IN BETWEEN FATHER AND MOTHER

"And what do you want to do?" Chris asked, looking at me gravely.

As if I knew!

Did I wish to move far away from Feliz and Alegria? No, I didn't.

Did I long to go back to my parents? Yes, I did.

Was I interested in giving meaning to my existence by learning a trade or joining a prestigious institution that many people respect? Perhaps.

Having the answer to the problem doesn't always necessarily give the solution, quite the contrary. Alegria's fears about my father's decision on my life were also mine. I was a child in the hands of a father whose sole ambition seemed to consist of shaping me in his own image. He wanted to make me a survivor, tough, and strong enough to withstand all the trials of life, including being separated from parental protection.

Why did he persist in training me for the worst? Had he seen in a dream like Alegria my uncertain and difficult future? Where did this certainty of misfortune come from? From the future or from the past? I knew his father had been in the concentration camps during the second world war, but hadn't the world changed enough since then? Obviously not enough to appease his fears.

"Did you tell Feliz about it?" Chris interrupted my thoughts.

I shook my head as Feliz's figure appeared in the distance like a ghost. She noticed immediately the discomfort on my face.

"You were talking about me?" She said smiling, taking a seat on the sand between us.

"I'm gonna get me an ice cream," Chris said, getting up before running towards a vendor.