"Tile"
By Carlos Connosciuto.
Gabriel last turned the corner of the three I had to bend to reach the block from his home. Apples in the neighborhood were the only area that had dirt road and ditches. Most of the houses were unfinished, households were in permanent work, unplastered walls, structures homeless and bricks, piles of cement bags or piles of rubble at the door, were a common sight in the neighborhood. However, the building which had completed were uninhabited, as if a dark plan of the destination indicates that the completion of the work meant the removal or death. The landscape in the neighborhood, completed the huge trees, old and dry, eaten away by insects that populated. Gabriel had no relation with her neighbors except for Raul, who lived next door to his house. The block from his house was full of dark beings, silent ghosts who entered their residences cast aside fear, suspicious, taciturn.
arrived home exhausted from the day of routine work. The front yard had the tall grass, broken water pipes, some wild plants that had found their way in that thankless field as two meters tall, fierce, twisted and rusty, wood veneers and some holes, completed the desolate landscape that Gabriel inherited when he rented and never bothered to improve. The house itself had three rooms and a bath in very precarious conditions. The painting of the facade was a faded green, but inside, it was unpainted and the damp patches earned the walls. Gabriel came in and struck him find the bedroom light on. Was considered very careful with the use of electricity. Just kept the light on in the room where he was and never let any light on when I was not, so it seemed strange neglect. He also noticed that the closet door was ajar, thought he had closed in the morning, but could not remember. Closed it, turned off the light and went towards the kitchen. He ate in silence a stew of things found in the refrigerator. I thought of that, the next day was to meet Guadalupe.
Went home early and greeted Raúl, his neighbor.
- How is? - Gabriel
asked "Well," said Raul and remained silent, standing in the doorway of his house, dressed in his brown suit and red tie, looking at Gabriel with apathy and a bit of distaste. The counter response waited a few minutes, sunk both in a deep silence, only interrupted by the sound of a distant car. Finally, Gabriel made his way to work. Was employed in an office supply purchases were approved for various state agencies. His job was to seal and store the copies of orders, whether or not approved, that is, his work was entirely routine and repetitive, just had to sign, seal and file the papers I received.
arrived at the building and, as always, at the door stood the imperturbable officer guarding the office. A large man, tall, thick mustache and short hair. He was known as "Officer Ramirez" but never heard him speak or gesticulate or do something to show that he is alive. Simply stood beside the door and looked down upon all who entered.
As always, Gabriel sat in his chair, ordered his desk, sat down and seal the bag and began its task. On the radio, sounded the same song every morning. The letter failed to make a metaphor of love with the crabs. Later, other songs sounded like that, that Gabriel seemed to him to be the same, as always, during their office hours, appeared on the radio sounds the same song, only interrupted by the commercial break. Which, at some point, it was better to listen to the noise seal against the paper, again and again, only spaced by the time it takes to wet the stamp pad. Around noon, Fernández and would come up with what was happening in the office, or perhaps would Sánchez and tell their trite and worn foreign jokes together or perhaps both appear to bother him with his talk predictable, flat, empty. The office was small and badly lit, just ran the summer air and there was something like burning lava in hell. Gabriel had decided not to stick pictures and banners of any kind on the walls so the place was decorated only with candy color paint the walls and Suñé a poster that was when Gabriel went to work. But he was not interested in any of this after work that was going to meet Guadalupe.
were found in a charming little square that was a few blocks from where Gabriel worked and then went to a bar. Guadalupe was a brunette girl with a charming smile and warm eyes. Gabriel lost track of time when he looked and that sometimes made him feel confused. In the bar, ordered coffee and croissants.
- How were you these days? - Asked Gabriel
"Well, how about you? "Like always
Guadalupe smiled not unkindly, and Gabriel did not feel so bad
- Do you know I was thinking? "Said Guadalupe and without waiting for an answer, he went in the word" onion "
Gabriel smiled.
- For something special? Guadalupe
laughed and took a sip of coffee. They stood in silence for that Gabriel did not know what to tell ya that just being with her hacho reached him. Guadalupe smiled occasionally but do not say anything, both were comfortable in the silence. In the bar, while a thick mustache man grimly called the bill, a couple quietly discussed, a fat man eating a faina. The young men danced among the tables, balancing with the trays. Everything happened while Elmer and they smiled in silence. After a while, Guadalupe stood up and said he should retire.
"Stay a little longer, 'said Gabriel
" I can not
- When can we meet again?
-No, when you want
- The day after tomorrow? Guadalupe
smiled, seemed surprised by the day, often not seen as often.
"Well, come on, where do we stand today?
"No, I was thinking to come to dinner
Guadalupe smiled, showing his white teeth, perfect.
"Well, give
Gabriel turned the last corner to get home. The neighborhood at night was lit only by lanterns hung from the corners and the lights came out of the house. A dog barked from time to time, the voice of a TV host filtered through the windows. Raul, his neighbor, sat in the darkness of the sidewalk with a glass of wine.
- How is Raul? - Asked Gabriel, kind
"Well," said Raul and took a sip of wine. They stared in silence, in darkness, both their faces was just tainted by some rays of yellow light. Gabriel nodded his head and faced for your home.
