an account of craig gale's delightfully lucky impulse towards wisdom

8/8/2019 An Account of Craig Gale's Delightfully Lucky Impulse Towards Wisdom

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An Account of CraigGale’s Delightfully

Lucky Impulse Towards Wisdom

Joanna Tardio Bassaletti



PROLOG

e looked through the window at the huge green fields and could not

help feeling guilty about being back home. After all, most of his friends

and some of his relatives had stayed in the battlefield, while he had

been sent back to the U.S. because of a wound that had refused to heal

properly. Although he knew that he was going to be one of the lucky men who were

going to be able to tell that they had fought in World War II and had survived, he still

felt a complete failure. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of his seat. He

listened to all the different sounds of the passengers of the train and absorbed all the

different smells; he had enlisted in the Army precisely because he wanted to protect and

defend those people… and because he wanted to protect and defend Shannon.

HHis mind came back to the moment when he had met Shannon for the first time

and smiled sadly. Those had been wonderful times but they seemed really far away

now. He could still hear the voice of the little girl asking him why he seemed so angry,

and he could still remember himself answering: “My dad says that fairies don’t live in

the woods. He says that those are old ladies’ tales and that I should grow up.” He was

seven years old back then and he still believed in magic, mysterious creatures and

legends. Shannon, who was six years old, had told him that his father was a jerk and

that he was probably embittered because he was old. They had turned into friends

immediately after that first encounter, and he had grown to respect her, to admire her

and, eventually, to love her. He opened his eyes when the train stopped and stood up

slowly. He walked through the aisle and thought about what he was going to say to his

father in their first meeting after two years apart.

He felt immensely taken aback when he realized that nobody was there waiting

for him. He had hoped for Shannon to be at the station; he had even dreamt about the

moment when he held her in his arms and pressed her against his body. He stayed at the

platform for a little longer and looked around wearily: he knew that the world did not

stop spinning when a war broke out, but he would have wished for the people around

him to show more signs of concern for the hell that their countrymen were living

overseas. He sighed and walked towards the exit; he was so lost in thought that he did

not even hear the man who was calling out his name.

- ¡Craig, boy! ¡Hey, boy! ¡Stop that man over there! – The man stopped running

and tried to get his breath back.



Craig continued walking until a young lady touched his back. He turned around

and looked at her absent-mindedly. He mumbled something about not knowing her and

when he was about to walk away, she grabbed his arm, turned him around and pointed

to the man who had called out his name. Craig tried to remember who the man was and

he thanked the woman when he finally recognized him. He waited for the man to come

closer and hugged him affectionately.

- I hope you didn’t think that your family had forgotten you.

- Well, it was precisely what I was thinking. – Craig sat in one of the benches

outside the station and gave a grimace of pain. – I didn’t know you were still

living in the city. I believed you had moved to the countryside by now.

- I considered the possibility but May would miss your mother too much. I guess I

better get used to the idea of dying here. – Craig looked at his godfather and

remained silent. – It seems your leg is really hurt; I saw your face before. Will

you limp for good?

- I think so. Do you mind to have a lame godson?

- Not really. Have you talked to your father?

- No. Can you take me home?

- Sure.

They got in the car and drove away. Craig focused his attention in the road and

recalled his childhood. He was born at the bosom of one of the most traditional families

of Boston and his parents instilled an ardent love for his country in him. Before finding

Shannon, he used to spend most of his time with his elder brother or making up stories

he liked to perform in front of his parents and their friends. Due to his sickly nature, he

had not gone to school but he had been home-schooled; for this reason, he always had a

lot of free time so he used to let his imagination fly most of the day. When he found

Shannon, he had less free time but more material to feed his imagination; she became a

permanent source of inspiration and the fundamental pillar of his life. He had

discovered the world with her: she had taught him to love the stars, to enjoy watching

the ants gather food, to cry with the sunset, to have fun with simple things, to never

forget the greatness of Creation and to never lose his capacity for amazement. As they

had grown up, their relationship had become more complicated: what had been once

clear friendship had now been tainted by a new kind of sensation that had confused

them and scared them to a certain point. Despite this, they had continued to have a great

time together and their bond had gotten stronger and stronger every day. However,



when Shannon had turned sixteen, her parents had decided to go to live to the outskirts

of Boston and they had stopped seeing each other as often as they used to. Little by

little, the pleasure of the younger days had been replaced by a growing darkness that

had reached its peak with the entry of the U.S. into World War II. Shannon had tried to

persuade him not to go to war but he had refused to see reason because his patriotism

was stronger than any other feeling. In the end, he had gone to battle without telling

Shannon that she was his long-cherished love.

Craig’s godfather parked the car and kept still with his eyes fixed in the horizon.

Craig could tell that he was hiding something but was not really sure whether he wanted

to know the secret or not. After a while, the man got off the car and walked towards

Craig’s house. Craig followed him and when he was about to ask his godfather why he

seemed so troubled, the housekeeper opened the door and dropped a glass of water she

was holding in her hand.

- Holy Spirit, you look so thin! – The housekeeper grabbed Craig by the wrist and

dragged him inside the house. She started examining him as if he was an alien of

some sort, while she kept complaining about Craig’s physical condition.

- Abby, you’ll make me dizzy. Stop moving around and give me a hug. – Craig

hugged the housekeeper and kissed her on the cheek.

- You have no idea how we missed you these past two years. I’ve prayed every

night for this damn war to end.

- Have you heard from Julius? I wrote him a couple of letter but I never got an

answer. I guess… that’s understandable.

- Your mother got a letter from your brother the other day. She cried for several

hours after reading it. – As the woman saw Craig frowning, she hurriedly

added: - But… eh…. That’s nothing new; she also cried when she got your

letters. And you’re here safe and sound. – The housekeeper looked at Craig’s

godfather, trying to get some help to reassure Craig.

- Abigail, Abner, can you leave us alone, please? – The voice of Craig’s mother

came from the stairs. The housekeeper and Craig’s godfather bowed politely,

excused themselves and left quietly.

Craig observed his mother come down and walked towards her with a smile on his

face. His expression changed when he saw how dramatically his mother’s appearance

had been altered by suffering. Her once aristocratic figure seemed now somewhat

stooped by tiredness, her once blond hair had turned gray faster than he would have



liked and her once vivacious eyes were rather lifeless now. He guessed that the anguish

of having her two sons in the front had caused her a constant pain that had to affect her

somehow; what he would have never suspected was that the patriotic decision of Julius

and himself was going to have such serious repercussions on their mother’s life.

