SOURCE
The Trunk
That afternoon the entire town of Cervantes was very upset, its few inhabitants could not believe what would happen the next morning, the rumor spread that Maggie Petrov the famous ballet dancer would move there, fleeing that scandal in which she was involved after the disappearance of her husband, the Russian dancer Boris Petrov and his brother Mijak, this had been her partner for a period of nine years, but for a year both brothers had been missing or died, according to investigations carried out by Dulcinea Police.
It all happened that winter in which the life of this young couple would change, Maggie had gone out to do the end of the year shopping and Boris had stayed at home preparing Christmas dinner, when she returned home Boris had disappeared, and only found a pool of blood, a knife on the floor, and after some analysis of two types of blood, when the police arrived the first thing they determined was that by the amount of blood in the place the person or persons they could not have survived, it was a matter of seconds for the police to think that Maggie was the murderer, she was arrested and imprisoned, although she claimed not to know anything about what happened, a few months passed and she was brought to trial, there it could be ruled that she was totally innocent, since the bodies did not appear yet.
She was released but she continued to be pointed out by everyone as the murderer of Boris and his brother, her career was stopped so that, already tired, she decided to put distance to rest both from the media and from the people and her indications that she was guilty.
When morning came, everyone in Cervantes got up very early, to see her arrive, it was the first time that something different happened in that place almost unknown to most, she moved to a humble cabin almost hidden in the forest, very dilapidated, immediately the Neighbors came to help her, they welcomed her and the mayor assured her that there she would not be a victim of harassment, she responded with a beautiful smile, and they all began to help to clean and accommodate the small cabin, it was very humble but helpful people who made it feel at home.
While their belongings were being lowered, she wanted to help too, so she took that beautiful golden trunk that you could tell was very expensive as well as heavy, it almost fell, so Don Víctor had to help her, she was happy although tired from the trip so she thanked everyone and went to rest.
Only one day passed and Maggie began to look for qualified personnel to help her renovate her house, it was there that she met Vicente, that young carpenter, handsome but very rough and direct, who would help Maggie with the restoration of her home.
The work began in the house, and Vicente took care of everything, while Maggie just sat there in the old rocking chair, the one that one of the ladies of the town had given her in a gesture of kindness, she was there with her lost gaze , perhaps wondering where Boris was, while watching Vicente work.
I spent some time and every day Vicente and Maggie talked, thus creating a bond of friendship between them, he was perhaps the only person with whom he had any kind of interaction and through which she got to know the people.
At the time Maggie's house was ready, it was the most beautiful in town, so she thanked Vicente and asked him to help her now to restore the small back room that would put her dance studio there, she told him that she never She could stop dancing, which was her great passion and that she would like to teach the little girls of that place as a gesture of gratitude for the welcome that the town had with her.
When Vicente had restored that dirty place, worn down by the passage of time, no one could believe that it had been transformed, so she began to decorate it with her personal items, there was a beautiful piece of furniture and many mirrors, in addition to her trunk, and of course many paintings brought from the capital.
Every day while Maggie danced she was observed by some of the girls in the town, she wanted to initiate them in this world so she taught them everything she knew. One afternoon while they were practicing, she suddenly stopped dancing, dropping to the ground, and bursting into tears, she cried inconsolably for her lover, screaming, meanwhile the girls ran terrified by that witnessed scene.
One of the frightened girls ran to the store where her mother was, screaming at the top of her lungs that Miss Maggie was crazy that first she cried and then she laughed, Vicente heard that and decided to visit her, when he got there he found her crying, he ran, asking her If he was well, she was surprised to see him there and told him that she could not bear so much pain, that she wanted to see her husband again, she wanted to dance again on stage, she wanted her life back.
So Vicente took her by the hand and led her inside the house, and asked her to rest, then he retired to her room, when he was about to leave he remembered that the study had been left open, so he prepared to close it, when he got there, he could notice some objects on the floor , a diary, some ballet tights, and the most strange thing a lock of hair dyed with blood, he picked up everything and suddenly the diary fell to the floor noticing that many pages were stained with blood, so he could not help reading it, what Being surprised by what he had read, he quickly put everything away and left.
