The wind was blowing strongly all around. The frost had painted crystal flowers on the steamed windows, behind which a terrible silence ruled.
The woman knelled at the foot of the bed, kissing her dead mother’s hand. The old lady had passed away two days ago, and her daughter stood by her side. There were no candles to light the woman’s journey to the after world and she will only be able to come up with some money two weeks from now. Victorita knew she wouldn’t be able to hide her mother for so long; she will have to ask the neighbours for help and let the authorities know, but before that she had to light a candle for her mother.
She looked at the clock. It was little after 4 p.m. She thought to herself that it was still early while putting her old shoes on. She got dressed and she put on a wool scarf over her old, torn fur cap.
The wind hit her face while she was trying not to fall. Good thing she had a pair of old socks over her boots.
After a while the bus stopped in the station. People were avoiding her, but she got used to this a long time ago; it had happened so often these last years that she could almost understand them. The truth was that she could barely take it herself. She was born with a dreadful malformation: her legs were way too short. Her mother, an ex cardiologist tried repeatedly to help her, but all her efforts were in vain. Victorita’s father had left them because of the girl’s handicap, but not before trying to convince her mother to abandon her. The mother was forced to raise her child by herself, putting up with all the meanness and bad words of the people around.
As a child, people pitied her but now the same eyes have only disgust for her. She got used to it.
Now Victorita received pension for her illness, but only because of her mother’s efforts. The two pensions they received were barely enough to pay pay the bills, especially ever since the old lady had paralysed.
The bus stopped in the station and she carefully got down, paying attention to every step. The glazed frost hardened her walk but the church was nearby.
-How’s your mother doing? ,Ion asked as soon as he saw her.
She looked at him with the same sad eyes.
-She’s sleeping, she managed to whisper trying to stop her tears.
She then sat down on one of the steps in front of the church entrance. An empty tin lied next to her.
There were four beggars on the church steps and the few people that went to church at that late hour stopped to wonder to whom to give the little money they had available.
-I haven’t seen you here in two days, old Maria said giving her a bretzel.You must be hungry.
Usually she would have never taken anything from old Maria, who struggled to raise her orphan grandchildren, begging with her husband on the church steps. But now Victorita was very hungry so she started eating the frozen bretzel.
The church doors closed as darkness sat down on the city. It was too late for her to go home so she crawled into a corner trying to make herself warm. She decided to wait until the next day to ask the priest for a candle and go home to her mother.
When she woke up it was warm. A woman dressed in white was pushing the buttons of a machine she was connected to.
-Faster! We’re loosing her!
Victorita felt a hot wave passing through her blood. She reached for the woman in white
-Please! A candle for my mother!
The woman lit two candles. One for the daughter and one for the mother.