Juanita del Valle

image [https://i.imgur.com/dEtQeM5.png]

Ah… how beautiful it is to remember everything. Each month and every year, I watched this little girl grow into a young adult who, though not perfect, gradually improved her relationship with her father. She had more good moments than bad ones and learned that she didn’t just need words of love from her parents to love herself, although, from time to time, she needed support to feel stable with herself.

Time passed so quickly. In fact, I remember that at one point I got bored watching her; she seemed like a normal girl, with nothing out of the ordinary, but then, one of the most anticipated dates for the young peasant arrived, her eighteenth birthday was approaching, and at that moment, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to bask in the events that might unfold. I still remember how excited the young girl was, she was about to be considered an adult for the first time and could do crazy things like drink energy drinks, and well, nothing else interested her, surprisingly.

It was the night of September 17th. Her parents were going to wake up earlier than her to go buy things in the city, so she decided to set her alarm the day before.

“Cock-a-doodle-doo!” The alarm rang, and September 18th had arrived. Juanita jumped out of bed when she heard it and decided that to celebrate her first day as an adult, she would prepare a very special breakfast.

The young woman knew she had time to prepare everything, as her parents were still traveling through the city. She came down from the second floor and started preparing homemade cornbread, as well as setting out on the table her parents' favorite accompaniments: jam, butter, ham, eggs, etc.

The bread this young girl made was impeccable, with an incredible smell and texture. “It’s like eating a cloud, Kernel, it’s amazing!” her parents would say every time they ate one of her many creations, showering her with several compliments that made her feel validated. Juanita left the bread warming in the oven and heated water to serve her mother’s favorite herbal tea and strong coffee for her father. Meanwhile, she decided to spend some time watching television.

A few minutes after, while the bread had been baking, she heard knocking at the door, prompting Juanita to go and ask who it was.

— Hello? Who is it?

— Juanita, dear, first of all, happy birthday. It’s Federico. I’m coming from the city to work here as always, but on the way, I saw something terrible, horrible...

Juanita, scared and fearing the worst, waited a few seconds before formulating her question. — Thank you, Federico, I can always trust you. What happened? Please tell me. — Her voice made it clear her heart had dropped from fear.

— Your parents… — As soon as Juanita heard those words, tears filled her eyes slowly. Federico continued:

— They had an accident and are badly injured. It was a strange accident; a reckless truck was on the wrong side of the road, crossed over, and caused the crash...

Juanita let out a heart-wrenching scream, unable to believe this was real life, hoping it was a cruel joke.

— I’m so sorry, dear Juani… — Federico continued.

Between sobs, Juanita asked, — When? Are they in the hospital? Are they alive? Tell me they’re alive, please!

— I found them at the scene of the accident; they seemed unconscious. I assume, since it was early and I’m always one of the first to arrive, I was the first person to notice the accident... I called the hospital right away, and once they arrived, I decided to come here to give you the news, dear...

Juanita, with a heartrending voice, said in a split second — Please, take me to the hospital, okay? Let me change, and we’ll go...

— Alright, we’ll go.

Juanita rushed upstairs to her room to put on the first clothes she saw, tears streaming down her cheeks and fast breaths as she flung her slippers somewhere in the room. She got ready in less than three minutes and went downstairs to leave with Federico.

Minutes went by, and Juanita tried to hold back her tears, those she couldn’t hold anymore after seeing the crash site on the way to the hospital. She saw her parents' white car, which they had bought not long ago, and next to it, a truck three times its size. She couldn’t help but clench her fist in frustration and start crying uncontrollably as Federico consoled her.

The young peasant arrived at the hospital alongside the worker, ran inside, and asked where Beatrice and Rafael were, she had to see her parents in their hospital beds.

— Mom? Dad? Federico brought me here; please answer me. — She said with a lump in her throat as she looked at the ECG monitor still showing signs of life, which gave her a little relief despite seeing her parents completely bandaged.

Time went by, and they didn’t respond, but even so, Juanita and Federico stayed in the room, hoping for some kind of response. After at least half an hour, while the young girl held her mother’s hand, she felt a finger move, lighting up the daughter's eyes.

— Juanita... — her mother murmured as she barely opened her eyes.

— Mom?! — Juanita raised her voice slightly after feeling her mother’s touch.

—... Happy birthday, my pretty Kernel...

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— Mom… I love you more than anything in this world, don’t leave me... — Juanita said this, fearing it might be the last time her mother made her feel validated and loved by someone in her family.

Juanita’s mother smiled faintly but said nothing, as if knowing what was to come.

— Mom?... — Juanita said, waiting for a response from her mother, not knowing that the only answer she would receive was the long and obnoxious, sharp beep of the ECG machine in her ear, making real the nightmare of her mother dying. The sound triggered a terrified scream from the young adult.

Nurses and doctors nearby were startled by the scream and rushed into the room. Seeing that her mother had no heartbeat, they had to ask the distressed girl and her companion to leave the room.

Juanita sat in the waiting room in deep silence. In her mind, she tried to remember if she had noticed whether her father’s heartbeat had been normal or if he was also in danger, hoping to find some comfort in that. Minutes passed, and the entire hospital became abstract to Juanita. The girl felt her vision blurry and distant from her; at that point, her body no longer felt like her own. The hospital lights began to irritate her, and the only thing she wanted to know at that point was what was going to happen.

