5 o' clock

It was autumn, the leaves of the huge trees in the square were coloured in the different warm colours, it was quite cold, there was a little stand that sold hot coffee, and there were people in the square. She and the creature sit on a poorly painted bench.

The old lady: thank you

The creature: why?

The old woman: for waiting for me.

The creature: I still don't know why you wanted to come.

the old woman: You'll know.

The old woman and the creature remain silent for a while, until the old woman decides to speak.

The old woman: I was a doctor in a hospital nearby; I always passed by this square.

The creature doesn't say anything; it just listens carefully.

the old woman: I loved my job, but not only because I could help people but because of the stories.

the creature: the stories?

the old woman: yes, the stories

The old woman smiles

the old woman: sounds strange, doesn't it? But yes, for the stories. You know every fracture, every burn, and every bruise on the skin comes with a story. Of course there are some that are very obvious, like I broke myself playing soccer or burnt myself cooking, but believe it or not, there are some that are very strange, even funny at some point.

The creature says nothing, but the old woman laughs a hearty laugh.

the old lady: You know, I just remembered a story: one time a young patient arrived all red, with a swollen face and huge welts on his skin, accompanied by a girl who was also young, about 25 years old. We admitted the patient immediately; his name was John. He told us it was an allergic reaction, and we treated him immediately. We managed to cure him, and we gave him a cream for the hives. When we asked him how it had happened, the young man lowered his head as if he were ashamed. He told us that he was allergic to tomatoes and that he had gone to eat at his mother-in-law's house for the first time with his girlfriend, who was the young woman who had accompanied him. It is clear that he had never told her about his allergy, not out of embarrassment, because he forgot to tell her; they had only started dating two weeks ago. Anyway,  his mother-in-law had prepared noodles with tomato. She told them that everything was homemade, from the noodles to the sauce; he had spent about 2 hours in the kitchen, and he was too embarrassed to tell her about his allergy, and he didn't say it; he ate every last noodle with tomato without saying anything. I'm sure you can already imagine how that ended. Well, poor thing. When the man left, in the waiting room, he received a terrible sermon from the bride. Poor guy not only suffered the allergic reaction but also the desperate and angry screams of his girlfriend. I wonder if they are still together after so long.

The creature couldn't help but smile a little at the old woman.

the old woman: Yes, and I have many of those stories. I also remember a little boy who came to the hospital; he had broken his leg after falling at school. I remember that the boy was very scared, but no more than his mother. It was just a slight fracture, 4 weeks of cast, and ready as new, but the mother was crying as if he were about to die. We tried to calm her down while they put the cast on the child. But the most beautiful or curious thing about this story was not the reason for his fracture but what the boy said to calm his mother. He told her that he was never going to die, that he would always be with her, and told her that if for some reason that were to happen, she should not worry since he would be watching and waiting for her from a big, bright star that she could see in the sky all the nights before going to sleep. The mother calmed down and hugged him, then the two went home, the mother with a red face and swollen eyes from crying and the boy smiling with a cast on his leg and a lollipop for his good behaviour in his hand.

A little tear falls from the old woman's eye, but she smiles, turns to the creature, and asks it.

the old woman: You're not taking me to the stars, are you?

The creature looks at her sadly, and the old woman laughs.

The old lady: Don't worry, I know you don't, but it would have been nice.

The old woman looks at the watch on her right wrist.

the old woman: It's already 5 o'clock.

The old woman looks around the square for something or someone.

The old woman: There they are; do you see the girl there with the two little boys with brown hair? The girl is my daughter, and the babies are my grandchildren; aren't they divine? Watch them play, jump, and laugh. And my daughter, she was always very beautiful.

The creature looks at the old woman somewhat surprised.

The old woman: Yes, that's why she wanted to come here. I always brought my daughter to this square, and now she brings her children here, always at 5 in the afternoon. Poor thing, she's going to arrive at her house and she'll see a missed call from the hospital on the phone, then she'll probably call again worried, and they'll tell her that I've died. She never leaves the house with her cell phone. I always told her that it was dangerous and that she had to always have her cell phone, but she never remembers to take it with her. 

I'm glad she didn't listen to me this time; if she had brought her cell phone, she would have received the call from the hospital earlier, and they wouldn't have come to the plaza, and I couldn't have seen them one last time before leaving.

Tears fall down the old woman's cheek, and at the same time she just smiles at the creature.

the old woman: I'm ready

the creature: shall we leave?

the old woman: Yes, we're leaving.