- I told your father that we should have gone to pick you up, but he refused. – The

woman held her son’s face between her hands and kissed his forehead

gently. She observed Craig’s face and noticed how emaciated it was. When the

President had announced that the U.S. were going to enter the war, her husband

had immediately suggested that Julius and Craig should enlist in the Army. She

had tried to pull all the possible strings to prevent that from happening, but both

her sons had been raised with the idea that a good citizen always had to be

available for his country. Not even Craig’s poor health had been argument

enough to dissuade him; he had talked to his father and this, in turn, had talked

to some old friends that were indebted to him to get his youngest son accepted in

the Army.

- It’s OK. I supposed that dad would be mad at me. It must be extremely

disappointing to have your son returned home because he isn’t man enough to

keep fighting wounded. I bet Julius would have never accepted to come back

home before the end of the war. He would have killed himself before boarding

that ship.

- Stop comparing yourself to your brother!

- Dad does that all the time, mom. I’ve lived my entire life under his shadow: I’m

not as smart as Julius, I’m not as strong as Julius, I’m not as brave as Julius… I

can’t even be as useful to my country as Julius. I wouldn’t be surprised that

Julius dies as a hero while I’m here explaining to everyone that I didn’t choose

to be sent back home. – The woman slapped Craig and looked away. Craig

noticed she was crying; he knew he had gone too far and felt embarrassed for

hurting one of the only people who trusted him. – I… You know that I don’t

wish my brother any harm. I love him, mom. It’s not his fault. He didn’t choose

to be dad’s favorite son.

- Gideon adores you, honey. He’s getting old; that’s why he’s so cranky

sometimes.



- This isn’t about him getting old, mom. It’s about us not growing up according to

plan. Julius has become the man that dad’s been always looking for. I’ll never be

that man, mom. I’m too far from that.

- You’re wrong.

- I’m not. But it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve gotten used to his rejection by

now. – Craig tried to control his tears and took his mother’s hand. – I’m happy

to see you again. I missed you so much.

- Oh, my little boy! – Craig’s mother pressed her son’s head against her chest and

started crying inconsolably. Craig tried to calm her down and asked her if she

knew why his godfather seemed so worried. He noticed his mother nervousness

and sensed that something was definitely wrong.

- I almost forgot! Your father’s waiting for you in his study. You should go see

him right away. You know that your dad doesn’t like waiting. – His mother

combed his hair with her hand and dried his eyes. After she kissed him once

again on the cheek, she quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

Craig did not like the idea of visiting his father: the conversation with his mother

had made him feel vulnerable and he did not want his father to realize that. Of course,

there was no way he could avoid that meeting. He went upstairs and knocked on the

door of his father’s study. When he went in, he suddenly remembered the good

memories he kept from the moments he had spent there when he was a child. At that

time, his father still enjoyed his inventiveness and they used to spend the whole

afternoon playing games and making up stories. In that room, Gideon Gale had taught

him the most important lessons of his life and had also pushed him away slowly.

- Hi, dad. Mom told me you want to speak to me. – Craig tried to remain calm

even though he could feel his heart pounding.

- I received a letter from your superiors. They wanted to let me know why they

had decided to send you back home. Besides, they wanted to tell me that you

were an excellent soldier and that you made them proud in the front. – Gideon

looked at his son earnestly and chose the words he was going to say next

carefully. – I know that our relationship has been difficult these last couple of

years, but you know that I expect a lot from you and your brother and sometimes

I just feel that you’re not up to the challenge. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love

you, of course…



- I know what it means. You think I don’t deserve to have your honorable

surname. It doesn’t really matter what I do, it’s never good enough for you, isn’t

it? I went to war for you but you still believe it was disgraceful to be discharged

before the end of the war. I fought better than most of the healthy men belonging

to my squad but you still believe that if you don’t get a medal, the effort isn’t

worthwhile. You will never acknowledge that I’m a fucking patriot, dad.

Because… you know what? I could have chosen not to go to war and use my

health as an excuse, but I didn’t do it. I went with all the troops to the battlefield

and I fought the enemy just like a good citizen is supposed to do it. While you

were here sitting behind your desk, I was watching my friends die right in front

of me. It wasn’t my call to keep fighting or to come back to the U.S. I’m sorry

my superiors weren’t aware of the terrible shame they were inflicting on your

family by sending me home. But you’re right; it’s my fault. I should have told

them how important it was for you to lose a son in the battlefield. I should have

told them that you just wanted to hang my picture next to all your respectable

deceased ancestors. – Craig dried the tears streaming down his cheeks and stared

at his father defiantly. He just desperately needed his father to know the pain

that his indifference and his contempt caused him. He did not care anymore

about what his father might think of him; he just needed to get all that off his

chest before moving on.

Gideon did not say anything or do anything. He sat still in his place, trying to

figure out why things never worked out the way you wanted them to. In the past, Craig

had been his favorite son; however, the years had passed by and Craig had not turned

into the kind of man he wanted their sons to be, whereas Julius had accomplished that

goal many times over. For that reason, he had moved away from his youngest son and

had focused all his attention in the education of the son that deserved to continue his

legacy. He remained silent when his son left the room; he was not a man who let

himself be manipulated either by another person or by emotions.

Craig went downstairs and saw his mother waiting for him with a somber

expression. He understood the seriousness of his actions: he had offended his father and

defied his authority. He was probably never going to be able to come back to his

parents’ house and perhaps, he would have to start visiting his mother without his



father’s knowledge. He stood silently in front of his mother and realized how far the

simple marvelous moments of his childhood had disappeared. He was no longer the son

his father expected, his mother’s hands were tied and she had to obey her husband’s

orders, Julius was in the front and it seemed that he was not going to be back home any

time soon. The only person that could help him recover some of the light of his

childhood was Shannon. Craig’s thoughts were interrupted by his mother’s voice.

- How did it go? – His mother seemed tremendously upset. He worried about her

health.

- Terrible, I guess. I had foreseen that this was going to end up this way. Mom,

dad and I have nothing in common now; it’s impossible for us to agree on

something. – Craig hugged her and kissed her hair. – But we’ll figure it out, ok?

I promise you that everything will be just fine. – Craig saw his godfather

approach them and noticed again that there was something strange in his

attitude.

- Do you want me to take you to see your aunt May, boy? – Abner faked a

smile. – Eleanor, I guess you don’t mind if I take your boy to my place.

- Sure, I don’t. – Eleanor looked at his son. – You should go; you know that May

adores you. She’ll be very happy to see how you have grown in these last two

years.

- Well… I… I wanted to visit Shannon now. – Craig alarmed when he observed

how the expression in his mother’s and his godfather’s face turned into an

expression of horror. What was happening? Had Shannon fallen in love and

married while he was away? Was she ill? Had something bad happened to her

parents?

- Shannon can wait. – Eleanor tried to act normally, even though her hands were

shaking.

