Love Story _ 15 Chapters ____ قصــــة حب 15 فصل

A doctor is telling the story

I heard the story of Rafael, Anita, and the soldier from many different people, They all knew part of the story and they each told me what they knew. But only Rafael himself knew the whole truth; and he was mad

Only my uncle Miguel, Anita's sister, Marta and Rafael's mother, Clara knew part of Rafael's story

CHAPTER ONE

The madman on the beach

The first time I saw Rafael I was twelve years old. My family lived in the city, Far away from the sea. But my uncle Miguel and his family lived in a little village on the coast, He had a café and a small farm there, And sometimes my family visited him

There in that village I met poor mad Rafael, I didn't know then who he was, Or why he was mad, I knew nothing of his strange terrible story. Now, fourteen years later, I believe I knew the whole story. But Rafael is dead. Why should I tell people his terrible secret? Only I know what happened to Rafael. Only I know what happened to the young and beautiful Anita. And to the solider. Only I

The people in the village told me all the knew. No one lied to me. No one. Their stories were all true. Every word. My uncle, his wife, Rodrigo the shopkeeper. Everyone—even poor Clara, Rafael's mother. And she was already dead when I went back to the village. Their stories were all true. But none of them knew what happened

The first time I saw Rafael I was walking along the beach with my younger brother Pablo. Our parents were talking with my uncle and his family. We boys went along the beach to see what we could find

At the end of the beach, where the mountains behind the village came down into the sea, there were high black rocks. Near them was an old wooden boat-house. It had no doors. The roof was broken at one end, and open to the sky. Inside there was an old wooden fishing boat

My brother and I looked inside. The sand was deep and soft on the floor. Suddenly in a corner behind the boat something moved in the shadows. It was a dirty young man with long hear and a beard. He stood up and looked at us. His eyes were open, but empty. He looked at us, but he didn't see us. He was very then

He suddenly put one hand to his neck. I saw something shining under the dark beard. There was something small on a string round his neck. He held it in his fingers and pulled it out to show us. It was a small gold ring in the shape of a fish

Suddenly he spoke. His voice was clear but thin and high. He spoke words. But they didn't mean anything. ''She gave me the golden fish," he said. "She gave it back to me

Then he laughed. And when he laughed, my brother and I were very afraid. He laughed and laughed, but his eyes were big and sad. We ran out of the boat-house. The thin young man came out behind us. He stood in the sunshine and laughed
"She gave me the ring," he shouted. "I still have it"

Some little boys from the village came running. Some of them threw stones at the thin, dirty man

"Crazy Rafael !" they shouted. "Crazy Rafael !"
He stopped laughing and screamed at them. Then he went back inside the boat-house.
The children laughed and ran away

We went back to my uncle's house

"Who is that crazy man on the beach?" we asked. "The one called Rafael"
"He's only a poor, mad man," said my uncle. "He isn't dangerous. He went mad about a year ago. We don't know why. No one can help him. I'm afraid. His mother lives in the house at the end of the village. She brings him food every day. All people in the village help her when they can"

Soon they adults began to talk about other things. But I never forget poor mad Rafael. Every time I thought about the village. I remembered the poor mad man in the boat-house on the beach. Sometimes I saw him in my dreams. He looked at me with his big, empty, mad eyes. He called to me in my dreams he had the gold ring round his neck. He held it out to me and called for me to help him

My family went back to the city. After I left school, I went to university in the capital. I studied to be a doctor. I spent two years in the USA. Finally, I came back to my home town. I found work in a big new hospital there

In all those years I never went back to the village. But then one of my uncle's sons got married and the whole family went there for a few days

There were many changes in the village. Twelve years of change, there were new stone houses. There were new, brightly-painted fishing boats along the beach. A lot of them with engines. My uncle had a big, clean, new café with tables and chairs and a television set in the corner. It was all very different from the village I saw as a boy

I went down to the beach the first afternoon I was there. I wanted to see the place where I had seen Rafael. I couldn't believe it, the old boat-house and the boat were still there. The boat was falling to bits now, but the boat-house was bigger and stronger. Someone had repaired it with new wood and put a new roof on it

I walked along the beach. I felt the soft sand under my town shoes. There was a man sitting beside the old boat-house. He was looking at the sea. He had long hear and long thin legs. I came closer. He suddenly looked round at me. It was Rafael. I saw again those same wide, crazy, sad eyes. The eyes from my dreams. He was twelve years older. His hear and beard were beginning to go grey. But they were not so long and dirty as before. His face was very thin. He looked ill. His clothes were old, but clean

"How are you, Rafael?" I called. smiling
He put his head on one side and looked at me. His mouth opened and he smiled. A thin brown hand moved up to his neck. "She gave me the golden fish," he said. His voice was flat and empty. He coughed suddenly a deep, dry cough. Then he looked with sad yellow eyes at the bright, empty sea

I went back cross the soft white sand to my uncle's house. I had decided. I was a doctor. I would find out what was the matter with this poor man. I would give him help, the best help that modern medicine could gave him. There were special hospitals in the capital for the people like Rafael. I would make him well again, if I could. If not, he would stay safe in a hospital. He would have a bed, good food, and nurses all the time

