Miss

"Miss, the room is very messy.
After you eat, please tidy it up....
Miss? Why are you crying, Miss?"
 

By José Lacarra, student 3rd Year of Literature and Creative Writing (LEC)

From the exhibition "Encuentros" by Pepe Dámaso and the triptych of Agaete by Joos van Cleve.
Flickr

David found the ring while looking for something (he could no longer remember what) in his room. Sometimes he would do these things. He would become obsessed with an object and search for it all over the house, turning it upside down. She didn't usually find anything because, halfway through the process, the lady would get mad and yell at her that she had had enough of her nonsense. Of course, since she was the one who had to clean it all up, come and throw things all over the floor! But that was enough, as if she had nothing else to do but pick up her shirts and books. 

He had already looked inside the cupboards and under the bed. He pulled the drawer of his bedside table so hard that it dislodged it. Her arms were unable to hold it and it fell to the floor, making a terrible noise. She clamped her mouth shut and covered her ears. When he uncovered them he heard a faint whistling sound. He relaxed his lips and smiled. Little by little the music faded until, suddenly, an Argentine sound spread through the bedroom. It had to be money. The old man bent down to look for the coin. 

I could not see her because the room was, as the lady said, a lion's den. Old letters, old cards, old passports, old passports, key rings, stamps of saints and Kleenex were scattered around the piece of furniture, as if the piece of furniture had been thrown out of its entrails. He piled all the objects in one place and felt the floor with his hands. Then he brushed the ring. He put his forefinger in the hollow and held it with his thumb on the outside. He raised his hand to the level of his eyes and looked at it.

It wasn't a ring, it was a wedding band - his or his wife's? He looked at his fingers. He was wearing his so it had to be Maria's. Yes: Maria's. That was her name. That was her name. Where was she? Suddenly he missed her terribly. Where was she? He no longer wanted to look for things, or coins. He wanted to be with Maria, his wife. He loved Maria and she wasn't there and she wasn't wearing her wedding ring. What a clueless woman! Oh, how beautiful his wife was, with her long, soft arms... The room was too messy.

-Miss! -He shouted, "Miss! Come upstairs, please! Do you know when Maria is coming? Our room is a mess!

Kneeling like a small child and with his hand raised holding that object, he remained silent. The midday sun was streaming through the window. The wedding ring was golden and shone like a halo on the index finger. Inside it was engraved the date of marriage. The young lady was not coming. She put the ring on and something ached in her body. She got up and headed for the kitchen. 

A man in his fifties was cooking. He was dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, wearing an apron on top.

-Son? -David shouted excitedly.

Jesus turned around in amazement. He had a soup spoon in his hands.

-Dad?  

The father stretched out his trembling arms.

-Jesus... my son!

He stared at his father. He was perplexed. David began to walk toward him. Jesus said nothing. Then David stopped. His eyes stopped shaking. 

Jesus kept looking at him. He was rigid. 

-Miss, the room is very messy. After lunch, please tidy it up... Miss? Why are you crying, Miss?