The next day Vicente got ready to visit Maggie and when he arrived, he told her that they should talk, she very surprised by his tone and attitude invited him to the living room, offering him coffee which he refused, there he told her abruptly how it was his habit: "I want you to tell me what happened to your husband and his brother, I can help you, trust me", she stared at him between anger and the desire to talk, saying that he had no right to ask, it was there when he was there he told him that the night before he had accidentally read her diary, she immediately turned pale, it was only at that moment when she told him: "Okay, I'll tell you everything but will have to be tomorrow, today I don't feel good, bring your tools that you will have to do a renovation in the study ", he could understand his situation and accepted, leaving and then returning the next day.
During the night, Maggie did nothing but think about how she would get out of this mess she was in, she couldn't let anyone else know what had happened to her husband Boris and his brother-in-law. In the morning he opened the trunk and took out of it a beautiful set of Russian knives, leaving them on hand for the next day.
The next day Vicente arrived very early, took his tools and prepared to renovate the dance studio, but before starting work, Maggie came running to give his good news, it turns out that the director of the national ballet had called her asking her to return, and that her debut would be starring in Swan Lake that had been her dream since she was a child, he listened carefully, until he interrupted her saying: "I'm very sorry to interrupt but we must renew the study, remember," she immediately turned off her joy, Vicente although more than annoying, curious, he asked her to please tell him what happened with Boris her husband, to which she almost scolding her teeth began to relate.
It turns out that Boris on one of his trips had brought home a very beautiful trunk, it was magical, he said, he made a lot of boasting with everyone, he talked about how expensive it was, it was then that his brother that morning found himself in financial difficulties as a result of the vice of the drugs decided to ask Boris for help, he naturally refused it was there when Mijak his brother pounced on him, with a kitchen knife, wounding him to death, although he also managed to hurt him, leaving both on the ground injured, when she arrived They were there lying in a pool of blood almost dead, she ran to Boris, they hugged and that was when he made the strangest request to Maggie.
She asked to please put it in the trunk, without knowing why, she fulfilled the wishes of her beloved, when she was inside she told her to close the trunk and turn the key three times and she would see that everything would be fine.
Terrified she did it, but to her surprise when she opened the trunk there was nothing, Boris had disappeared, then she terrified and full of hate, take the knife, stabbing it many times in Mijak causing his death, then she put it in the trunk and did the same as with Boris both men had disappeared and until that day it was still not explained what happened.
Vicente incredulous told him that this could not be true, then Maggie's eyes shone like never before, with a shine that reflected evil, but at the same time relief, she abruptly interrupted him saying: "If you don't believe me, open the trunk and go inside, if I lie nothing is going to happen to you.
He accepted without much thought, he rolled the trunk, opened it and entered with all his tools to see how efficient the trunk was, and he told as a mockery: "Take the key magic, make me disappear, ja ja ja" she annoyed was about to close the trunk, when took a knife and began to stab him to death, then quickly closed it and turned the key three times, when opening the trunk, was nothing there, like Boris and Mijak, Vicente had disappeared, thus ending Maggie's anguish that her secret would be known, she knew that none of the three would ever return.
Everyone in the town wondered what had happened to Vicente, as the days went by, many commented that he had fallen in love in the city and had moved since his tools were not at home and that he never traveled without them, others said that Maggie had killed him as she had her husband, and the accusations began, that was when she decided to leave that town, she was not willing to go through the same thing, but not before leaving a letter addressed to the mayor to be read to the rest of the town.
"Ladies and gentlemen when I moved to this town I never thought that they would accuse me of something I never did, I thought that here I would have the peace that I had lost in the city, I thought that they could take advantage of me to provide a better future for their daughters, but they preferred gossip, and slander, that's why I'm leaving, that's why this town will never come out of the darkness, nothing will advance here, good bye".
After reading that letter, many regretted having judged her, and even prayed for her, that's how she returned to the capital taking her beautiful trunk with her, triumphing, becoming the most famous dancer in history, leaving behind that little town that she wanted to renew. , who wanted to inject life but was full of prejudices, leaving him mired in abandonment until the end of time.
Declaración:
Certifico que mi participación en el premio The Ink Well Writing Prize es mi propio trabajo original y ha sido publicado exclusivamente en The Ink Well y en mi perfil de Hive. Entiendo que mi participación puede quedar excluida del Premio de escritura si no cumplo con las Reglas de participación y las Reglas de la comunidad. El Ink Well y el Premio de Escritura cuentan con el apoyo del Programa de Incubación de Comunidades de @ocd y la iniciativa de curación @curie.
