Juan Moisés De La Serna - A Touch Of Happiness

-Stop that girl, there are innocent people around here, you are really flushing, said the first one, cutting me off and everyone laughed again.

I was feeling very comfortable for no reason, but it seems that my happiness was spreading to others, because even though we were matured women, nor-mally that place served to discuss what we cared about, the problems of our youth, unemployment, how expensive life was …

Instead, we were now laughing so nicely, not worried about any of the strug-gles we had to face daily.

I left them with the sensation of having had a good time and feeling very well, my friends in their farewell told me that when I had another day like this I should not hesitate to pass by and that if I found the man again I should ask for his phone number, as there were several single candidates willing to let themselves to be touched.

I was going down the street as if I were on top of a cloud, remembering the many witticism of my friends, laughing at the jokes they said, it was a won-derful feeling that enveloped me.

Being above fifty , I do not remember a moment as pleasant as this, despite the fact that I have lived very good ones, like the day I got married, when I had my daughter or when she had my grandson.

Maybe those three were the most outstanding, but all the good moments were those ones sharing joy with others, but now it was different, I felt happy from within and was able to participate in that happiness, as if I had a fountain with the mouth of the pipe broken in me and happiness was gushing out of me.

I got to the gate of my house , I opened an iron bar; his was a security measure that the community had had to take to prevent outsiders from getting in, or at least to make it a little bit harder.

Anyway, one day after another someone would complain about being robbed and this was a humble neighbourhood we were talking about.

The truth was that, in our houses we had the essentials to live, no kind of luxu-ry, in spite of that people would still steal what they found, the could either steal a toaster or a radio.

On my way to take the lift I came across one of those difficult-to-treat kids, a refugee as I called them, they walked through life drawing away from the rest so as not to hurt them, because they looked very tough and rude.

Normally, if it were before I would have been intimidated and let him go up alone and then take the lift when it was free, but I was feeling too good to be afraid, so when the lift came down I opened the door for him to get in. He was surprised by his reaction and the look on his face.

-Good manners are for others, I said with a smile.

The man held the door putting his hand over my head and said,

-Please, go first.

I thanked him and I entered , once both of us were in the lift, he asked me,

- Where are you going today?

-Well, I’m going to see my grandson, I’m sure he is already acting out because his meal is not ready yet, you already know how kids are.

-No, not yet, the man answered with a small smile

- Don’t worry, you will find someone who loves you and you will see how happy you will be when you have children -I said with a broad smile.

- Do you think so? To tell the truth, I hope so, but because of my size, people tend to think that I am not easy to deal with and they almost flee from me.

That surprised me, I thought that he was the one who maintained a certain dis-tance towards others and instead he had a sociable and friendly character, wi-lling to have a conversation with anyone who would give him some minutes.

-If you would permit me some advice, you should change your way of dres-sing, I like blue or white for you -I said winking at him.

The lift got my floor, I stepped out saying goodbye to that neighbour whom I had never crossed a single word with and now seemed so nice to me. I opened the door and heard how my daughter was scolding my grandson and complai-ning about my unpunctuality.

- I am here, calm down, I will take care of everything - I said so she could know that I heard her.

-But have you seen what time is it? She reproached me nervously. Do you ha-ve any idea how late it is? If you’re not going to take care of the child, just tell me, and I’ll see how to drop him off at school. You know that I have to go to work and that I cannot take care of everything.

-Well, dear I got delayed a little bit with my friends, nothing else, I said in a conciliatory voice.

-Of course you are as idle as usual, but some of us have a job, she recriminated me.

- I have been thinking about looking for a job myself lately, I said thoughtfully, knowing that this could solve the delicate economic situation at home.

This remark made my daughter mute, since she expected me to apologise or start protesting about the many tasks I handled in the house which ultimately led us to engage in arguments that lasted hours.

I would reproach her for how much I had sacrificed for her when I was young so she could move forward, paying for studies that other people did not have.

While she would accuse me of being selfish, reminding me that her job paid the bills, which prevented her from attending to her child as much as she wan-ted without having the possibility of paying for someone to take care of him.

But something had changed in our argument, she had remained silent, like thoughtful, and after a while she said,

- It’s okay, don’t worry, I’ll do something quickly and we’ll fix it. By the way, forget that idea of working, you don’t have the age nor the need, while I am in this house I don’t want you to be worried about that.

That surprised me, she always recriminated me about how costly it was to keep up with all my monthly expenses and now it seemed she was apologising.

-Don’t worry my daughter, I am going to change and start working in the kit-chen immediately, where is my king by the way? I asked, looking for my grandson.

My grandson saw me being playful, he hid himself hoping to scare me off suddenly, but I knew him well and knew where he used to hide, I turned around and found him crouching behind a door and I said,

- I caught you

And so he ran towards his mother, laughing. It seemed unbelievable to me, for a long time I have not had this feeling, the feeling of living again as a family. Despite the fact that we have been living under the same roof for so many years, it was not the same as this moment.

- Do you want garlic? - my daughter asked.

- Only a few, you know they don’t make me feel very well, I replied while undressing.

When I returned to the dining room, the food was already served and my dau-ghter told me,

-Do you know what I’ve been thinking ?, I’m off this weekend, if you want, my son and I can go somewhere, and you can have the day off for whatever you want.

-I would rather spend it with you, it’s been long since we went out somewhere as a family, even if we just play at the park.

My daughter must have liked that, because she came closer and gave me a soft kiss on the head.

-I want to play with the ducks -said my grandson with a few words.

-But you must know, I answered. Ducks are very smart and they know who eat their food and who does not. Would you like them to know that you eat little?

-No, today I’ll eat it all, he said with a big smile.

That was wonderful because for the first time in a long time the three of us were at the table eating together, normally my daughter ate standing up or took her food in a lunch bag and ate on her way to work.

But today, even after stealing a part of her valuable time, she sat down and my grandson, who would always start a war in order to eat, was eating everything his mother had given him and even without protesting. Once we finished eating I went to clean the dishes and my daughter went to work.