Later I told my uncle what I wanted to do. I asked him to tell me everything he knew about Rafael. It was a long and strange story. I wrote it all in a notebook. I was sure it would help me to save the poor madman and make him better

please wait for the next chapter

Rafael's father and the sharks
(told by my uncle)

Rafael was born in the village (my uncle said). his father was called Manuel and he was a fisherman. his mother Clara, is also dead now. She was the sister of my own wife, Rosa. Rafael was their only child. he was a fine boy, never ill, good-looking, strong and active

When he was about eight years old, his father was killed. it was a terrible thing for the young boy. he was there and saw his father die. they were out in the boat, fishing with some other men from the village. I don't know what happened exactly. Something happened to the fishing nets. Manuel went into the water to do something with them. Suddenly a shark bit him. it was a complete surprise. there was nothing anyone could do. The shark came up from deep water. It bit off one of Manuel's legs. A clean bite above the knee

The other men pulled him into the boat at once. The blood from his leg run deep in the bottom of the boat. The men put a shirt round the top of his leg. They tried to stop the blood, but is was impossible. They say that Manuel was calm at first. He felt no pain. He smoked a cigarette and he talked to little Rafael, who sat beside him

But after a few minutes he went very white. then he began to feel very cold. The men covered him with their clothes to keep him warm. But he became very weak and sleepy. Suddenly he put his hand on Rafael's head BE A GOOD SON he said, His voice was terribly tired HELP YOUR MOTHER. Then he fell asleep and in a few minutes his heart stopped

After that, Rafael and his mother, Clara lived alone in their house at the end of the village. Manuel's brother Ricardo helped her with money. All the people in the village helped her. Manuel was a good man - we always help our people when they need it. In a few years Rafael was old enough to be a fisherman himself. He and his mother were poor. But he could earn enough money to keep them both

Rafael was a fine boy. He became a good fisherman. But he always hated sharks, because of what happened to his father. Every few months, he did something very strange. When the butcher killed an animal, Rafael took the skin and the stomach, the insides of the animal that nobody wanted. Then he went out in his boat alone, far from the shore. There he threw the pieces of the animal into the sea and waited for the sharks to come. A shark can smell blood in the water when it is many kilometers away, you know. Soon several sharks arrived in the water round his boat. Then Rafael took his fishing spear. He stood up in his boat and killed one or two of them

When he cut or killed a shark, he said, the other sharks tasted the blood. They began to bite and eat it. So then there was more blood in the water and more sharks came. Rafael killed more and more. After an hour he was almost too tired to stand. It was a really dangerous thing to do in a small boat

But he was smiling when he told me what he did. It made him really happy to kill the sharks, because a shark had killed his father

So Rafael grew up, tall, strong and good-looking. And, of course, he fell in love with Anita, the shopkeeper's daughter. So now, (said my uncle) I have to tell you about Anita too

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Anita, the shopkeeper's daughter
told by my uncle )3 )

Anita was a beautiful child (my uncle continued). I know, most children are beautiful. But I think she was most beautiful child I've ever seen. Everyone who saw her loved her

Little children, old people men and women, they all loved Anita. they smiled when they saw her. And year after year she grew up, and year after year she grew more beautiful

Her father Rodrigo, the shopkeeper, loved her most of all. he never let her go out and talk with the village boys. But this is a small village. It was impossible to keep her at home all the time. She was agood girl. But all the young men dreamed of her and wanted to marry her

She wasn't only beautiful. She was clever, too. Her father could read and write. Most of the people in the village could not. We had no school in the village in those days. So Rodrigo taught Anita to read and write. He often went into the town to buy things for his shop. Then he brought back picture magazines and small story books for her

Anita was very good at reading and telling stories. She remembered everything she read. When she was only nine or ten, she often sat beside the house in the shade and read or told stories to her little brothers and sisters
Soon the other children of the village came and sat round her. Some of the fishermen, old and young, sat on the beach near the shop, too. They liked to work and listen to little Anita when she told her stories

Of course, Rodrigo had big plans for Anita. he was so proud of her. He wanted her to marry someone rich and important. Perhaps a man from the city. This would be very good for Rodrigo's business. Everyone knew that there was no chance at all that Anita would marry anyone from the village

Rafael loved her very much. They say Anita loved him, too. But there was no hope for him. Rodrigo would never let Anita marry a poor fisherman

Poor Rodrigo. Anita was the apple of his eyes. He had such great hopes. When Anita ran away it was a terrible shock for him. He still doesn't talk about it. Not a word. Not after all these years. For him he says, Anita is dead. He has no daughter of that name

But where did she go? I asked my uncle. (Someone must know. And why is Rafael mad? Not because a girl he loved ran away from home. She didn't run away with him. did she?) A

No, she didn't, answered my uncle. That's for sure. No one knows where she went, but Rafael stayed in the village. But that was the time he went mad. I believe that Anita ran away with the soldier. I think they're marred and living in another town, far away. But that's only my opinion

The soldier? What soldier? I asked. My uncle smiled and looked at his watch. I told you it was a long and strange story, he said

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