- What are you saying, mom? Shannon is my best friend. I just came back home

after two years of absence. She can’t wait, mom. Besides, I have to tell her off

for not going to the station to pick me up. That’s definitely

unacceptable! – Craig did not wait for his mother’s reply, kissed her on the

cheek and started walking towards the door. Eleanor looked at Abner and asked

him for help silently. Abner got the message immediately and walked towards

his godson.



- Shannon is dead, boy. – Abner prepared himself for the worst. He knew how

important Shannon was to Craig and imagined that his reaction was going to be

terrible. He was surprised when Craig stood still and said nothing. – I just said

that Shannon is dead, Craig. I wasn’t sure whether to tell you before or not.

- You’re lying. Shannon can’t be dead. – Craig turned around and faced

Abner. He refused to believe what he had just heard.

- It’s true. She died three months ago. Your mother had thought about writing you

a letter to let you know, but… I told her it was a bad idea. I’m so sorry.

- How?

- How what?

- How did she die?

- It doesn’t matter. The fact is the same.

- It matters to me! How did she die?! – Craig was shouting at his godfather. He

felt incapable of controlling himself.

- A deranged man broke into her house. He found her asleep. He… he… he raped

her and slashed her throat with a penknife he was carrying. – Abner could not

restrain himself from moving towards Craig to console him. He could listen to

Eleanor weeping frantically. He hoped Gideon came to help him comfort

Eleanor but somehow sensed that that was not going to happen. He ignored the

woman and focused his attention on his godson, who still seemed shocked by

the news.

- Did the police catch the bastard? – Craig felt a terrible constriction in his chest.

He could perceive that his legs were going numb and thought that he was going

to throw up right there. He walked away when his godfather tried to touch

him. – Did they catch him or not?

- The guy turned himself in to the police the next day.

- Did he explain why he did it?

- Why do you want to know something like that? Knowing why he did it won’t

bring Shannon back to life. You’re just torturing yourself.

- Why?! – Craig leant against the wall and covered his face with both hands. He

did not try to stop the tears this time; he let them stream down his face freely.

Now that Shannon was dead, everything has lost its meaning forever. The only

person that had truly understood him was gone and he had not had the guts to

tell her how much he loved her. He started banging his head against the wall



while his body shuddered uncontrollably and he cried inconsolably. He could

feel the strength being drained from his body by a mysterious force that was

beyond his power. In the end, he did not feel strong enough to avoid his

godfather’s embrace.

- Everything will be okay, boy. We’ll help you get through this. You’ll see that

the pain you’re experiencing right now will eventually ease. We’re all here for

you, Craig. Just for you.

Craig allowed Abner’s caresses to gradually calm him down. However, he was

well aware of the fact that the deranged man had not only raped and killed Shannon but

had raped and killed an essential part of him as well. He knew that he was never going

to be the same again and that the course of his life had been brutally altered by the

irrational actions of a madman.



CHAPTER I

raig opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a little while. It had been

a year since he had found out about Shannon’s death and the war had

ended a couple of days ago. Julius had been sent back home a month

before the end of the war and he had gotten a medal for his courage

during battle. His mother had tried to conceal this fact from him because she had

thought that it was going to hurt him; actually, he had not felt anything when his father

had written him a letter to inform him about such an honor. He got up and looked

through one of the large windows of his bedroom: he had borrowed money from his

mother to buy that house because he had fallen in love with the view. Besides, he had

believed that living in a house in Goat Island, an island located in the “Middle Pond” of

Webster Lake, would help him heal his wounded heart. He went to the kitchen and

drank a glass of milk. After he finished his breakfast, he went outside and lay down on

the grass. He took a deep breath and tried to assimilate the purity and greatness of

Nature. He was precisely enjoying of this peaceful moment when he heard a woman

singing. She had the sweetest voice he had ever listened to and he felt immediately

compelled to find out where the sound was coming from. He stood up and started

following the sound; he walked for a while and finally realized that the woman who was

singing was his closest neighbor. When he was about to come closer to talk to her, he

decided to stop and go back to his house. He did not want the woman’s picture that he

had formed in his mind from the sound of her voice to be destroyed by reality. That day,

he could barely concentrate on anything; he could not refrain from recalling the

beautiful voice and how spellbound he had felt when he had heard it.

C

At the next day, Craig got up earlier than usual and walked towards his neighbor’s

place. The night before he had made up his mind to learn the woman’s routine in order

to contact her without running the risk of meeting her face to face. At the same hour

than the previous day, the woman started working in her garden and singing while doing

it. Craig felt as touched as before and could not help crying. He kept spying on her for

the rest of the day and wrote down the things that she did from the early morning to the

night. He repeated this procedure for a week. At the eighth day, he wrote her the first

letter. He introduced himself and told her about the suffering caused by losing a loved

person. To be honest, he did not expect an answer; he knew that it was weird to receive

a personal letter from a complete stranger. This is why he felt so surprised when he got



a reply from her. In the note, she introduced herself and sympathized with his

feelings. Craig felt happy for the first time after three years. After so long, he had finally

found someone who seemed to understand him as well as Shannon used to understand

him. He reread the letter dozens of other times and kept it hidden inside a box in which

he had stored up the different mementos of his childhood and adolescence. That first

exchange of letters gave way to many others. They continued to write each other about

the different feelings that overtook them in their daily life and about the different events

that had shaped their existences. By the end of the fifth month of epistolary relationship

with his pen friend, Craig had finally come to terms with the most important

circumstances of his life: Shannon’s death, his estrangement from his father, the terrible

experiences he had gone through during war, his physical disability, etc. By means of

the letters he sent to his neighbor, he had been able to reflect on his past from the

calmness of the present. On top of everything else, the proximity to Nature and the

possibility to live isolated from the rest of the world had provided him with the

unparalleled opportunity to look at his life from a totally new perspective.

