The boulevard of the dead and other stories

What do revels dream about?

When Sebastian woke up, he realized that again it had been for the same reason as the previous days, only this time it was real: it was the last day they would see each other.

And, as he woke up, he told himself that they could still hold out hope: maybe they had found a new drug that could help her heal, or even counteract some of the additional effects of the chemotherapy, or, maybe she had shown improvement in the previous days and would be waiting for them that day to give them the news. But, for some reason, everyone knew that this would be his last visit, as she had reminded him.

The last time Sebastian had been in that room had been the last Saturday of February, that is, a week ago, where the visit took a little longer than usual due to the multiple topics that needed to be discussed, as well as the growing need to stay a few more minutes with her. After all, it was a weekend, so they could afford to be a little longer than expected. And, although his hope was still present, there was one unavoidable thought hovering in his head.

His grandmother was dying, and he still didn't have an answer to her question.

Still, he decided to continue with the rest of his routine, while trying to put his thoughts in order, however, he was aware that something did not feel right. It was an uncomfortable, almost fatiguing feeling, although, the last few times it had appeared he simply shrugged it off and decided to ignore it, but, that morning it seemed that it would not go away so easily. Still, he decided he wouldn't give it much more thought than the past few days, so, grabbing the rest of his clothes, he went downstairs to get breakfast, only to meet his mother's red-rimmed eyes."Is it time?" he thought, analyzing her mechanical movements, and, once she met her son's gaze, she simply smiled and shook her head, wiping invisible tears with the back of her hand unconsciously. That meant they still had time.

He was still in time.

Hurrying, he grabbed a bowl and poured a small portion of cereal into it, trying to convince himself that the feeling was probably caused by the hunger he felt, but, to his surprise, it wasn't enough. When he finally finished, he went back to his room to get his belongings and accompany his sister and father to the car. In half an hour they would be back in the living room again. And, that meant he had only half an hour left to be able to organize what he had gotten, and put together a response.

The drive to the hospital had been strangely quiet: Her father acted as if it was just a walk, talking animatedly about the scenery around them and taking certain pauses to ask them questions regarding what had happened during the week, even though they were old topics, while his sister focused on looking out the window from the back seat, singing a nursery rhyme every now and then. But, when they pulled into the parking lot, their father simply parked and waited in silence.

When Sebastian looked at him, he noticed that he was frowning, even though his look was still very different, as if he were anywhere else a thousand kilometers away. And, when his father realized that he was looking at him, he took him by the hand, to later look at his sister through the rearview mirror, and indicate them to continue. His sister nodded calmly, but, Sebastian, on the other hand, could do nothing but put a hand on his stomach and count his breaths before getting out of the car, followed by his father.

And, once they got on the elevator, Sebastian could tell how much more tense everyone was now than before. His sister was no longer smiling as much, and his father was now taking care to look absentmindedly at all the posters taped around the walls. But, when the doors opened again, the change in mood of the three of them changed radically again, making smiling now like a facade used automatically. Even so, the same feeling that had accompanied him before did not disappear, but grew bigger and bigger. "Keep going" Sebastian thought to himself, again forcing himself to count his breaths "just keep going".