The shadows of the parents can dwell within the shadow of the disoriented and unhappy children. By Carlos del Puente Stories

 The shadows of the parents can dwell within the shadow of the disoriented and unhappy children.

The old man, Mr. Castillo, crawled through the dusty halls of his bookstore, his eyes scanning the imposing shelves full of old volumes and yellowish pages. His skin was a map of wrinkles, recorded with the stories of a thousand lives lived through the words of others. He paused on a particularly high shelf, reaching a book that seemed to call him. It was an tattered leather volume without a visible title in its spine.

"Ah, my old friend," he murmured to the book, taking him out with a soft touch. The bookstore was his sanctuary, a place where he could get lost in the company of characters who had left their ink and paper prisons. His clients were few and distant, mostly young people looking for school books or tourists looking for a local flavor. But Mr. Castillo didn't care; The books were his true companions.

"Good morning, Mr. Castillo," he called a family voice from the front of the store. It was Maurus, a young woman who lived next to him. She was her neighbor's daughter, and was thirsty for knowledge that coincided with her. "Do you have any story today?" He asked, his bright dark eyes of emotion.

"Maurus," said Mr. Castillo with a warm smile, "you arrive on time." He gave him the leather book. "This has been waiting for you."

The pages of the book created while opening it, revealing an illustration of a gloomy forest, twisted and mysterious trees. The image sent him a chill in the column, but could not look the other way. It was as if the book had chosen it, whispering secrets that only she could discover.

"These are the shadows that live within all of us," Castillo said, his voice falling to a whisper conspirator. "The type that comes from our parents' past. Sometimes, those shadows can grow so great that they swallow us." Maurus looked at him, with his eyes very open. "Do everyone have shadows like that?"

Mr. Castillo solemnly nodded. "Some more than others. But it depends on us to face them, bringing light to the darkest corners of our hearts. Only then can we really understand who we are."

His curiosity woke up, took the book and promised to read it carefully. When he left, the bell on the door shrunk, sending a chill through the quiet store. The old man observed her to leave, wondering if she was ready to face the shadows that awaited her.

Maurus went out to the bright sunlight, the book cling firmly to his chest. The vibrant colors of the street contrasted sharply with the gloomy forest in the illustration. He felt a strange connection with the book, as if he had a piece of her that he had not yet discovered.

The story began with a boy named Alejandro, who lived in the same city as Maurus, but at a different moment. His father was a man wrapped in whispers and fear, a man whose shadow extended about Alejandro's life as a dark cloud. While reading, the words painted an image of an childhood full of loneliness and confusion, very similar to his.

Alejandro's ... had died when he was just a baby, leaving him with a father who was more ghost than Guardian. The people of the town spoke in the silent tones about their father's past, of an era in which he had been a different, happy and free man. But something had changed, something that had buried him in a deep and unwavering sadness.

Maurus could feel Alejandro's pain, as if the pages were talking directly to his soul. His own ... he had gone when he was young, and his father's shadow had become heavy with his tacit pain. He longed to understand, find a way to raise the weight that was pressed over his own heart.

The book spoke of a curse, a family secret that had been transmitted through generations. The shadow became stronger with every day that passes, threatening to consume Alejandro and everything he loved. It was a story of sadness and hope, of a desperate child for freeing himself from the chains of his lineage.

The night fell, and the street lamps threw an orange shine through the windows of the bookstore of Mr. Castillo, illuminating the dust particles that danced in the air. Inside, the old man sat in his favorite chair, lost in the pages of a book, while outside, the shadows became longer and more mysterious.

Maurus, unable to sleep, sat in his room with little light, the open leather book in his lap. The words whispered in the tranquility of the night, sharing Alejandro's trip to the dark forest. The trees were coming over him, his branches as the arms of the forgotten, coming to claim him as one of his.

The story became more intense when Alejandro faced the dark truth about his family. The curse was real, and depended on him to find the light that could dissipate it. He ventured more deeply in the forest, guided by the ghostly echoes of his laughter ... and the hope distant from redemption.

The shadows became thicker around Alejandro, and Maurus could feel the tension that is built inside his chest. Each page shift approached the heart of the curse, and realized that the story was not just about Alejandro. It was also her, and the shadows that tormented her own life.

The narrative of the book was like a mirror that reflects her own struggles, and she read, anxious to find the answer that Alejandro looked for. When Alejandro met his father's pain, a twisted creature of pain and repentance, recognized the same sadness in his father's eyes.

The creature spoke with Alejandro of Lost Love and a promise never remained, and the weight of his pain was almost too much to endure. It was a pain that had been transmitted, a heavy load that Alejandro had inherited involuntarily.

Maurus' eyes filled with tears while reading, understanding for the first time the depth of his father's pain. The shadow that had consumed it was not only his but the shadow of his ancestors, a legacy of tacit hurts.

The story reached its climax with Alejandro in front of his father's shadow, an imposing show that raised him, threatening to wrap him. With trembling hands, he raised the light he had found, a light born of love and forgiveness.

The shadow backed down, and as it did, the forest began to change. The trees grew straight and darkness rose. Alejandro's father came out of the shadow, transformed by the light that his son had brought. He was no longer the sad and lost man, but a loving father, ready to hug his son.

Maurus closed the book with a gasp, his heart accelerating. The story was over, but she knew that her own trip was just beginning. He had to find a way to bring that same light to his own life, to face the shadows that had been transmitted to him.

The next day, he approached his father with the book in his hand, with his eyes full of a new determination. She told him about Alejandro and the curse, about the shadows they had been living inside them for so long. And for the first time in years, he saw a ray of hope in his father's eyes.

Together, they decided to break the cycle of pain and darkness. They would share their stories, face their fears and bring light to the shadows they had been living in their hearts.

The bookstore remained a place of refuge for both of them, a sanctuary in which they could explore the worlds of others to better understand their own. And while reading, the link between the father and the daughter repaired with each page revolved.

The shadows of his past would always be part of them, but now they had the power to keep them at bay. Alejandro's story had also become his history, a story of hope and healing that would carry with him while they entered the brilliant future he expected.

By Carlos del Puente relatos,