Eveline

Yara Flórez García

Frank decided to go up on board, but he kept gazing at her, waiting for a glance. He really was in love with his Evy. That young lady full of dreams was the proof that he needed to change and become a new man instead of that sailor with no future. What else could he do. Frank didn't know how to persuade Eveline of his good intentions.

She was standing there but no-one could make her reason. Her hope for a new life of opportunities was flying through the misty air and Eveline was there completely paralyzed. Suddenly, old memories came into her mind and the idea of leaving her father and her family became the one and only matter of concern. She had made a deathbed promise and that was something unbreakable.

‘‘Lady, you should move on! You are disturbing other passengers!,’’ someone shouted.

She was still not able to move; as hell on earth, everything was so confusing. Were her feelings for Frank real or just an illusion to escape from that stinky and depressing life? At the same time, she started to open her hands slowly and free her soul from the iron railing. When she  was finally completely free of her ties, she started to run as fast as she could to give up her new life.

Back to her house and sickening old life. She sat again at the window covered by dusty cretonne curtains thinking about what to expect now. Everything was lost for her. She was trapped in a life in which her father would soon start to be violent. He suddenly appeared in the room, furious about the news that someone had broken him. But Eveline did not notice him standing next to her. Immersed in her own thoughts, she kept looking through the curtain slit. Once again her father raised the voice. ‘‘Are you a fool?’’ he said, while the veins of his neck started to swell.

All the fears that Eveline used to have about her father suddenly came to her mind, but she answered quite calmly and peacefully: ‘‘I am not.’’ She remained there as if nothing has happened and her father said: ‘‘How could you even think that you can leave your family for a sailor?’’ But she couldn't answer that. She had been dreaming about opportunities, but they had all become just a mix of the breeze and mist that surrounded the boat in which she was supposed to leave.

She got up from the chair, picked up her coat and handbag and went out. It was late afternoon, the light was going down but it was still warm enough in the streets. She kept wandering until she realized that there was no possible solution to her problem. Nevertheless, walking through the side-walk that was next to the park where she used to play she felt relief. The stress disappeared and she finally understood that her happiness was conditioned by the memories of her childhood.

December 2018