After a year of getting to know each other only through letters, Craig and the

woman decided to finally meet face to face. At the day set for such purpose, Craig woke

up rather early and tried to come up with something to say. The truth was that he had

gradually fallen in love with the woman to whom he had written his heart out. He could

not really explain how she had won his affection; all he knew was that she seemed to

return his love and that his wounds seemed to have been healed by the words they had

shared. Craig looked in his wardrobe and searched for an appropriate outfit to wear for

the important date. In the end, he chose a pair of black trousers and a green T-shirt. He

watered his plants before leaving and then went to his neighbor’s house. While walking,

he tried to imagine what the woman might look like, but he failed to achieve a clear

picture of his fantasy. When he got to her house, he felt the irresistible impulse of

walking back home; however, he took a deep breath and forced himself to knock on the

door. The minutes that went by were an eternity for him: he tried to remember the

speech he had practiced in front of the mirror and prayed for the woman to be what he

expected. A couple of minutes later, a beautiful smiling brunet opened the door and

asked him to come in. For an instant, Craig thought that his heart was going to stop

beating. He mechanically came into the house and gave her the bouquet of flowers he

had especially made for her. She thanked him politely and told him to take a seat. Craig

sat slowly and realized that his mouth was dry. She commented on how nervous she



was and blushed. Craig stared at her, incapable of believing his eyes: the woman who

was sitting opposite to him was the living image of Shannon. She had the same smile,

the same long hair, the same gestures, the same angelic face and the same slender

body. She kept talking for a while until she realized that her interlocutor was paying no

attention. She asked him if he was feeling okay and came closer to check if he had got a

temperature. Craig sat still and let her touch him. As soon as she laid her fingers on his

skin, he felt as if something deep inside of him had suddenly awakened. He grabbed her

arm violently and asked her why she was playing games with him. The woman

exclaimed that she did not know what he was talking about. Craig ignored the woman’s

words and stood up quickly; he wanted to understand why Shannon was doing this to

him, why she was pretending that they were strangers. The woman tried to escape but

Craig was holding her too tightly. Craig dragged her out in spite of her pleas and walked

towards his house. The woman kept shouting hysterically in order to attract a neighbor’s

attention. Her efforts were fruitless: nobody lived near enough so as to help her. When

they were close to Craig’s house, the woman tripped over a stone, which she picked up

and threw at her captor. The stone hit Craig on the head and he involuntarily let go of

the woman’s arm. She stood up in no time and ran as fast as she could towards her

house. Craig looked up and saw everything blurred. He could feel the blood flowing

from the small cut that the stone had made. However, his desires to unravel the mystery

behind this joke in bad taste were stronger than anything. He tried to run quickly but his

limp prevented him from doing it as quickly as he would have wanted. By the time he

got to the woman’s house, she had locked up the door from the inside and the house

seemed deserted. He grabbed a stone and broke one of the windows. He came into the

house through the broken window and his eyes filled with tears due to the pain in his

leg. He waited for a moment and then he started searching the house room by room. The

impossibility to find the woman added to his anger and his despair. When he finally

arrived to the last room of the house, he was sweaty and out of breath. He fought to

calm himself down and knocked at the door gently. He apologized for his violent

attitude and offered the woman a break. Since he did not get any answer, he opened the

door and went into the room. All of a sudden, a blinding light shrouded him. He covered

his eyes with one arm and pondered over the situation he was in. What was that light?

What was going on? Where was the woman? He passed out before he could even start

thinking about the possible answers to all his questions.



CHAPTER II

he blinding light disappeared just when Craig regained consciousness. He

stayed on the floor with his eyes closed, trying to remember what had

happened. He recalled the meeting with his pen friend, his angry outburst

when he had found out that his neighbor looked just like Shannon, and the

way he had chased down the woman in her own house. He intuitively touched his

forehead and noticed that the blood continued to flow from the wound. He took a

handkerchief out of one of the pockets of his trousers and pressed it against the cut. He

was not very sure whether he wanted to open his eyes. He somehow sensed that he was

not at the right place; a certain smell in the air and the chill traveling through his spine

warned him that something was definitely wrong. His ears, which had been blocked up

until that moment, got abruptly unblocked and he could listen to thousands of birds

singing different melancholy tunes. Craig opened his eyes unhurriedly and noticed that

he was still feeling tremendously dizzy. He calmly stood up and massaged his sore

leg. Once he felt somewhat better, he looked around dazed and noticed that he was

standing in the middle of a forest of sequoias enveloped in mist. He started walking

hesitantly, absorbing all the beauty that surrounded him. He had never been in a place as

mesmerizing as that one: not even his house in Goat Island could be compared to the

majesty of that forest. He stopped by a river and cleaned the wound in his head. He did

not entirely understand what was happening, but he did know that he had ended up in

this strange place somehow in spite of the fact that it was not even close to home. He

wandered around for a little longer until tiredness got the better of him and he fell

asleep.

T

When he woke up, he had been moved to a different part of the forest. This part

looked like a clearing in the wood and, unlike the previous one, it was bathed in light

and had a lot of multicolored flowers. Craig tried to spot the person who had rescued

him but he could not distinguish any human beings in the middle of the vegetation. He

sat up to drink some water from the clay vessel next to him and wondered who had been

the nice person who had felt sorry for his precarious condition. He decided to rest for a

little longer before trying to discover where he was and how he had ended up

there. While he was enjoying the view of the exotic flowers that were swayed by the

breeze, he perceived the noise of an animal approaching him really fast. Craig got

scared and thought about escaping; however, he did not believe he was quick enough to



evade the attack. Craig held his breath and moved a little backwards to see if that way

he was capable of protecting himself from the animal that was coming. For the first time

in years, Craig closed his eyes and prayed; something in the atmosphere or perhaps in

the ominous absence of a clear chance to survive had led him to want to say the prayers

that his mother had taught him so many years ago. Nevertheless, he did not have time to

finish them; the danger passed as rapidly as it had appeared. As soon as Craig stopped

hearing the animal’s steps, he opened his eyes and sighed relieved. But his serenity did

not last for long when he saw in front of him the ghost of a man that was quietly staring

at him. Craig got paralyzed and thought that maybe he had been killed by the animal

without him noticing it. The ghost probably perceived Craig’s fear because he came

closer and sat on the floor to be face to face with the man.

- You don’t need to be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you. I wanted to know if you

had awakened already. – Craig felt surprised when he heard the ghost speaking

English. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to return to reality. He felt offended

when he heard the ghost laughing. – You’re lucky. If I hadn’t found you, you

could have bled to death. The wound in your head was rather deep and since you

fell asleep without treating it, the blood kept flowing. – Craig remembered that

he had cleaned it but he had not tried to find anything to cover it. When he had

woken up, he had felt so amazed by the beauty of the surroundings that he had

forgotten about his wound. Now, he touched it and noted that it had been

properly treated and covered.

- Am I dead? – The ghost looked at Craig puzzled for a few seconds and then

laughed heartily. Craig did not like the ghost’s mocking attitude and felt upset

by it. – What are you laughing at? Is it so funny what I just said?

- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. Of course there is nothing funny about what

you said. Actually, I think it’s a pretty good question. You’re probably the first

one that asks it. Most people run away before I get the chance to tell them

anything.

- Most people? There have been other people apart from me?

- Naturally. Every single human being in the world comes to this forest once in

their life. It was your turn now. We’d been expecting you.

- Expecting me? “We”? You mean there are others like you? – Now it was the

ghost who got offended by Craig’s tone.



