I stroll, still feeling the men’s stares behind me. I don’t let them intimidate me, I can’t do it, because to let their gaze hurt me, their presence pains me and their coldness wound me, is to admit that I’m alone in this house and I can’t do it, no matter how obvious it may be. I head for the door I saw when I got to the main floor, near the study, and walk there with intentions of looking for a juice or something I can feed Dante, who starts to wiggle in my arms. He must be uncomfortable, given that I am a stranger to him. As calm as I may inspire in him, in the end, I am a stranger, one who came to invade his family, his home, his very existence—a person who came to change his life forever. I don’t want to be one of those stepmothers who erase their mothers, who carried them in their wombs for nine months, from the lives of the children. I do

 I wake up the next day with dark circles under my eyes, like shadows in the night: stalking and judging me. I am awake as if on the eve of a funeral. I see myself in front of the mirror. Early in the morning, Donatella brought up a suitcase with clothes my mother sent me. Just the right thing, since I brought nothing but my body and the commitment to be with Darío for the rest of my days on this earth.The reflection looking back at me seems even sadder than I feel.It is the true face I wear.Is it normal to feel caged, a prisoner of my own body and soul? What a fool I was last night to approach Darío! What was I thinking when I begged for a kiss from his lips?I shake my head, annoyed by my distress. I am not the one who will stay locked in

 “What could you solve?” asks Darío as he stands next to me in the garden. I hold the cell phone against my chest. It hurts my soul to know that my sister feels so lonely, heartbroken, and sad. It is true. I am not there with her. I don’t know what she is going through. I don’t know the loneliness she feels in her heart. She was abused by a person who was in my house for a long time. It was my partner, the man with whom I thought I would have my children. Besides, I thought we would live to old age together. Those wounds are the hardest to heal because you don’t see the abuse coming, you don’t notice the looks, you don’t determine what is in front of your eyes because it is a person you consider your friend, your brother, your partner, your father... someone you carry in your heart and fo

 I hate hospitals. If I could say I hate anything in life, it’s actually going to a medical center with all the people looking at you like you’re hopeless. Maybe I feel that way. The truth is, I’m not ready to leave my son alone. Having brain surgery makes me consider every single option and everything that can go wrong with this. However, I must do it. My responsibility and duty as a parent are to look at every alternative, not to leave my child alone. Since Arianna passed away, I started having memory loss, first forgetting where I put the cell phone, then it increased, and I started to worry. I wondered if I fed the baby or if I ate in all day. Banalities and issues that were not important or noticeable. Donatella has always been there to take care of Dante. She never thought of leaving me. Even from the time I was

 I get settled in the apartment I rented just for this week, which is located in the very center of the city, close to the clinic where I will have the surgery in a few days. It is scheduled to leave quickly. If the medical check-up goes well, I will be back at the Magghio Castle in a short week. I try to be as optimistic as possible, even though I know that the chances of getting screwed are greater than those of being saved. I must try because I don’t feel myself forgetting details. I can’t think about what will happen when my son takes his first steps when he goes to school for the first time, and the day it’s his turn to do his music or arts performance. I want to be there. Also, I don’t want to forget him or forget the color of his eyes or how he smiles. The problem with this deficiency in my brain is that it will get worse and worse over time. In a few years, the prognosis is to affect my short-term memory. D