An old man sits at a bus stop and listens to a couple arguing with each other. After a few minutes the young woman goes away shouting. The young man sits next to the old man seeming to have a kind of regret. The kind old man places his hand on his shoulder and asks him:
“What happened? Can I help?”
“Women…” – He says sighing. “I can’t understand them.”
“Me neither.”
“Have you ever done something you’ve really regretted?”
“Of course, I’ve done wrong a lot of things… involving the woman I love…”
“Are you married?”
“No I’m not. I suppose you’d not like to listen to an old man but I can tell you about her.”
“No, sure you can tell me. I can’t go home anyway.”
“She is the prettiest girl in the world for sure! You will see, she comes here every day, you will see soon, I’m here just to wait her.”
“How cute, you guys must love each other.”
“It’s not so like this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whatever, let me continue… I used to play the guitar in front of her when we were younger. Such beautiful songs I remember I sang… I saw her for the first time at university. I used to go to the library just to see her studying. She dances very well. I remember her at the parties. Her smile, it’s so beautiful, when she laughs I get happy. I love this woman, I really love this woman.”
“I’m thinking about my wife, I’d like to have a good relationship like you.”
“God! She is right there! Can you see?”
“You are right, she is very pretty.” –The young man says trying to hide his reaction. She isn’t so pretty anymore, he thinks when he sees the old woman full of wrinkles approaching them. “I will leave you guys talk and…”
“You don’t need to do it”, the old man says grabbing his arm and then the young man sits again.
“What are you doing?”
The old woman comes and sits on the seat next to them. The boy doesn’t understand why the old man doesn’t even look at her. They stay in silence for more or less five minutes. The old woman leaves when her bus arrives. The old man looks at the young man and smiles.
“Did you see how pretty she is?”
“I really didn’t understand. You said you love her.”
“Yes and I do. When I was playing the guitar and singing she wasn’t listening. When I was looking at her at the library she wasn’t looking back. When she was dancing, she wasn’t dancing with me. When she was smiling, she wasn’t smiling at me. I love her, I have always loved. She just doesn’t know this. I choked with the words not said.
Eduarda Adiers Agustini
Aluna do Curso Técnico de Química
Fundação Liberato
First place
Category short story
Liberarte 2015