WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIES Chapter Twenty-Seven

 WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIES

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A week ago Graça had helped her childhood friend Izabel. She had returned to the interior, with her pieces ready, in time to deliver all the orders. She couldn't be happier. She managed to meet the deadlines requested of her clients and was able to see her old friend, with whom she had not had close contact for some time.

While she was sitting on her seat on the train, waiting for it to move along the road and reach its destination, Izabel ended up dozing off. Which was perfectly normal, since during her stay in the Big City she hadn't really been able to rest... her worry about work didn't let her relax. For three nights in a row she spent sewing the pieces she needed, while her assistants rested. The gas lighting left the room as bright as day... and Izabel made the most of the resources she had at hand. Of course she knew that this had a cost, and she would not let Graça bear her expenses. After all, she had already done a lot to give him a space to work. She still had to agree on the value of the fabric she used. By her reckoning, this was a request that, if it didn't cause any losses, would already be a good size...

While sleeping, Izabel began to walk through the fields of her childhood. She suddenly found herself six, seven years old. She was running across the prairie, accompanied by her little dog Mosquito. Little foot on the ground, little dress, two braids... the freedom of her steps was the same as the wings of the birds that flew through the sky...

In her dreams the girl played carefree with her dog. In the distance, near the edge of the river, a little girl sat. Long hair, tied in a ponytail, little flowery dress... she was also barefoot, like Izabel. She looked a little sad. Izabel had no doubts... she approached the girl and tried to start a conversation...

- Hey...

The little girl remained with her head down, staring at the water that flowed towards the world...

- Let's play?

She remained silent... Izabel sat next to her. She spent a few seconds looking at the girl's face....

- Why are you sad?

The little girl looked up... she looked like she was going to cry...

- And my dad...

- What happened?

- He hurt himself! And my mother said he's going to heaven...

Izabel remained silent for a few moments... the little girl's father going to heaven wasn't very good, no... she still remembered when her grandmother left... well, they said she left. One day her grandmother didn't get out of bed anymore. A man in white clothes came, examined her and then placed her inside a box... "she went to heaven", they told her... the girl was impressed. How did her grandmother go to heaven if she was still there? Well, she didn't stay long, no. Then they placed his grandmother inside a box, covered her with flowers, closed the box and six men carried her to a place full of crosses. Her mother was crying and so were other people. Everyone sang a sad song. Izabel didn't like the song at all. But she couldn't stop listening. Finally they lowered the box into a hole and then covered it with earth. Izabel didn't understand. If her grandmother had gone to heaven, why did they put her in a box, then put her in a hole and cover her with dirt? That's weird! And now... apparently they were going to do the same with that strange little girl's father... Izabel hugged the girl. And she stayed there like that for a long time. Then she asked the girl if she liked strawberries. The girl nodded. Izabel got up, gave the girl her hand to help her get up and off they went, accompanied by Mosquito, looking for wild strawberries.

After a while the two were playing happily. At least for a while the little girl, who said her name was Graça, forgot that her father was injured and that he could "go to heaven".... yes, Izabel was remembering the first time she met her inseparable friend. ..

Izabel was awakened by one of her assistants. The composition was arriving in Quiririm, where they were to disembark. They would still have to rent a cart to get to her store. They soon settled into one of the many available to passengers and after another half hour they finally arrived at Izabel's commercial establishment. They unloaded the packages, checked everything to make sure nothing was left behind. And finally the girl breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, she managed to prepare the pieces to honor her commitments. But according to her calculations, she would not make any profit in this game. And all because of her usual supplier, who simply let her down.

Izabel was in her office, thinking. If she had one or two more stumbles like that, she would fall. And she could hardly get up. She would have to look for one or two more suppliers besides CTI... but where? She was a small businesswoman, and was not a priority for most distributors. Now... well, she hoped she wouldn't go through another ordeal like this anytime soon.

The clock showed two o'clock in the afternoon. Neither Izabel nor her assistants had eaten anything yet. They only had breakfast, which they had eaten at the hotel. Then, in the rush, they ended up not having time to eat. She left the office, called all her collaborators, told them that she was closing the store for that afternoon and that all of them, without exception, would have lunch with her at the restaurant in the square. Of course everyone was happy. After all, getting an afternoon off and another lunch...

They were just closing the doors when Juca arrived from the farm. She had to solve a problem for her boss, so she went to headquarters early. After managing to untie the knot she had with the milk cooperative, she headed to her wife's store. He knew she was supposed to return soon, but he wasn't sure about the date. So, during this time he opened the establishment, distributed the day's orders and then went to the farm's headquarters to resolve day-to-day issues. After resolving everything that needed his attention, he returned to the store, where he stayed until the end of the day. When he saw that his wife had already returned, he breathed a sigh of relief...

As they all walked to the restaurant, Juca and Izabel talked, each one updating the other on their news. Juca hugged his wife and the two walked in the middle of the group, clinging tightly to each other like when they were lovers...