The sparrows were the first to arrive; they stood on the horizontal pole but they did not dare either to touch the head or examine the body. The crows appeared next but the only thing they did was to hover over the corpse and study it from the distance.
The truth is that they had to wait throughout the months until it started to dry up and fall down piece after piece. Not even the ants crawled up the trunk and none of the men tried to bring the corpse down. His clothes hollowed without fading. Someone had to do something with the remains but they feared they would contaminate the earth.
But then, one day his girlfriend came for the bones and took them home. It is said that she made many questions to fix each of them in the exact place.
As time went by, pity displaced horror, but always crossing over to the other pavement so as not to pass in front of the house where such a remarkable corpse was kept. She was seen in the village no more and finally oblivion contributed to mix the events in such a way, that the dead man started to acquire fame of sainthood after Clarisse said she had found a crucifix.
Thirty years went by before Clarisse went back to the streets, and when she did so, the few people who were still alive from that time, could not believe their eyes, she was identical and they seemed their grandparents.
She was the same lass who waited hidden in the bower to be able to meet Joe when she had worn years ago and greeted without bearing any grudges the people she knew as she was supposed to be on errands. She walked in the village wearing the same clothes well as the ones she did not know. The horrified old men, holding their heads in awe, tried to run away with the help of their walking sticks which only made them stumble.
Clarisse smiled with the same face she had shown the day she had rushed to Joe to be his. The priest had found them in the sacred place and swearing had stabbed Joe with a crucifix. In self defense Joe killed the priest but he was sent to the gallows needless of the fact that he was dying for the wound on his breast.
Written by Leonardo Garet.
Translated by Liliam Gonçalves
Liliam Gonçalves ,uruguayan, studied in Salto . She has also done a course on Psychology Applied to teaching adults in Montevideo, Law and Sociology in Salto. She taught English as a foreing language in state and private high schools in Salto and Minas. She was the English Coordinator of Liceo Vaz Ferreira. She taught children, adolecents and adults at Colegio Oriental, ICAU Salto and Minas. She gave English lessons at UNI 3 Salto.