Canción De La Resurrección

• Sophie Umacob, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

“Abuelo!” she cried, rushing down the hallway towards a door on the other end. She opened the door to find an elderly man in bed, his breathing short and sharp. She dashed over to his side and stroked his cheek, the whimpers from her Abuelo piercing her heart. She didn’t want to see her grandfather suffering like this. She placed her hand into his and caressed it: she couldn’t believe it was time. Abuelo gave her a slight smile as his breathing began slowing down.
“You know what to do,” he mumbled. She nodded, more tears flooding from her eyes. “I’ll see you soon, Anita.” He exhaled for the last time before resting his eyes. Anita squeezed his hand and smiled.
“See you soon, Abuelo.” Seeing her grandpa resting peacefully gave her a sense of comfort. Anita leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “Te amo.” She sighed as she stood up and left the room, knowing what to do next.
Anita entered the bedroom again holding an acoustic guitar and a sheet of paper. She placed the paper on the bedside table and examined it. Written at the top of the page were the words, Canción de la Resurrección, or Song of Resurrection translated to English. Music notes filled the rest of the page, although they were slightly difficult to see since the sheet of paper was several years old. Anita sat beside Abuelo’s resting body, adjusted the guitar to fit in her hands correctly and prepared herself to play. She took a slow, deep breath.
Her thumb stroke the six strings, creating an A minor chord. Soon after the chord was played, she noticed the guitar strings magically glowing, her eyes widening at the sight. Woah! She had to blink a few times to process what was happening before resuming to play the slow, soft tune. Every note filled her with warmth, making her smile as she played. As the song continued, Abuelo’s body began to glow just like the guitar strings. Anita giggled with delight and brought more passion into her playing, causing Abuelo to shine brighter. “Come on, Abuelo!” she urged. The tempo slowly gained speed when a slightly faded version of Abuelo began to leave his body. “Almost there!” At this stage, the whole room was glowing as the spirit of Abuelo levitated above his human corpse. Anita beamed as she strummed the final F chord of the song. She dropped the guitar on the bed, her hands throbbing with pain after all that strumming. She glanced up: she was now face-to-face with her floating Abuelo. A warm tear slid down her face as she studied her grandfather’s spirit. He looked so happy and free.
“We did it, Abuelo! You’ve been resurrected!”
“Yes, Anita. I have, thanks to you.” His soft voice had always comforted her. But today, it did more than comfort her: it filled her with hope. He glided to Anita’s side and stroked her cheek. “Te amo, Anita.”
“Te amo, Abuelo.”