It's almost a decade now. Life in Milan is great. I am working in the company the same as my dad's. This year I've decided to go home. After ten years, I'm not quite certain of what awaits me there. Just one thing is for sure, this time I'm not going anywhere, not anymore. Everything is already settled. I've longed for this day to come, worked hard for it, worked part-time jobs, and saved all the money I could get. If there's one thing that kept me going all through these years, it's the idea of spending my life with the one I love the most - with Aurora. I haven't heard from her since the day we left for Europe. For days, I begged to go back home. I spent my nights haunted by the thought of leaving my best friend without a proper goodbye. But all of it is going to change now that I'm coming home.
It takes me more than half a day to travel. But it doesn't matter anymore, I'm not going away again. Aurora's house is a 2-hour car ride. Father's cousin, Uncle Drew, waited for me at the arrival area and offered me a ride on the way. "That a lot of luggage you have there. You ain't coming back?" he grunts, placing them on the back seat. I laugh, "Well, that's the plan. I'll see where this takes me." On the road, we talk about a lot of stuff, and how he started to house horses in his farm's stables. "Just a new hobby I acquired. It's exhilarating. I'll teach you how to ride one." He utters. I fall asleep for the rest of the journey.
"Hernan, we're here." I look outside the window of the running car and the warm summer breeze greets me. It's still the same old town. The fields are still stretching towards the horizon and the homes by the roadside are still pretty much what they were back then. I take a long deep breath, my head resisting the wind as it touches my face. "I'm home." Uncle Drew parks at the convenience store nearby, so I have to walk a little to get to Aurora's house. My heart is pounding like crazy. The insides of my stomach are twitching and I feel lightheaded. I want to run. I want to see her as soon as possible, so I did. There, standing on the veranda in her nightgown. Although she's looking in the opposite direction, I know Aurora like the back of my hand. Just a little more. I'm getting closer. A few more steps and my life is going to take its turn. Only a little more. I'm getting nearer. Ten years of being apart, and now all it takes is just a few more steps. But I can't. The world stops moving. My body feels heavy and I can't lift my legs. I'm getting closer, but why is she getting farther and farther from my reach. A man approaches Aurora from behind and hugs her. She turns around, and her nightgown bulges like that of a baby bump.
It's almost sunset. I find myself staring at the mango tree by the river near the schoolyard. The ripples of the water reflected on its leaves. I wait there until it turns into silhouettes of black. Although the river still runs in the same direction, I thought maybe things are not the same as they were before. I stand there, gazing at the mango tree, I imagine Aurora the same as I am on the day we were supposed to meet. While the sky is painted with hues of orange and red, I remember the one thing I should have said a long time ago. "I'm home, dear," I mumble. If only I came sooner, but it was all in the back of my head. Her name was the opposite of sunset, so I realize, it's probably because she's Aurora, that's why I can't have her.
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Before Nightfall
Short StoryA promise abandoned by time, but was never forgotten. Will Aurora and Hernan see the sunset one more time, or was 60 years ago the last one...
