Enduring Tephra

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Today the Aruban sun was brighter than most other days, and the breeze much warmer. This kind of breeze was definitely insufficient to reduce the heat invading the car of Ana Weman. Ana felt like a permanent warm transparent blanket covered her skin. It would be imprudent, Ana thought, to perturb this precious moment by getting annoyed with this nearly permanent weather conditions. The occasion to visit Elisa, her Mamachi, in Santa Cruz, predominated all other surrounded matters, even the inferno weather. These visits were so important to her that she schedules these visits in her agenda. In general these visiting days are usually left blank in her agenda. Rarely these visits did get entangled with her work and the thought of cancelling the visit does occur,, but Ana could clearly hear her grandmother’s voice. The tone in the voice was content with comprehension and with some affliction. Being a general practitioner, Ana had little time left accomplish all the things she wish to do. Occasionally, she liked to do more than necessary to achieve a satisfactory outcome in whatever she was working toward. On those occasions, time was not the issue. The minute she stepped out of her office and into the sun, the heat immediately overwhelmed her slim body like a hot warm blanket. There was like a little challenge between the cold air coming from the office and the natural heat pushing itself in the office. Eventhough it was an every day short lived experience, the feeling was delightful. It was indeed a short moment of delight because the heat wiped all the cold air off her clothes, and she suddenly felt as she was thrown into a sauna. The only part of her body where the cold perdue on her skin was under her long dark red hair. It was not difficult to find her car. Ana always arranged to park car her car under a tree or near a building with shade, the temperature inside her car could be kept as comfortable as possible. In general, she did not like the air-conditioning that much. However, when the sun was very hot, she had no other choice then to bear with the artificial cold air. When traffic was not intense, the outing to her grandmother’s house was about fifteen minutes. During this ride she usually enters the towns of Noord, Tanki Leendert, Paradera and Santa Cruz. Eventhough the island is about 54 square miles, it has some picturesque old passages. In fact, its surface was formed about 90 to 95 million years ago from a volcanic activity born from the ocean floor. This was made possible because the island was on the Caribbean tectonic plate. This route took her near the oldest volcanic area on the island, which was in the centre of one of the highest peaks called the Hooiberg and the Jamanota. All this island’s formation became so insignificant, Ana thought, when life got tangled-up in things like growing up, studying, working and enjoying the limited life that is ahead. While all these life pursuits take place, on the surface of the earth, the layers below are also interdependent levels of one dynamic planet in movement. The only visible portion of is its rigid outer surface layer which is broken into several tectonic plates that are also in constant motion relative to each other. This constant motion also occurs in the lives of people, where each individual’s rigid outer surface is mostly the visible part. Ana was so involved in her thoughts she did not even notice that she already arrived at Elisa’s house. From a distance she already saw the space where she usually parked her car, was unavailable. This time it was occupied by two other cars. During her manouevre to get her car off the road she could not recollect she ever saw these cars before. Although Ana got suspicious, she knew grandmother had some children living in foreign countries. Just when contemplating and feeling at ease, she heard a scream coming from the house. She quickly locked her car and ran to the front gate. All the while she was looking cautiously at the entrance of the house. She encountered the front door slightly open and immediately heard voices coming from the bedroom in the back area of the house. Without scrutinizing her own safety, she ran straight toward the voices. Suddenly Ana recognized her grandmother’s voice, and it sounded as she was in pain. The house has eight rooms, and Ana tried to keep her serenity and focus on the noise. She still was contemplating where the noise is coming from, when she hears tumbling of a chair in the kitchen and fast footsteps like someone was in a hurry. At least now she knew where the noises were coming from. She rush pass the living room and went to the last bedroom nearest to the kitchen. She quickly enters the room and saw grandmother on the ground; knees bent and one hand on her stomach. At first, Ana did not pay attention to the tall dark haired woman standing quietly in the room. When she glanced at her, she saw her aunt Augustina, one of Elisa’s daughters. The eyes of her aunt were red, and she looked scared and confused. Quickly, Ana turned to her grandmother and wanted to know about her pain. It was evident that her grandmother was not well. Ana noticed that Elisa wanted to faint. Ana kneeled down, and her grandmother put her arm on Ana’s shoulder. Somehow, Elisa could not stand upright because of a discomfort that struck her stomach again. With small steps, they reached the bed and Ana let her grandmother sit with her back leaning on the head stand of the bed. This will prevent Elisa from pressing her stomach too much. Then Ana rapidly unbutton Elisa's dress to check for bruises on her stomach. When Ana saw the big blue discoloration just below her grandmother’s stomach, she was agape. Ana did not hesitate a minute and called the ambulance. She could carry her grandmother in her car, Ana thought. However, she noticed that it was crucial not to hurt the stomach more than it already was. And in her car, Elisa had to sit or lay down in the back of her car with the consequences that the eventual internal bruises could get worse. All the while, they were waiting for the ambulance, Ana and Augustina did not exchange many words. Augustina only said her mother fell when she entered the room. Somehow, Ana could not place this story, but at the moment, she did not want to have a discussion. She only wants Elisa to be examined and be sure there were no complications. She did not like how grandmother was suffering from this pain. Ana is thirty-two years of age now, and she never saw Elisa in such afflictive situation. It did break her heart. But at this moment, Ana did not want to cry or be antagonized she just wanted to support her grandmother and relieve her discomfort.