Half in Fire

Alícia sighed, feeling the weight of generations on her shoulders, as though an invisible force pulled her down. Then she straightened her curved back. “Hungry, my dear?”

My whole body stiffened, gripped by throbbing pain and accumulated tension. My stomach ached with hunger, but I had no appetite. I felt everything. Every word, every memory, every fragment of that story.

And still, I was far from processing what I had heard. “I-it’s alright.”

Alícia smiled faintly. “You’re very pale. Please, eat something.” She looked over her shoulder. “Liana, could you bring a little snack?”

Liana appeared in the doorway. “Of course.”

“You need to eat.” Alícia shook her head, chuckling to herself. “I know. It’s a lot, isn’t it? But you deserve to know. After all, you brought joy to my little granddaughter’s heart and cared for me, a stranger.” She watched me tenderly. “That’s what they call love, isn’t it? I understand you. I would have done the same.” She patted the back of my hand.

Shortly afterward, Liana returned with a snack. I thanked her, and she left.

“Very well, we can continue.” Alícia still wore a smile. Yet that was precisely when her soul bled the most.