As he approached the door, he noticed that the latch was broken. He froze, white, and thought in, but fear stopped; On the other hand, may not have anyone, maybe he was gone whoever had done that. Discarded immediately call the authorities, because it was known that in this neighborhood is not penetrated. He looked out the window and saw the bathroom light was on. Trapped in his own ruminations, drowned, and entered the stomach closed. Turned on the light and there was nobody living. Then he went to the bathroom. The door was ajar and filtered white light, aggressive out. Slowly, making as little noise as possible, approached and, with the fingertips, opened the door. No one was there. Gabriel launched a nervous laugh, did not understand what was happening, he felt a blow in the neck and lost consciousness.
The morning light streamed through the skylight and gave a gloomy aspect to the bathroom. The small room was cluttered with tartar stains on the toilet and the tub and huge spots of moisture on the walls. Some tiles with Chinese flowers were stained with blood. Gabriel woke up lying on the cold bathroom floor of his house. He felt a sharp pain in his head and sat on the floor. He stopped, he washed his face and tried to take the weight off their backs. It took a few minutes to realize what had happened and when it did, a ton of memories smashed brains. So open your eyes was, for him, the entrance to a dark nightmare which began so unbearable headache. Suddenly, a shadow darkened the light coming from under the door, a roar of thunder made the tiles. Gabriel closed his eyes hard, forcing herself to sleep, when the monster entered the bathroom and beat him. The animal was a huge beast greenish, flaky, about two feet tall, his face was clouded but his eyes were red color of fire, expelling a foul odor and his hands were terminated by sharp black claws. When he tried to react, the monster hit again. Gabriel was on all fours, in shock, with blood coming out of the mouth. Tried to stand but was too dizzy to stand. The monster stood, watching him stagger, enjoying the situation. Gabriel fell heavily to the ground. The last thing I saw was the monster throwing a horrid laugh as he left the bathroom. After a while, Gabriel got up with a confused memory of what had happened. As he washed his face, asked how long he had been unconscious.
With the passing of the hours and days, Gabriel recalled that Guadalupe would go to visit him in those days. Perhaps he had been and gone but something in his gut told him otherwise, that something terrible had happened. Did not want his head spin on that terrible suspicion. However, This could only think to forget the huge hole I had in the stomach, heaviness came over him by the physiological need to eat. He was weaker, more tired than usual and the image returned the mirror was of a haggard man, battered, worn, hopeless, with a huge weight on his chest that barely allowed him to breathe. Survived by eating crumbs and insects found in the dank corners of your bathroom. But beyond the urgency of hunger, Gabriel, above all, wanted to see Guadalupe. I wanted to talk to her, be with her, I could not think or do anything else until you meet her.
After four nights of waiting and anxiety, Gabriel realized that he must leave if they wanted to know what had happened to Guadalupe. He felt a deep fear at the thought of his inevitable encounter with the monster and how reactionary this. But he did not care, should see Guadalupe, so he opened the bathroom door and left the dark pasillito overlooking the dining room. Slowly through him, with the caution that given the fear, and came to dinner. The first thing you saw in the dining room was a trail of dried blood, scattered on the floor. The trail came to a small object, thrown carelessly on the floor. Gabriel came, picked him up and, although slow to recognize it, he realized that he was one of Guadalupe's booties. A feeling of horror came over him, had wanted to mourn but a noise coming from the kitchen, stopped him. Gabriel, scared, walked up there and met the monster, who sat at the table eating. Gabriel vomited when he realized that the food of the monster was a human arm, a woman's arm. He tried to put back but the nausea that had stopped him. He felt the urge to run back to the bathroom but stopped. And did not care where he was: his death was very close. Gabriel decided to fight. Guadalupe took the slipper and threw it over the head of the monster. This looked and looked surprised, as if he had not noticed the presence Gabriel until then. The monster stopped and walked until he was face to face with Gabriel. Then, he spoke for the first time:
"You are what you eat, you know - he said with a metallic voice. The monster gave a huge smile and disturbing, that Gabriel shook her ankles. Then he spoke "The peace of mind is the water tank.
The monster chuckled. Gabriel looked at him and smiled, savoring one by one the words he would say:
"Nobody says that hell is a comfortable and warm.
said, he threw himself on the monster, initiating a fierce battle. Gabriel knocked against the furniture while the monster slapped up who is able to accommodate and hit with a right cross squarely on the face of Gabriel, who was stunned, kneeling and vomiting blood. The monster came and kicked in the stomach. Gabriel, with a final reaction, accumulated all that remained of his right arm strength and hope that the monster is close enough and when they did, Gabriel dealt a full hook to the chin, leaving him unconscious. The monster was thrown against the wall and Gabriel, weakened by the shock and the last days of starvation, he joined as he could and headed for the door. She opened it, walked stumbled to the sidewalk and watched, for the last time the starry sky and full moon, round and white like a huge Swiss cheese, thought of Guadalupe, on their luck and he fell.
The monster dragged him back to the inside without any difficulty.
0 comments:
Post a Comment