The children had fun paddling through the flood.

This is the day they have been waiting for the most
since the rains came consecutively. They know that if you continue for three days the road to the toy will
sink. And today, it is the fifth day without stopping the rain.

Some small children will float pieces of paper, there they are blown away by the water, there they are
bumped and submerged, there they are destroyed.

Every time I see a paper boat, a boy comes back to my memory. A boy made three huge paper boats
that he never floated on water...

A young man woke up one night, to a startling roar.

For a few moments, he thought it was New Year. He remembers the same loud hums that greeted the
New Year. But after a few more moments, he remembered that there was no more noise coming from
their roof.

In the darkness he widened his eyes, unable to see anything except a narrow slit. He did not know which
was the roar that suddenly filled the house with the sudden light. He turned around in shock and looked
for his mother. The children had fun paddling through the flood. This is the day they have been waiting
for the most since the rains came consecutively. They know that if you continue for three days the road
to the toy will sink. And today, it is the fifth day without stopping the rain.

Some small children will float pieces of paper, there they are blown away by the water, there they are
bumped and submerged, there they are destroyed.

Every time I see a paper boat, a boy comes back to my memory. A boy made three huge paper boats
that he never floated on water...

A young man woke up one night, to a startling roar.

For a few moments, he thought it was New Year. He remembers the same loud hums that greeted the
New Year. But after a few more moments, he remembered that there was no more noise coming from
their roof.

In the darkness he widened his eyes, unable to see anything except a narrow slit. He did not know which
was the roar that suddenly filled the house with the sudden light. He turned around in shock and looked
for his mother.

One after another, what appeared to be large stones rolled on their roof. The rolling of you is
accompanied by the lightening and darkening of the house, with lightening again. Meanwhile, the rain
continued to fall on their roof, around them, everywhere.

The one who turned back lay down again and his voice was heard in the darkness.

"Mom, it's raining, what?"

"Yes, son, sweet," said the voice from the end of the bed.

"Mother," he repeated in the darkness, "has Dad arrived yet?"

The voice answered but he could not understand. So he raised his back slightly and leaned on his left
arm. By his side was his brother Miling. Next to it, he saw the mother's body, and beyond it, he saw the
empty mat.

He lowered his back and stretched out his left arm. He felt the chill of his bones. He pulled the blanket
from Milng's wrapped body and covered it over his own body. The brother moved slightly, then
continued to remain motionless. He felt sorry for Miling so half of the blanket was wrapped around his
body and he curled up in the other half.

He felt a cold bite on his back. He took his right hand out of the blanket and groped the mat until he
reached the floor.

How cold the floor is, he thought, and his right hand hurriedly slipped back into the blanket.

"Mother," he called again, "why isn't Dad here yet? What time is it?"

"I don't know," answered his mother. "Go to sleep, son, and tomorrow you will float the boats you
made."

The boy was happy with what he heard.

Miling and I will race together in a boat, mine is big and strong...can't be damaged by water.

He quickly got up and squeezed between his brother and the person he was talking to. He passed his
hand between the mother's waist and arms. He felt the slight movement of his left arm. He placed his
right hand on his head and spoke in a whisper:

"She, go to sleep."

But the child did not sleep. From a distance he could hear the howling of a strong wind. And the lobster
was blown away.

"Maybe Dad won't come home tonight," he said. He remembered that there were nights when his
father did not come home.

"Where does Dad sleep if he doesn't come home here?" he asked his mother. But it did not answer.

He looked at her face to see if her mother had closed her eyes. But in the darkness he could not see.

Before he completely forgot, the last picture in his mind was this. Three large paper boats being swept
away by the flood in front of them...

And while the last dream of that boy soars to the top, time continues to be rude. The little thatched
house continues to lighten and darken, to be silent and hum, to endure the merciless blow of wind and
rain...

The future of paddling and drifting paper boats has arrived... But a strange future.

When the still sleepy boy opened his eyes, he saw that he was alone on the bed. Miling and his mother's
blanket and pillow were there.

He was about to get up.

A hand rested on his shoulder and when he looked up he saw that it was Aling Berta, their neighbor.

He couldn't understand the look when he seemed to pity.

Suddenly, the rest of the sleepiness disappeared. His trance was wide awake.

Aling Berta's wife was there, as well as Mang Pedring, Alng Ading, Feli, and Turing, Pepe. He saw their
house was almost full of people.

Scared children look for Miling and the mother. In a corner, the boy saw his mother curled up on the
floor. Miling was slumped in his lap. And his hair was being caressed by his mother non-stop.

The boy saw his mother's face whiter than before. But the eyes did not close, looking at nothing.

He ran to his mother and asked one after another. "Why, Mother, what happened? What happened,
Mother? Why are there so many people here?”

But the interlocutor didn't seem to hear him. The eyes then continued to make no effort. The hand then
continued stroking Miling's hair.

Confused, the boy approached Mang Pedring and Aling Feli. Their conversation suddenly stopped when
they saw him.

He heard nothing but... "All fifteen were killed..."

He did not understand everything. The increase of people in their house. The habit. His mother is fine.
Aling Feli's cry when he saw her.

Between sobs, he kept asking...

"Why? What is it?"

No one answered him. Everyone he approached kept their lips closed. He put his hand on her shoulder
or stroked her hair and was gone.

He couldn't remember how long it was before more people arrived.

"Are you ready?" that one with a loud voice. "Now you must leave. Captain Sidro will take you to a safe
place. No one will be left behind, not even one. Before the sun goes down they will enter here... So no
one can be left behind.”

It took a long time for the boy to understand what had happened.

They are out of town, they will be different, all their neighbors, the many people, and their respective
clothes.

In the repeated words, in the interspersed conversation, he realized some things.

Among the fifteen killed last night was his father...outside the town...in a clash between soldiers and
townspeople.

Hesitating, the boy approached his mother with heavy legs.

"Mother, why did the soldiers kill Dad? Why? Why?”

The children who were looking at the hard ground came up to his face for a moment. Then, in a voice
that gently spoke.

"That's what I want to know, son, that's what I want to know."

Meanwhile...

With every step away from the thatched house and the small farm that is his home, the gap between
the orphan and his youth increases.

That night of roars and screams, of dreams of the future and paper boats – that night was the last of the
youth that would only last for a while. The day that followed was full of apprehension and questions
seeking answers.

That's why every time I see a paper boat, a boy comes back to my memory. A boy made three huge
paper boats that he never floated...