- Well, have you known a creature that is alone? Every living and non-living

creature has their match. Otherwise, the game wouldn’t be fair, would it?

- Game?

- The game of life. If someone were to spend alone all his existence, then he

couldn’t play the game. You can’t do it all by yourself; you need a team.

- So you have a team, right? – Craig was not very sure whether the whole thing

made any sense or not. For him, the situation might be summed up in one simple

statement: he had definitely gone insane. He tried to pretend that he was

convinced of the ghost’s words and tried to seem friendly. He did not want to

get hurt by a delusion. That would absolutely bury his reputation for good. The

ghost smiled and reached out his hand.

- Do you want to meet them? I can show you my home if you want.

- It sounds great. – Craig smiled forcedly.

Craig let the ghost lead him through the woods. He did not know where they were

heading exactly but the flowery scent floating in the air helped him to relax and enjoy

the trip. After walking for a couple of hours, they got to a cliff from where a huge

leveled area at the foot of a waterfall could be distinguished. The ghost explained him

that he lived in that leveled area but a little farther from the waterfall. Craig thought that

he was never going to make it; the place was very far and his wounded leg hurt him

terribly. Suddenly, the ghost whistled and a pair of gigantic falcons flew across the

sky. The birds landed where Craig and the ghost were standing and extended their

wings to let them ride them. The ghost told Craig that the falcons were his friends and

always helped him transport the visitors to his home. Craig clung to the bird’s neck

when it started flying and prayed to reach his destination alive and well. A couple of

minutes later, they were back in land and the falcons flew away after the ghost thanked

them affectionately. Craig observed the awe-inspiring landscape and smiled. It did not

really matter if the whole thing was real or just a hallucination; the truth was that he was

having a great time and he was feeling awesome. The ghost took his hand and drove

him towards a new forest of sequoias: this time, there was no mist and the trees were

carved with beautiful drawings. A herd of deer passed next to them and bowed. Craig

bowed back and the deer walked away slowly.

- Did the deer just bow?

- The deer are very polite. You have to be careful with the foxes; they don’t like

strangers.



- The birds I heard when I got here… were they real?

- Everything here is real. Everything here is possible. That’s the only rule: there

are no limits as long as all the inhabitants of the place promised to respect the

others. – The ghost stopped abruptly and turned towards Craig. – Think of

something, anything. Create a clear picture in your head. Concentrate on that

picture; give it life. And voilà. – Craig looked at the place the ghost was pointing

at and saw Shannon’s ghost in all its beauty and perfection. His eyes filled with

tears and he started walking towards the dead woman. However, the ghost

grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

- What are you doing?

- Don’t get confused. The woman you’re seeing there is not your friend. It’s a

revenant with her image.

- What’s that supposed to mean?

- If you talk to her, she won’t know who you are. Don’t fool yourself. Deep down

you know you don’t want her to be here for real. This place was created for the

broken-hearted. Here you find the most treasured memory of every single

creature on the Universe. The animals also come here to preserve their treasure.

But this is not real life; your friend is still dead and she’s not coming back.

- It means that you’re somebody’s treasure?

- Exactly. A long time ago, a woman came here and gave me life. Thanks to her,

I’m no longer a memory but I’m something concrete that breaths, eats, feels, etc.

- You’re like a human being then.

- There’s one big difference between you and me: I never suffer, I never see death

or ugliness. My life is perfect, everything that someone can hope for. – The

ghost called the revenant that Craig had created and gave her a gemstone he took

from Craig’s pocket. – This gemstone shows that she’s your memory, so nobody

else can confuse her.

Craig met all the other revenants and stayed to live with them in the forest for a

while longer. Of course, since good things never last forever, one day he had to say

goodbye and go back to his own imperfect reality.



CHAPTER III

he only thing he remembered from his journey back home was the

refreshing contact of the water and the peace produced by the soft

movement of it. He refused to leave that marvelous cradle; it reminded

him of his mother’s womb. Nevertheless, to his regret, the whirlwind

inside of his head – the one that had led him to attack his neighbor – kept becoming

stronger and stronger every time, and his brother’s voice kept calling him back to the

world of the living. He looked at his brother and thought about how lucky he would

have been if he could have stayed in the forest of sequoias or if he had died in the

middle of the ocean. Julius approached Craig with a worried expression on his face.

T- Do you feel better? – Craig noticed that the war had also affected his brother’s

appearance: he was no longer the vigorous young man who used to attract all the

ladies with his athletic body and his charming personality. Now, he looked too

old for his age and the old spark seemed to have vanished somewhere between

the front and the return home.

Craig remained silent; he felt too tired to say or do anything. When he woke up

the next morning, he realized that Julius was sleeping in the couch opposite his

bed. Despite the concealed rivalry between them, Craig felt grateful to his brother for

taking care of him so devotedly. Julius opened his eyes abruptly and got up hurriedly

when he noted that Craig was awake.

- Do you need something?

- No, thanks. How long have you been sleeping in that couch?

- Well, you’ve been in bed for two weeks now.

- Really? That long?

- Craig, what happened? If uncle Abner hadn’t found you by the side of the road,

you would have starved to death. Where were you?

- How long was I missing?

- You were missing for four months. For God’s sake, Craig, why didn’t you call

us?

- Because… Just because. – Craig did not say another word and stared at the

ceiling. How could explain his trip to his family? It would be impossible for

them to understand that he had been in the most wonderful place a human being

could be.



It took him one more week to be able to stand up and walk. Julius explained him

that his godfather had found him on the verge of death, dehydrated and sunburnt. Craig

found it hard to resume his routine and at the beginning, he tried to avoid the

mirrors. He was not particularly vain but he was not very sure whether he was prepared

to see his new looks. Julius stayed with him the whole time and helped him to overcome

the physical sequels of his time in bed. One day, Craig finally got the courage to look

himself at the mirror: he felt impressed by the deathly pallor of his face, the thinness of

his body and the red spots that the sun had left in his skin. In the end, he decided to

remove all the mirrors until he could accept his new body image. Julius incessantly tried

to find out where his brother had been during the four months he had been missing.

Each time he asked, he was completely ignored by Craig or he got an evasive

answer. However, once the discussion about Craig’s whereabouts during his four

months of absence became a heated argument that let out all the tensions of those weeks

of life together.

- Where did you go?! – Julius followed his brother to the kitchen and stood on the

threshold of the door.

- Nowhere.

- Nowhere?! Your neighbor called us. She told us that you had completely lost

your mind and then, from one minute to the next, you had disappeared. We

looked for you everywhere. We couldn’t find you! Where did you

go?! – Julius’s patience was running out.

- What do you want me to tell for? So you can make fun of me. Is that it? – Craig

was tired of his brother’s harassment.

