Meeting your self

by Mateus Cordeiro da Silva (Brazil)

I didn't expect to find Brazil

He was born and raised in the middle of the great buildings of Maceió, but the family tradition of going to the home of Edna's parents, his mother, on all summer holidays, had not changed. It is from there that Pedro has all the funniest memories of his childhood - of playing with his cousins, Matheus and Joana, of strolling through the stream behind the house, of going in search of fruit through the greenest forests ever seen, of staying on the swing hanging from the Tamarindo tree or just laughing at his Uncle Josué's jokes, while waiting for the fragrant and tasty corn cake, made by his grandmother Maria's hands. At Farm Dona Antônia, it's where everything seemed cooler, sunnier and connected with your imaginations. After all, his grandfather Pedro loved to tell stories about his adventures when he was younger and Peu (as he was affectionately called) loved to draw about it, his soul was that of an artist, so said Pedro. It was where jumping in the cold water of the stream didn't bother you as much as taking a shower in your apartment. However, it seems that the water in the shower has become more pleasant. Pedro grew up, now 16 years old, he preferred to spend hours on vacation with his friends or in his room playing ARK. The tradition of going to the farm, however, continued a little sadder, since his grandfather died last year. Fábio, his father, complained for hours about Pedro's absence from his grandmother's life, but she appeased any words spoken by her son-in-law and always insisted on calling (she still didn't know how to use the technologies, but Fábio helped and made her smartphone available) . And even with a somewhat vague dialogue with his grandson, every time they returned home he left on top of the aluminum table, Pedro's new best place, a very fragrant corn cake. Edna made a point of making the whole process so that this cake was delivered, harvested the corn in the field, grated it, made all the dough and then, with great care, put it in the oven and at the right time, took it out and then unmolded it. Things changed on a Thursday afternoon, the call from your uncle tells you that your grandmother was sick and at 75 years old, everything was a little more worrying. Pedro was touched and together with his parents went to visit her. On the way, he met Peu, Edna and Pedro's grandson, because he remembered the points to get to his memories. From the Omena Bakery with its fragrant breads, from a road with trees that formed a tunnel. In addition, a hose that warned that they were only a few seconds away from the Farm (that was the sign that the long trip was about to end). He arrived and ran to his grandmother's room and there she was, sleeping. He thought about waking her up, but decided to watch the house move while his parents talked to Joshua about what was going on (since his last arrival, a lot has changed). However, he entered a room, a little messy, saw that there were still things from his grandfather and opened a drawer of the brown dresser that was right in front of him and when he looked, tears flowed - these were his drawings that his grandfather had kept. He ran as fast as possible onto Edna's lap, woke her up, hugged her and cried in her old bed. She made it clear that everything was fine, that Joshua was exaggerated and that she would recover. And he snuggled up on his boy's lap and in his head he was sure he didn't expect to find that hidden self of him, those memories and that affection. It took a scare for him to understand! Days later, his parents and Peu would return home, however he promised that he would return and that he would finally learn the recipe and the secret ingredient of the corn cake. When she said goodbye, she whispered that it was: love.