Stories from the Heart

By Blanca Vela

After a few moments, she opened her eyes and realized what happened. Her only thought was to find her family. She struggled to get herself free from branches that fell on her during the earthquake. Xotchil then yelled of the pain that she felt when trying to get on her feet. She knew that she would not be able to get to her home. She dragged herself through the forest and finally reached the road. Just as she saw a car approaching, she fell to the ground, unconscious. A couple who were on vacation stopped and took her to the closest hospital.

Depressed, sad, and with no motivation, I agreed to meet a friend for a drink after work. She wasnt there when I arrived, so decided to sit close to the entrance so I could see her when she walked in. I noticed a young woman a few tables across me. Suddenly, she came up to me and asked if she could join me since she also was waiting for someone. We talked and didnt realize the time. The funny thing was, neither of our friends showed up. This complete stranger changed my life as her words filled my spirit.

I go to the attic and wow! What do we have here? A sack full of pictures, letters, toys, and many memories. Who are these people? Oh, I know. Its my childhood friend and I playing together like we always did.

Time has passed and these friends went different ways. After years, they meet again and restart their friendship.

He joined the marines in the times of Vietnam. He is a very smart young man who had his future well planned. Never did he imagine that that war would change him and his dreams.

Growing up, my son had many friends. Some shared the same passion for soccer. These friends were always together. They all were responsible and hardworking young men. Several of them went through rough times while they were growing. Because of this, they valued every success they accomplished. Truly, I say, how many of those people we call friends are there to demonstrate the friendship? Not many. My sons friends did.
They were always there for each other. Some were discriminated due to their race and color of their skin. Others were homeless at one point, yet they forgot of their problems once they were on the field playing soccer.

Jose couldnt believe the horrific experience he was living. He had a peaceful life with his mother and stepfather until the Maras threatened him to join them or he would be killed. He left his hometown to reach a country he didnt know. To get to this country, he had to cross two others. He was only eleven and was obligated to become mature before his time. He experienced many situations throughout his journey. The majority was very unpleasant and hurtful, yet he encountered good people who helped him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palibrio
• Release date: Jun 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781506520070

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Blanca Vela.

Library of Congress Control Number:                               2017906157

ISBN:                   Hardcover                                     978-1-5065-2009-4

                            Softcover                                         978-1-5065-2008-7

                            eBook                                               978-1-5065-2007-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Rev. date: 21/04/2017

Palibrio

1663 Liberty Drive

Suite 200

Bloomington, IN 47403

CONTENTS

TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS

COINCIDENCE OR MIRACLE

A SACK FULL OF MEMORIES

A COMMUNITY’S HERO

MY SON’S FRIENDS

A CRY FOR FREEDOM

To My Children

Alexandra, Mario, Miguel and Aline,

Thank you for your love and never ending memories

My Grand Children

Aline, Rene, Miguel, Isabella, Gabriel, Itzel and Areli,

Who have brought much happiness to my life

TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS

She was out the door for her morning jog. Her life was here, but her heart was in another world. She couldn’t get those thoughts out of her mind as she had been thinking what her life was before she came to this world. She had her mind set up to always remember her family, culture and that beautiful forest where she once lived.

Her native family lived close to a volcano. They lived in a small hut made of branches and logs that the family found around the area. There was a river close by on one side and a thick forest to the other. The family was composed of a mother, a beautiful young girl named Xotchil who was fourteen, Tizoc who was eight, and their grandfather who they all called Tata. Tizoc was born a couple of months after his father was killed by a wild cat while hunting.

The family lived from the crops of corn, squash and other vegetables that they grew in their garden. They worked making baskets from leaves of the corn after being dried, washed and colored with natural colors from wild flowers they pick by the river.

Every Sunday Tata and Tizoc would carry the baskets into town to sell to tourist that would visit the volcano. Xotchil and her mother would stay home making thread from maguey which is a plant that mezcal and pulque are made of. This thread is also colored with wild flowers. With this thread they knit in their knitting boards and made fabrics to make their cloths. The colors are bright and are attractive to the visitors who would pass by and see their work.

One Sunday morning, Tata and Tizoc left to the village and Xotchil went to the river to pick wild flowers. She was walking through the woods, when suddenly she felt the earth move and a loud roar coming from the volcano. Immediately she knew that it was mad and about to erupt. Quickly she headed home, when another movement came. She could no longer walk without falling. She waited for it to finish, but it was endless. She saw trees falling, the land opening, and the animals running in no direction. Xotchil only thought of her mother being alone in the hut.

Finally, as she stood up, a tree fell and hit her, and she fell unconscious.

The village was nearly gone. Many of the small houses were fallen to the ground. People started screaming and yelling out their families names. A woman holding a man who had a wound on his head couldn’t believe what was happening.

Tizoc was next to Tata who had several stones on him from a wall that had crumbled with the quake. Tizoc asked for help, but no one seemed to