done!

Thank you for visiting me...I look forward to reading more of your work!

Rick

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

very fine tuned tale,
your talent is admirable!