Most of us have stories to tell—maybe an accident, something embarrassing, something funny, or even something a bit foolish. In this chapter, I'm bringing you other small things that happened to me during that same year. Yes, the same year as the stories of Sayuri and Dina. Without further ado, let's begin.
I hope you're doing very well! Let's start with Chapter 8.
A Story from the Middle of the Year
Around the middle of the year, it was my grandmother's birthday. Since it fell during the end-of-the-month school holidays, we decided to celebrate and traveled to Villamar (Lima). One Friday while we were there, I was heading to the park with my 15-year-old brother. A neighbor approached us and asked if we wanted a puppy. My brother and I, full of excitement, said yes, and we took him to my grandmother's house.
On her birthday, we were eating and chatting when she told me a story about when I was four years old.
A STORY FROM MY CHILDHOOD
GRANDMOTHER: "We were in Chiclayo, and your mother was pregnant with Luka. Since she was at risk of a miscarriage, she went to the hospital with your father. You always used to sneak out of the house and head to a small market nearby. You'd go there to buy chicken when we asked, and sometimes you'd stay to play or talk to the chicken vendor, Don Juan."
Then, my brother Peter arrived and said: PETER: "Angela, I can't find my little brother! He's lost!" GRANDMOTHER (Angela): "What do you mean? Did you look everywhere?"
"We started searching for you all over the house and couldn't find you. Then we went to ask Don Juan, but he said you hadn't been there either. We even went to the canal to see if you had fallen in. We started asking the neighbors, but no one had seen you. Everyone began helping us search. Three hours passed, and you still hadn't appeared. We were just about to call the police when we suddenly heard you crying. We followed the sound and found you inside a wooden crate; you had gotten stuck! We got you out, and everyone was so happy. I thanked God because, back then, there were many reports of child kidnappings. When I told your mother later, she said that if she had been there, she would have lost the baby from the pure STRESS!"
MY FIRST PET
After the birthday, days passed, and we had to return to Chiclayo, so we took the dog with us. My brother was carrying the puppy, and at one point during the night journey, the dog vomited on him—it looked like worms! To make matters worse, he ended up pooping on him and the seat as well. The whole way back smelled terrible.
HAHAHA!
I didn't stop laughing the entire trip, teasing him about it. Even today, I still remind him. The funniest part is that I was the one carrying the dog at first, but he took him away from me!
However, when we got back, my mom didn't like the puppy because he was messy and because he was a "chusco" (a mixed breed), and we weren't helping with the cleaning. On another occasion, when we were traveling to Lima to take my grandfather's car so he could get around, we took the dog to stay with Angela because he was causing too much trouble in Chiclayo.
Since we were in a car, we could stop anywhere. We stopped at an aunt's house in Chimbote, and after a few hours, we headed out again. As we got into the car and my grandfather began to accelerate, my mom gave the dog a kick and pushed him out of the car. The saddest part was that he started following us. In my childhood innocence, I kept calling for him to come back, but eventually, we lost sight of him. I left Chimbote crying for that dog. That happened years ago when I was six, but I still remember it. This was around August or September.
I GOT LOST IN THE MARKET!
My mom and I had gone to my Aunt Mary's house to prepare humitas for my Aunt Empera's birthday. I went to help prepare the dough; who would have thought a 6-year-old could do that? I did the heavy work: grinding the corn into flour.
On that occasion, my mom picked me up from school and took me to my aunt's house because she had prepared lunch there. My older brothers were in high school (afternoon shift), so they left and I stayed to eat at 11:00 AM. Afterward, my mom said:
MOTHER: "Angelo, come with us to the market to help carry the bags." AUNT: "Yes, cholito, I'll buy you some cookies." ME: "I'd love to go!"
So we left. The market was only a block away. I remember it was crowded that day, even though it was around 12:00 PM. As we were walking, I stopped to look at some baby chicks, and suddenly, I realized my aunt and mom were gone. I was lost.
By then, they had finished shopping and were already back home preparing the humitas. My aunt called for me to help grind the corn, but I didn't answer. She looked for me and I was nowhere to be found. My mom wasn't there because my aunt had sent her to buy cheese, and since my mom had some at her house, she had gone all the way back there. My aunt went back to the market and found me; I had been there for about three hours. When my aunt told my mother, she gave me candy!
(So, it was actually worth getting lost!)
After that, I went back to grinding, and when I finished, I started gathering firewood to cook the humitas. There was a large carob tree at my aunt's house that had recently been pruned, so I gathered the branches and started the fire. Then I went to play with the dogs and pet the chickens in the yard. Finally, I ate humitas while my Aunt Empera told stories about her life.
I remember my grandmother, my uncle, my siblings, and six aunts were all there, though my uncle left early for work and my parents had gone to buy the cake and a gift.
I hope you enjoyed these stories. I wasn't sure about including them because they aren't very long, but they are good memories that I find funny and a bit silly.
Thank you very much for reading. I'll try to release the next chapter faster; I'm done with exams now... OR AM I?
"These events took place around August, September, and even October. During that time, it wasn't just what happened with Dina and Sayuri; I also had these other stories and more. These were the funniest or most amusing things that happened to me—well, maybe not that funny or amusing, but for me, they were at least a little bit! This is also part of my journey."