Title: Gabriel's Hope
Chapter: 1
Author: ImBoredStiff
Rating: G... But that'll change...Eventually...<WEG>
Category: Drama...
Summary: When you search, you may find more than you were looking for...
Disclaimer: This is an exclusive for the UFVMFC...Don't be cute...I won't hesitate to deal with copyright infringment...And trust me...I do this for my own amusement, but like the damn NY Yankees, my bases are covered...
Feedback: If ya wanna...Be brutal...<WEG>
Archive: UFVMFC...Anybody else, ask me...
Notes: If ya'll like it...Mebbe I'll write more...We'll see...
***********************************************************
Enjoy! IBS
***********************************************************
Gabriel's Hope (Chapter 1)
The blistering sun rode high in the cloudless Ciudad Nublada sky.
The irony wasn't lost on him.
Ciudad Nublada.
City of clouds. Great joke. Very funny.
His boots kicked up small puffs of dusty earth and he could feel the trickle of sweat along his spine as he walked, hefting the weight of the bulging saddlebag to the other shoulder every so often, just to indulge his tiring muscles. He'd been walking for what seemed like days, but was closer to several hours. His mind wandered and he ignored his thirst in lieu of putting more distance between him and the one horse town he'd left.
'What is about a small town that crawls inside your soul, your blood? ' he wondered as he tried to focus on the endless road, 'And what makes a man want to leave and never return for the rest of his days?'
He let the bag slip to rest against one large thigh, the leather making an annoying rhythm as it rubbed along the worn denim with each faltering step. He was tired and knew he was nowhere near his final destination. So he continued on, struggling to unbutton his shirt with his free hand.
The soft threadbare chambray taut across the vast expanse of his back was no longer the rich blue it had been for its original owner. But it was his. And it was clean.
There were 2 more exactly the same in the bag, plus another clean pair of jeans, underwear, toiletries, assorted documents and a delicate opal rosary.
He chuckled wryly as he thought back to receiving the rosary, Mother Superior earnestly grasping his large hands in her own much smaller gnarled ones.
"Gabriel, you are the son of my heart, but you must fullfill your destiny. Esta bien." she admonished him in heavily accented English, patting him gently. "I have done for you all that I could and now I know that you must go, even if you doubt it."
He nodded solemnly, knowing that her words were true, but torn between going and never leaving her side.
"But, I dont...", he began to argue, but was stopped by her finger raised to her lips asking for his silence.
Soulful brown eyes watched her wizened face crack into a teary smile, and he swallowed hard as she reached beneath her apron, withdrawing her personal rosary.
She placed the warm beads into the bowl of his palms and winked saucily at him.
He shook his head at her and tried to refuse her offer, but she silenced him, much as she had throughout the childhood spent in her loving care.
Shaking her head silently, she tightened her grip and gently folded his thumbs over the gift with her arthritic fingers, and smiled up at him.
"Have I not taught you to be gracious, Gabriel?"
"Yes", he answered softly, unshed tears nearly strangling him as he listened to the only parent he had ever known.
"Then stop trying to refuse me this, mijo. Soy una vieja. I shall be dead soon. Let me have my way. In this let me have my way", she cackled goodnaturedly, thoroughly enjoying her last opportunity to deftly pull rank on him.
" Si? Si."
And with that, he nodded, removed his hat and bent low over her, to take strength from her surprisingly firm embrace. Her voice murmuring the endearments of mothers since time in memorium, stroking his soul and filling his heart.
"Escuche bien, Gabriel. You were loved. Never forget that. No matter where you go. Vaya con dios."
He squeezed her gently, muscles flexing with the effort of power harnessed by tenderness. He pulled away first, replacing the worn hat to sit low over his eyes. He turned abruptly, lifted the heavy bag and walked away from the tiny mission that had been his home all of his life.
Chapter: 1
Author: ImBoredStiff
Rating: G... But that'll change...Eventually...<WEG>
Category: Drama...
Summary: When you search, you may find more than you were looking for...
Disclaimer: This is an exclusive for the UFVMFC...Don't be cute...I won't hesitate to deal with copyright infringment...And trust me...I do this for my own amusement, but like the damn NY Yankees, my bases are covered...
Feedback: If ya wanna...Be brutal...<WEG>
Archive: UFVMFC...Anybody else, ask me...
Notes: If ya'll like it...Mebbe I'll write more...We'll see...
***********************************************************
Enjoy! IBS
***********************************************************
Gabriel's Hope (Chapter 1)
The blistering sun rode high in the cloudless Ciudad Nublada sky.
The irony wasn't lost on him.
Ciudad Nublada.
City of clouds. Great joke. Very funny.
His boots kicked up small puffs of dusty earth and he could feel the trickle of sweat along his spine as he walked, hefting the weight of the bulging saddlebag to the other shoulder every so often, just to indulge his tiring muscles. He'd been walking for what seemed like days, but was closer to several hours. His mind wandered and he ignored his thirst in lieu of putting more distance between him and the one horse town he'd left.
'What is about a small town that crawls inside your soul, your blood? ' he wondered as he tried to focus on the endless road, 'And what makes a man want to leave and never return for the rest of his days?'
He let the bag slip to rest against one large thigh, the leather making an annoying rhythm as it rubbed along the worn denim with each faltering step. He was tired and knew he was nowhere near his final destination. So he continued on, struggling to unbutton his shirt with his free hand.
The soft threadbare chambray taut across the vast expanse of his back was no longer the rich blue it had been for its original owner. But it was his. And it was clean.
There were 2 more exactly the same in the bag, plus another clean pair of jeans, underwear, toiletries, assorted documents and a delicate opal rosary.
He chuckled wryly as he thought back to receiving the rosary, Mother Superior earnestly grasping his large hands in her own much smaller gnarled ones.
"Gabriel, you are the son of my heart, but you must fullfill your destiny. Esta bien." she admonished him in heavily accented English, patting him gently. "I have done for you all that I could and now I know that you must go, even if you doubt it."
He nodded solemnly, knowing that her words were true, but torn between going and never leaving her side.
"But, I dont...", he began to argue, but was stopped by her finger raised to her lips asking for his silence.
Soulful brown eyes watched her wizened face crack into a teary smile, and he swallowed hard as she reached beneath her apron, withdrawing her personal rosary.
She placed the warm beads into the bowl of his palms and winked saucily at him.
He shook his head at her and tried to refuse her offer, but she silenced him, much as she had throughout the childhood spent in her loving care.
Shaking her head silently, she tightened her grip and gently folded his thumbs over the gift with her arthritic fingers, and smiled up at him.
"Have I not taught you to be gracious, Gabriel?"
"Yes", he answered softly, unshed tears nearly strangling him as he listened to the only parent he had ever known.
"Then stop trying to refuse me this, mijo. Soy una vieja. I shall be dead soon. Let me have my way. In this let me have my way", she cackled goodnaturedly, thoroughly enjoying her last opportunity to deftly pull rank on him.
" Si? Si."
And with that, he nodded, removed his hat and bent low over her, to take strength from her surprisingly firm embrace. Her voice murmuring the endearments of mothers since time in memorium, stroking his soul and filling his heart.
"Escuche bien, Gabriel. You were loved. Never forget that. No matter where you go. Vaya con dios."
He squeezed her gently, muscles flexing with the effort of power harnessed by tenderness. He pulled away first, replacing the worn hat to sit low over his eyes. He turned abruptly, lifted the heavy bag and walked away from the tiny mission that had been his home all of his life.