After a while, a doctor approached Juanita with a posture that gave off nothing but funeral vibes. Kernel, once again, prepared for the worst.

— Are you the daughter, right? — the doctor asked.

Juanita was exhausted at this point, she responded in a monotonous voice:

— Yes, I am.

— I’m very sorry. Your mother passed away while we were trying to reanimate her, and as for your father, while we were helping your mother, he also lost pulse, leading to his death too. My deepest condolences…

— I understand. — was all that came out of Juanita’s lips. At that moment, she had no more tears left to cry. Despite being a sentimental person, she no longer felt like a person, but rather a shell of what used to be a human.

After that, everything was darkness for the young peasant girl. For the remainder of her birthday, she ate alone what would have been breakfast for them all. Some time later, she had to organize the funeral with the help of the local workers, being equally as empty a day as the one when she received the news.

And that was when the land and everything else passed into her hands due to inheritance. This also included an enormous workload for an eighteen-year-old girl, who had to learn to handle more than she had before. She became the boss, something that reminded her every day that she was alone.

Poor peasant del Valle, but how interesting! That’s when I knew I had to watch what would happen to this young woman and whether she would be able to overcome all the challenges life was throwing at her; no one would ever know, but those emerald eyes had cried a lot up to this point.

People always thought she had handled her parents' death well because of the big smile she wore whenever she talked to her workers or even when she had to look in the mirror while she cried. She always told herself that it was all part of her personality and that she should never show her bad side to those around her or even strangers. “How can I be sad when I have everything?” “I’m living much more comfortably than others, it doesn’t make sense to be sad.” “No one would understand if I’m sad.” These are things she constantly repeats to herself, and no one will ever take them out of her head.

Time passed, and sometimes Maicita felt the husk that she called her “body” so heavy that she couldn’t do basic things for herself, like eating, brushing her teeth, or even taking a bath. Federico would occasionally visit the girl to help her take care of herself, making things for her so she could eat something.

“…Cock-a-doodle-doo…”

— Ugh… September 18th again... — she muttered under her breath, realizing that a year had already passed since she lost her parents.

Juanita slowly got up. Hearing that alarm made her think it would be just another day for her since, a year ago, she decided that from that tragic day on, she would no longer celebrate her birthdays. She still felt she was in mourning, but at least now she could hide her feelings better from others.

Despite Juanita's changed attitude toward herself, some things remained the same, such as the fact that her work continued to be a regional success, following the legacy of her parents. The beautiful meadow on these lands still remained, always green and radiant, with a cold yet welcoming breeze.

The gorgeous flowers of various kinds were also preserved along the paths, and the number of orchards and crops made it feel like every breath you took was as if you were eating a salad.

When the afternoon arrived, as part of her routine, she got up to see if that day she would be able to convince herself that she had gotten better. This young woman knew she had to smile a lot, that she always had to be there for everyone, and she wished that all of this would be rewarded with a better future, one where she could be truly happy.

She constantly worried about helping her workers as much as possible so they wouldn’t feel as if the work they did for her was “a huge burden” or that “it’s not what it used to be when her parents were in charge”. In prioritizing others' happiness over her own, her mental health was suffering even more.

The afternoon passed slowly as the young woman organized the corn near her house, preparing it to eat later while playing solitaire at night, a habit she would never give up.

While holding a piece of corn in her hands, the farmer noticed, in a hidden part of the backyard of her house, some kind of garden, filled with gorgeous flowers. She knew there were flowers on the property, but never there, so she thought it might have been something her mother had planted. Intrigued, she decided to go see, taking the corn with her in her apron.

The young woman saw the abundance of flowers there, with a pure scent, like the most expensive perfume you could imagine. She assumed the plants were still alive thanks to the frequent rain in her region.

The area was vast, vibrant, colorful, and beautiful. This made her doubt her sanity, wondering how it was possible she hadn't noticed it before. Her emerald eyes lit up with excitement, and being very curious, she decided to spend the afternoon examining them all, and so she made a plan:

She quickly returned to the house and left a note by the door that read: “I went to check something out, don’t worry, follow your usual routine” so the workers wouldn’t ask where she was, allowing her to take as much time as she wanted. Of course, absent-minded Juanita completely forgot to leave the corn in the kitchen and still carried it in her apron as she walked out the door.

Roses, lilies, tulips, daisies, jasmines, orchids, poppies; whatever flower you could imagine, it was there, in various colors and scents. Juanita hadn’t felt so entertained and excited by something in a really long time. The curious girl decided to pick up a rose, but it seemed the thorns on this one were particularly large, and to her bad luck, she got a fairly noticeable cut on her finger. She yelled, a bit dramatically, to the sky, throwing the rose to the ground, but she kept searching for another, having not learned her lesson.

—It can’t be! — Juanita exclaimed aloud to no one.

Juanita knew a lot about flowers and could usually identify them easily, but there was a beautiful flower, still in bud, that she couldn’t recognize. It looked like it was made of some kind of mineral, like rose quartz.

The young woman couldn’t just stand there; she had to get closer to look at such a peculiar flower. As she brought her face closer to see if this beautiful flower had any kind of scent, the bud opened and sprayed her with a pollen that had a very strange smell, causing an effect similar to that of a narcotic substance. The poor farmer passed out right there in the beautiful flower garden.