Subject: RE: XVII part 2. Gosh! This is so emotional. sniff
Author: marta i (198.232.250.51)
Date: 01-14-2000 13:41
Monica is still looking out of the convent balcony, semi-dazed,
where she was watching Juan and Renato battle for her sake moments
ago. Her skin and hair are burned, chapped, but her eyes are
beginning to see clearly now.
-There! There in the water, next to the Luzbel!! There's people..
and they are alive, moving!
-Yes, it's true.. someone there is alive!! (responds Cata)
-Let's run there!! Let's go!!
The Mount Parnaso villagers have come out to rescue the survivors in
the bay, most of the passengers of the Luzbel among them. Those who
were in the lower deck, mostly women and children, survived. Also
some of Juan's men and fishermen. Injured, burned, exhausted, they
all form a long line of injured at the (convent's?) plaza. There are
also some injured survivors from Mt. Parnaso and surroundings.
Monica walks by them, too dazed to really be able to help any of
them.
-He's not here.. Juan is not here! Juan is not among the survivors!
He pushed me away! Did not let me die beside him!.. Why??! Why??!
-Daughter, you need to calm down or you will loose your mind.
PN says she's not the only one. It's a miracle that we have survived
without going crazy ourselves after seeing all this. Maybe we're not
out of the woods yet, the volcano is still rumbling. PN has seen
some of the survivors from the Galion. Monica asks him if they said
whether they saw or know anything about Juan. PN says they say they
saw Juan take a boat and row towards the beach, but he does not
believe them. They are dazed, terrified. They think they saw that
but...How could Juan have taken a boat? The Galion sank and the
Luzbel is devastated. It is as if God wanted to punish the crime of
that battle to death between two brothers sharing the same blood.
Despite their mistakes, their violence, their cruelty, it's also the
same heart and the same nobility.. Noone can deny it. Monica keeps
wondering about their story about Juan as if holding on to a
desperate hope. PN insists that they couldn't really see it, they
are lying... Juan is gone from this world. Monica cries calling
Juan's name. PN asks Monica if she's grieving for Juan. She is
surprised he hadn't noticed her feelings... Juan was her whole life!
And if he's gone, she has no reason left to live... but he is not
dead! HE can't be dead! The sea was his friend and couldn't hurt
him. It will bring him back!! She runs to the beach spot where she
last saw him. Just like then, she opens her arms wide and in her
tearful eyes, she imagines a boat taking Juan away..
-Juan! Don't leave me! Don't go! Take me with you! Come back for me,
Juan!!
________________
Colibri notices Renato is still alive, although bleeding heavily on
the chest. Juan quickly rips off his clothes and pulls out the piece
of beam that was stabbed on his chest. Then Juan fills the wound
hole with his own shirt, stopping the bleeding. He cares for the
wound and keeps him alive. Renato is thirsty but this land doesn't
have even a drop of water to give him anymore, says Juan. Juan
notices Renato's papers laying around in the bottom of the boat.
(the annulment papers signed by the Pope and the legal orders sealed
by the Governor) Juan picks them up. What's that?, asks Colibri.
I guess the right to kill me, responds Juan. Juan wrinkles the
papers, symbol of the now useless powers on earth. It's all
pointless and worthless in his eyes now, just like that land and
that city which are now turned to ashes. HE notices a village called
Mount Rouge, which apparently escaped the worst of the devastation.
Its inhabitants are alive and are coming to help us. Let's go!! HE
takes Renato over his shoulders.
-Get those papers and come with me!
-The papers with the permission to hunt us??
- Yes, and the others too, Colibri. They could mean more to Renato
than life itself.
Everyone has been moved from Mount Parnaso to another city in the
island since the volcano kept threatening their safety. Every city
in the world has heard with anguish the details about the cataclysm.
Fort de France's inhabitants lived in terror for weeks and only
wished to be able to escape. PN manages to save three seats on the
next sailing ship toward Jamaica. There's not many people left in
Martinique. Catalina is trying to convince Monica to go, to accept a
spot in it, to accept the fact that Juan is gone.
-I can't go, mother! My heart keeps shouting to me, supporting me,
keeping my hope alive!
Ana is very nervous about dying and repeatedly cries that PN and
Cata want to leave but Monica doesn't. The injured keep arriving
from all over and Monica cares for them all, talks to them all
(asking if they know anything about Juan). PN arrives and notices
that Monica is not willing to go yet. She wants to stay behind and
for him to take Catalina and Ana with him. PN responds that they
won't go without her. He won't go without her, he has lived long
enough. He feels bad enough for being alive, breathing still, when
there are so many young men who have lost their life. But we have to
accept the truth.
-I can't accept it!! My instinct tells me to keep denying that it's
all over. I would loose my mind again like those first few days (on
the ship). Why did Juan tell me about his love at the last minute??
Why did he hammer it in my heart like a poisonous dagger??
-He loved you so much!! Everything he did was for his love for you,
since he returned from that trip.
-Why didn't he tell me then?
-Who could guess that you cared about his love?? You both sinned of
pride, Monica, and now it is...
-I'll keep searching!!
-Useless search it is. If he were alive, he would be with you. Both
brothers died together out at sea. It couldn't have been any other
way.
-What if it's true that he reached the beach on a boat??
-He would have looked for you, Monica. Don't you doubt it.
-What if he couldn't? What if he got stalled by another catastrophe?
How many times haven't we had to move out and come back because of
the volcano? I have spent fifteen or eighteen hours every day going
from one refuge to another, caring for the helpless with these
hands.. And all because of HIM!! FOR HIM!!
-Don't undermine your efforts, your extraordinary deed. Your charity
and dedication are not only in search of him, Monica..
-No, of course. It's not just a search for his body, it's also a
search for his soul. Everytime I hold a child, everytime I give
water to thirsty lips, everytime I share my food with someone, I
think... This is what he would have done.. this is what he always
did.. Noone was more generous with unfortunate souls, nobody was
more noble than he who they called Juan del Diablo...
(Another rumble from the volcano makes them all fall to the floor..
PN begs Monica again to take a seat on that ship.)
- Sooner or later you will have to go, if we don't die first. They
are already talking about total evacuation of the island. I have
seen the crowds readying themselves to leave. Why not leave now? It
would be less trouble for those who leave first...
-I will be the last to leave!! - insists Monica with decisiveness.
(everybody now... siggghhhhhh!!)