BABY IN THE BOX

I just got back from shopping. On the street, I saw a lady’s stall selling fruit and vegetables. Few Caribbean-style things.

I go to shop when from under the stall, inside a cardboard box, the smiling face of a little girl between 3 and 5 years old emerges. I smile back and continue talking to the lady at the banquet, a grandmother with her face furrowed by deep wrinkles sculpted by the Caribbean sun.

After buying red potatoes, 3 aubergines and some mangoes I walk away, the little girl in the carton gives me a last smile this time accompanied by a waving hand.

Impossible not to think of you little girl, Viola, and of your sweetness as you caressed my face astride my shoulders.

The scorching midday sun accompanies me on the way back to JK. Thirst is great, a nice beer is what you need to quench the thirst. I sit down at a nice marina bar, a Piton please, I ask a distracted and improbable waiter.

Piton is the beer produced on the island of Santa Lucia. As I sip my beer and look at the sea, I think how nice it would be to have you here with me. Maybe while eating a nice ice cream. It is not possible you are 7489km away from me.

It’s my cell phone that with ruthless precision signals the distance between you and me. As I realize how much I miss you I think back to the little girl in the cartoon and I have an idea. If you can’t eat the ice cream, the little girl in the carton can eat it for you.

Without even finishing the beer I ask if they sell ice cream they invite me to help myself directly in the fridge. What ice cream will the little girl who reminds me of you like? I’ll keep it simple and have an ice cream covered in chocolate.

With my ice cream in hand, thinking of you and how much I love you, I go back to the little girl in the carton and give it to her as a gift, being reciprocated by a very sweet smile.

Grandma invites her to thank me but it’s me who thanks the little girl in the cartoon for making me feel a little less distant from you, even if only for a few moments.

I love you immensely Viola.

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