- You’re my little brother, Craig. I’m worried about you. You live here,

completely isolated from the rest of the world. If you feel sad, you have nobody

to talk to; if you get ill, nobody can look after you. You haven’t visited mom in

months! – Julius sweetened his tone of voice to calm down his brother’s anger.

- I don’t want to go back to Boston. That’s all.

- Fair enough. But mom says that you took Shannon’s death very hard as well.

- I don’t want to talk about Shannon’s death. – Craig took a bottle of milk out of

the fridge and poured a little into a glass.

- Craig, come and live with me.

- Are you crazy? This is my home. I won’t leave it just like that. Besides, I already

told you that I won’t go back to Boston. -



- I don’t live in Boston. I live… in Sherborn. – Julius hesitated at the moment of

saying the name of the town where he lived. He knew that the name of the town

meant a lot to his brother.

- Shannon lived in Sherborn. – Craig felt a twinge of sorrow.

- I know. I also know that living there may bring back some memories but at least

you won’t be alone when that happens.

- I can’t abandon my house like that.

- You can come here from time to time. And if you can’t, I swear God I’ll do it; I

won’t let anything happen to this house.

- You promise?

- It’s a promise. Deal?

- Okay. You win. – Julius hugged his brother tightly and kissed him on the cheek.

- Hey, don’t get too excited. This doesn’t mean that you own me; I’m still a

grown-up and I’m going to do whatever I want to do.

- I understand. I’ll respect your wishes.

Two days after, Craig moved to Sherborn. At the beginning, he missed Goat

Island terribly. Nonetheless, he progressively got used to his new home and his new

town. He had to admit that Julius’s place was cozy and that the neighborhood was really

quiet. The truth was that Sherborn had made a deep impression on Craig: the close

relationship between the neighbors, the fact that the town was governed by a

combination of elected and appointed volunteers and a few key salaried officials, and

the fact that there was not such a strong hierarchy there as in the big city had really

revived his patriotic pride. He started working in his brother’s grocery store and became

a close friend of many of the customers. One day, when he was closing the shop, he saw

a woman passed by; he did not normally pay attention to the pedestrians but this woman

caught his eye because she reminded him of Shannon. Craig tried to control himself: he

did not want to make the same mistakes he had made in the past and he definitely did

not want to screw up the wonderful opportunity to start anew that his brother had given

him. He focused on finishing what he was doing and went home. The same woman

passed by at the same time for the next five days. Craig grew gradually more and more

obsessed with the woman and decided to follow her. He got to learn her evening routine

by heart and convinced himself that there was nothing wrong with it. Eventually,

nevertheless, the situation got out of hand: he broke into her house one night and

attacked her while she was sleeping. When the police got there after receiving a phone



call from Craig himself, they found the woman’s body mutilated and Craig covered in

blood. Although they tried to interrogate him, he was incapable of giving them a

coherent statement. However, he voluntarily confessed the murder, even though the

judge considered that Craig could not stand trial because he had committed the crime

during a psychotic break. Craig was sentenced to spend ten years in an asylum so he

could receive the treatment he needed. Craig did not say a word during the entire

process: he knew he had reached the bottom and that he had to find the way to redeem

and forgive himself.



CHAPTER IV

he experience of living in the asylum soon turned into a hell for

Craig. However, he put up with it because he was well aware of the

terrible sin he had committed. At the beginning, he was unable to

remember the details of what he had done. He knew that he had killed the

woman he had stalked for a couple of days and that he had called the police after he had

done it. Nevertheless, the succession of events that had culminated in that innocent

woman’s murder was a complete mystery to Craig; he knew it was buried somewhere in

his memory but no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember it. The horrifying

details of his crime came back to him out of the blue one day. From then on, he could

not get them out of his mind in spite of his efforts to concentrate on other activities.

TAt first, he thought about talking about it with his therapist but then he came to

the conclusion that he was going to dismiss his feelings as the delusions of a

madman. Finally, he decided it was best to discuss the subject with his brother who had

kept visiting him against their father’s will.

- How have you been?

- It’s tough to be here. But I guess it’s what I deserved. It could be worse, couldn’t

it?

- I guess so. – Julius could not hold back the tears that filled his eyes. He always

cried when he visited Craig.

- Please, don’t cry. – Craig took his brother’s hands and kissed them. He fought to

control his emotions because he knew that one of the two had to stay strong.

- I can’t help it. I can’t believe this is happening. I just can’t resign myself to this

nightmare. Mom misses you so much. Uncle Abner and aunt May always ask for

you.

- Does dad still deny the whole thing when somebody asks him about it? – Craig

started crying silently. It still hurt him his father’s distance.

- You know that dad will never accept what you did, Craig. But I know that deep

down he still loves you. You’re his son anyway, even if he tries to deny it.

- I need to talk to you about something important.

- What is it? Did something wrong happen? Did somebody do anything to you?

- No. People are really nice here; not as nice as the people in Sherborn but I guess

it’s fine. – Craig took a deep breath and tried to find the words to explain to his



brother the chaos that controlled his head. – Julius, I have all these images in my

head and if I don’t take them out soon, I think I will lose my mind irremediably.

- Tell me what I can do for you.

- I need a canvas, paint and paintbrushes. Don’t worry about the permissions; my

therapist signed all the papers to give his consent.

- Alright then. I’ll buy all the materials. As soon as I get them, I’ll bring them to

you. – Julius burst into tears again and covered his face with his hands. Craig

tried to comfort him but the truth was he also felt terribly heartbroken.

Julius brought Craig the materials he had asked for a couple of days later. As soon

as he got them, Craig started to paint all the intense emotions that were suffocating him.

First, he painted a portrait of Shannon; then he painted a self-portrait. When he had

finished both portraits, he reflected on what he should paint next. After pondering all

the possibilities, Craig chose to paint different flowers to represent his feelings. First of

all, he painted a blood-stained lotus to represent his lost purity and his separation from

his origin; next he painted a red poppy to represent his experiences in the battlefield and

the death he had witnessed during war; then he painted a red anemone to represent the

ephemeral nature of life and loss of the woman loved; finally, he painted a bouquet of

forget-me-nots to represent his desperate love for Shannon and the tragic fate of

it. When he finished the painting, he realized that the combination of the different

elements expressed his state of mind and the events that had transformed his life

perfectly. Besides, the blending of the various meanings of the painted elements

allowed the observer to take out a whole new meaning from the painting. When the ten

years passed and Craig was discharged from the asylum, he went to live to Boston to an

apartment that his brother rented for him. He decided to devote his time to the study of

the classics in the hope of getting to understand the ups and downs of his life. At night,

Craig walked around the city and enjoyed the loneliness of the empty streets. That’s

what he was doing one night when he sat on a park bench and fell asleep. What he did

not know was that he was about to find the angel that would give a purpose to his life.



