Hope Beyond the Horizons

Suddenly, Sylvio and Raphaella stumbled upon the news that they were the chosen ones to depart from the country to save the family’s prestige and future. Sylvio was in shock and experienced some bitter sweet feelings when he learned of such devastating news that he was going to leave the country eventually. This long awaiting dream came to him galloping to become reality, but a wedding was projected to take place in six months. Sylvio was walking around happily as his wedding day was drawing closer. He was daydreaming. He talked to himself. He smiled by himself and sometimes he’d talk out loud or mumble indecipherable words. Suddenly, he was faced with what his parents longed for for so many years, the long awaited occasion to fulfill a dream, which was to send one or two of their offsprings abroad. Which one should he choose? The time came where he couldn’t wait for another opportunity because no one knew when another one would be birthed again. He wished he would have gotten married prior to finding the opportunity to leave the country. A mixture of extreme joy and excessive sadness is a perfect recipe for an internal calamity, tragedy. Sylvio was neither cold nor hot. He was neither laughing nor crying. His brain was frozen. Should he have gone with his heart, but the honor of the family would have been extinct and his new wife would never be happy to be the person who would have caused such a quandary. Had he decided to abandon his love in lieu of family honors, he’d be heart-broken and might never be forgiven by his future in-laws and even Marjolene. The young man was in a deep reflection. He asked himself: “What then should I do now?” “Why me? Why now? Why?” He continued to ask. The clock was ticking fast and the departure time was drawing near. It was Wednesday and the trip was set for Saturday night.
Raphael called Sylvio and together they had a father and son conversasion in the barn. He said to his son:
Son, life is but a chain of unfortunate events. The holes in the link are our windows of opportunities. They have never been successive. When you find one, you may have to wait a lifetime before the other one comes. By then, it may be your grandson’s turn, but not yours. One may say that the chain has many links, but remember that the number of opportunists surpasses the opportunities themselves. The feelings that come from the heart are certainly strong, even stronger than the winds of a powerful hurricane. They can destroy any tree of opportunity whose roots are not deep enough. They can annihilate any lifelong dream whose recipient is not ingrained in anything solid. We are a poor family. Our hope and our honor depend on you, my first born. I know your pain. I know your torment. If your heart bleeds today, the hemorrhage can stop and it can be fixed. If your eyes cry, there’ll be happiness again, but if our family’s hope and honor are gone, my soul will go down the grave in anguish for eternity. When you get to Miami, you can always come back and make your life with your girl and be happy forever more. We all will be honored and even Mr. and Mrs. Dieuquimaitre will be happier in the long run. What do you want to do, my son?
Sylvio looked at Raphaël and said: Father, your words are vivid and strong. They neither soothe nor infuriate me. Whichever way I go, I will have to consider a big enough scar to hinder a bright future. I have the desire to get married and leave with my wife, but the hope and honor of my entire family rest on my back. I am a man with a mixed destiny. No decision comes my way with a clear cut divide. If I get married and leave her behind, she will suffer too much. She will be too vulnerable and susceptible to blame. Her parents will rightfully reproach it on me. If I leave without getting her, it’ll be a while before I can return to honor my word. Should we not be able to continue because of the distance and the time, then I’ll reproach myself for life. Which one is safer, my father? Which one of the scars is less damaging?
Raphaël paused a little and said to Sylvio: My son, I wished that I had an answer to satisfy us both. I have learned from my grandpa that when a decision is too heavy to make, put it on the scale of your heart or on the bench of your mind to judge it. In your case, neither one works. My other boys are too young and the older girls, I am not sure. One thing to remember is that your family’s honor and hope are in danger; we will go down into the annals of history as one you’ve saved or neglected. Passions of the heart can fade away, but the blood connection is unbreakable. Would you rather miss the deal and continue to live in subhuman conditions or hit and live like humans do? We are poor indeed, but we sure know what’s good. My bowels are tearing as I leave you with your conscience my son.
Raphael walked away while Sylvio was sitting down with his forehead in the palm of his hands. He was sighing as deep as the ocean bottom. He cried tirelessly and in a soliloquy, he reflected:
What have I done to suffer much?
What have I touched to pay so much?
What have I said I didn’t keep?
Life is but a mountain so steep.
When you do think you’ve conquered it
It is only time to admit
That you then need to start over
Since strife confirms one’s a drifter.
I came too late, a world too old
I did my best to face so bold
A life so nice, so entangled,
Apparently and so angled,
At such a point I’m so confused
And up to now, my heart is bruised
Between the rocks of my parents
And the barbed fences of my grunts.