CHAPTER V

soft voice woke Craig up. He opened his eyes and smiled: he knew that

she had crossed the barriers of space and time just to be with him and

he was grateful for that. Craig looked at her and saw that her

appearance had changed somewhat; she was no longer the ghost that he

had created with his imagination but now she was the city’s guardian angel. Craig

noticed that his angel was timeless and tremendously ‘timeful’ at the same time: in her

body converged past and present but she was also capable of separating herself from

both in order to analyze them and reflect on them. She reminded him of the capacity

that artists had to do the same: they usually used the past as a tool to understand the

present and their works always showed the current state of affairs of the artists’ time,

but they also had the ability to distance themselves from past and present to think about

them in a more objective way, so to speak. The woman took Craig’s hand and started

running so lightly that Craig got the impression that they had become part of the wind

and he had lost his human form. She led him through the narrow streets of the city and

showed him the different events that occurred in the city while its inhabitants were

supposed to be asleep. Craig absorbed all the details of the experiences he secretly

witnessed; little by little he started to fill up his memory with the characteristics of the

many lives he became involved in as an observer.

A

He soon got used to the idea of wandering constantly around the city and the only

demand he made on the woman was that they had to stop from time to time to sleep and

eat. Craig shared all his secrets with the woman because he knew that she could know

what he kept hidden anyway. Besides, he liked the fact that she listened to him without

interrupting him and without judging him. He was not very sure whether a human being

was going to be able to do that again after the terrible things he had done during the

course of his life. In turn, the woman shared with him her innermost thoughts and the

countless stories she had memorized since she had started guarding the city. One day

she explained to Craig that she had chosen to go all the way to Boston to protect the city

because she had understood from the very beginning that his heart was bound to that

place in a really peculiar manner. Craig had told her that Boston was the city where he

had enjoyed the guiltlessness of his childhood and he had started to lose control over his

impulses. In a way, Boston was the point of origin of his personal vortex and he felt that

somehow he was not willing to give away that connection so easily. Craig became more



and more dependent on the woman and came to a point where he was totally incapable

of imagining his life without her. What he did not notice was the woman gradually

slowed down the pace of their movement through the city. By the time he realized, the

woman had gently kissed his lips, had let go of his hand and had left him alone in the

middle of the same park where she had found him in the first place. Craig tried to catch

her but now that he was a human being again, he cannot run as fast as the woman

does. Craig cried bitterly for the treasure he had lost again and walked towards his

apartment. This time he knew that he had been missing for a month and a half and

called his brother to tell him that he was fine and that he loved him. Craig lay down on

his bed and thought about his future. He decided it was time to settle and find a purpose

for existence. He thanked again for the meeting with his guardian angel: she had given

him a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do with his life.



CHAPTER VI

hen Craig started working in a newspaper, he did not know exactly

how to put into words all the things he had witnessed while he had

been living with his angel. At last, he went to the streets to observe

the actual city life and to take notes of the different events he saw

in an attempt to figure out how to reproduce the immediate experiences of the everyday

life that he encountered in a simple straightforward language that could be understood

by everybody. After giving it a thought, he came up with the solution of writing articles

about different topics related to the routine life of the common people of the city. Soon

after his first articles were published, complete strangers started writing letters to thank

him for his work, which had shed some light on the joys and the miseries of the working

class of Massachusetts. After a couple of months of uninterrupted publishing of his

articles, Craig realized that his stories were actually having a social impact that he had

never imagined: hundreds of phone calls and letters, in which people explained how the

articles had opened their eyes or improved their lives or changed their vision about a

certain topic, were received in the newspaper, and Craig quickly became a kind of

celebrity that was adored by the members of the middle class.

W

Craig decided to leave Boston when he noticed that he could help other cities

become aware of the injustices and conflicts that took place within them every

day. Before he could even tell, he had already traveled across half his country raising

awareness about the different social problems that were afflicting the United States. The

most outstanding characteristic of his work was that he was capable of denouncing

complex issues in a very colloquial and simple tone, with complete absence of technical

terms or complicated explanations and always from the perspective of the common

people living in each city. By the time the U.S. had come to appreciate Craig’s talent,

Craig had turned into a keen observer and an excellent spokesman of those that

according to him, were the ones that kept the country alive but had very few chances to

express themselves and to be heard.

The fact that Craig wrote about both controversial social topics and also simple

subjects attracted the attention of the media worldwide. Soon Craig realized that he had

the unique opportunity to help in his own way to make the world a better place to live

in. For this reason, he became a globetrotter that wrote articles about the different

cultures he encountered and about the various issues that defined the everyday life of



the common people of city, town and country he visited. He was living in Montevideo,

Uruguay, when he met Nancy. She was an American actress that had traveled around

the world in search for a place which could unconditionally accept her uncontrolled

desire to express herself through art. At first, Craig was not very sure whether he

wanted to approach her: given his stormy, violent and tragic history with women, he

thought it was best to stay away from her. However, Nancy came close to him and won

his affection by means of good long conversations and a natural sensibility that moved

Craig and convinced that things could work out well this time. In fact, time proved him

right: Nancy and he enjoyed a fairy-tale courtship period, got married in a Tibetan

temple and honeymooned in the romantic city of Paris. A couple of months after their

marriage, Nancy found out that she was pregnant and then gave birth to a beautiful

healthy boy they named Amos. Together with Amos and Nancy, Craig moved to

Santiago, Chile, and started working for a local newspaper. At last, his life had a

meaning and a purpose. He just prayed for things to stay like this forever.



CHAPTER VII

raig decided to stop working in the newspaper when he realized that his

job was turning into a routine that he was not enjoying anymore. Before

anyone could persuade him to change his mind, he packed his things, quit

his job and disappeared of the public eye completely. Of course, Nancy

had supported his decision and had told him that what he had to do was to find a new

way to connect to people and to express the different situations he observed. After

giving it a thought, Craig looked for people who wanted to travel across the country

with him as an itinerant theater company. In the end, he managed to convince twelve

people to come with him and his family; he sold his house and his belongings, he

bought a small big top in which everybody could sleep without problems and he

explained to his wife his determination to travel across Chile on foot while performing

improvised plays whenever and wherever they felt like it. Nancy had passionately made

love to him that night, which indicated him that she was excited about the plan.

C

So they set off one day at dawn and started walking towards the south of Chile. At

first, Craig found it difficult to get used to living with so many people but after a short

while, he had accepted this new family that he had formed. Sometimes people looked at

them mistrustfully because they did not seem to have any problems with living without

comfort and because some people thought they were just bums or thieves. The truth was

that at times, they lived thanks to the charity of the small towns they visited; however,

when they arrived to a big city, they always had trouble because they could not find a

place to sleep in. In those occasions, they usually found a nice person who let them stay

in their house for a few days. When they were in a big city, Craig and some of the other

members of the company worked in different things to earn money to buy food and

clothes. The truth was that Craig was happy because he could live his life the way he

wanted and because he did not have to follow anybody else’s rules. Besides, his new

lifestyle allowed him to appreciate the here and now much better than the traditional

lifestyle that he had had until that moment.

Craig was finally feeling alive. Although it was true that he had been immensely

happy during his years as a reporter, his current life made him feel much more human;

for the first time since he was a child, he was living according to what his heart told him

without making the terrible mistakes he had made in the past and without destroying

what he loved. Right now, Craig had forgotten that life had seemed an endless



nightmare for him at some point or that he had wished to stay in the forest of sequoias

or that he had even wished to die. At present, Craig felt ready to grow old and face his

fate because he knew that he had met the face of life that every person should get to

know.

Almost thirty years, in which Craig and his family got to know even the most

hidden places of Chile, passed by. Amos became a well-educated, tolerant and sensitive

man who had learned to appreciate the small details and the simple things of life. He

had found a woman that understood and complemented him as well as Nancy

understood and complemented Craig. When Craig saw that his son was an amazing

human being, he felt satisfied and proud of his work. With the birth of his

granddaughter, Craig’s childhood memories came back to him. For the first time in over

thirty years, he felt the compelling need to go back to his beloved country. He talked to

Nancy about this and they took a flight back to the U.S. Amos stayed in Chile and

promised his father that he was going to try to help the people with the things that he

had taught him. Craig knew that his son was going to keep his promise.



CHAPTER VIII

lthough Craig had traveled around the world and he had been part of

many of the different cultures that existed, he had never forgotten his

roots, his traditions or his precious homeland. Every 4th of July, Craig

cried remembering the day his country had became a grown daughter

and had separated from her mother to begin her own glorious history. When the airplane

landed in Boston’s airport, Craig cried of happiness. Nancy, who was never really

attached to the United States, felt puzzled by his husband’s joy but respected his

feelings. Craig took her to all the different places that had marked his life because he

wanted his wife, who had been so important to him through all these years, to see why

he loved that city and its surroundings so much. Nancy had to admit that the city was

beautiful and it had a certain magic that attracted her. When they got to the house where

Craig’s parents had lived, he felt a twinge of sorrow: he had missed his father’s

funeral – he was locked up in the asylum when his father had suddenly died of a heart

attack – and his mother’s funeral – she had died in a car crash while he was living in

Chile. He told Nancy that he felt guilty for not accompanying his brother during that

difficult moment but that he knew it was pointless to cry over spilt milk.

A

After they finished visiting Boston, they went to Julius’s house in Sherborn. Craig

felt tremendously happy when he saw that his brother was still healthy in spite of his

advanced years. Julius hugged Nancy affectionately and asked them to come in. For the

next five hours, Craig told him everything about what he had done for the last thirty-

five. He told him about the places he had visited, the things he had done and seen, and

he showed pictures he had taken through all those years. They talked about Amos and

Julius told them about his family. Craig and Nancy stayed with him for two

weeks. During that period of time, both brothers talked about the past and forgave each

other for everything that had happened in their lives.

Julius explained to Craig that he had preserved his house in Goat Island. Craig felt

immensely grateful when he heard that. He thanked his brother for everything and took

Nancy to Goat Island. She fell in love with the place immediately and they decided to

live there. Craig went back to writing articles and told his wife that he wanted to help

his country again; Nancy understood it and devoted her time to assist him. This way,

they did a lot of good and changed the life of many people. Craig was pleased to see

that he still had the capacity to do something to improve his country and thanked God



for giving him the opportunity to grow old next to the woman he loved and for the

chance to help his wonderful homeland realize of her tremendous potential and beauty.



CHAPTER IX

raig felt sad when Nancy died but took comfort in the fact that they had

enjoyed a lifetime full of happiness together and that she had gone

without suffering. Amos flew from Chile to assist to his mother’s funeral

and expressed Craig his desire to stay with him in the United

States. Craig felt grateful to his son for his noble gesture. Craig enjoyed watching his

granddaughter grow and had a good time with his daughter-in-law’s anecdotes and

stories. Of course, he made sure that his son did not find out that he was dying. He did

not want him to get worried or lose that wonderful spark that made him so

charming. Craig sometimes felt impressed by how extraordinarily similar his son was to

Julius. Craig walked towards the place where he kept hidden the box with his

mementos. He removed the dirt that covered it and opened it. After his wife’s and his

brother’s death, Craig had continually reflected on his life. He had pondered every

detail of it and had written letters in which he tried to leave a message for his son and

his granddaughter.

C

When the cancer laid him out and stopped him from moving from bed, Craig

prepared everything to make sure that his son understood that his life had been

immensely happy and lucky. Craig wanted his son to see that the bad moments

(Shannon’s death, the war, his father’s rejection, the woman’s murder and his

hospitalization in the asylum, among others) which had been part of his life had all been

necessary for him to get to where he was now. If he had not gone through all the things

he had gone through, he would have never met Nancy and he would have never had

Amos. By now, Craig had realized that sometimes misery was a necessary pre-requisite

for happiness; he had realized that blessing could not exist without the presence of

misfortune.

Craig died on July, 4th 2009. When he felt that life was leaving him, he asked his

son to take him to the garden and let him lie down on the grass. Craig said goodbye to

the world with the leaves of grass being gently swayed by the breeze. Amos did not cry

his father’s death: he knew that he had enjoyed every minute and that he had done

exactly what he had wanted. Amos opened the box his father had given him and

extracted the letter that was on top. This is what the letter said:

Don’t forget, my son, that life always begins in delight: the delight of being

innocent, of appreciating the small details, of recognizing the real



importance of simple things. Then, once we grow somewhat older, we feel

the dire need of experimenting, of finding out what the world is like by our

own means. This is the stage where we sometimes make our biggest

mistakes, but it is also the moment when we learn the most. When we

become adults, we have –hopefully–, finally found our way and our purpose

in life: we somehow guess the reason why we were sent here and why we

are where we are. But it is only at the end of the road that we figure out the

big why behind our existence. Our lives are no longer bits and pieces, but

they become a huge clear picture where everything falls into place and gets

its real meaning. Only here, my son, men are wise and happy. Only here,

my dear son, men get to understand why they are men. Only here, my

precious son, men get back the delight of their childhood.

THE END

an account of craig gale's delightfully lucky impulse towards wisdom

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