It is still there, the small courtyard, not more than one or two buildings. The one at the end, facing the entrance, is semi circular with two balconies on the upper floor. It is guarded at the entrance by a limestone lion with long curls and red eyes. Two slender palm trees rise above, so high they sway in the slightest wind, and make you worry they will not be able to hold their heads up much longer.
He build her a home on a virgin piece of land in the town that just emerged from the sand,’ the white city’ that in time will became the town that never stops.
Two dead-end alleys lead to the building. The balconies, on the second floor; are decorated with metal railings. The back wall with the orange stucco adds a wild variation to the Bauhaus style of the time.
He put the lion at the entrance to guard her, so the story goes. In the eyes he inserted two red lights to show her the way. He was going to call one of the alleys in her name and the other in his.
And then she walked away.
It’s always the same story, man loves women, man trying to keep her happy and build her a beautiful home, women flee, end of story.
This one is not different.
Did he stay and waited for her? Did she ever return? Did he finally give up and found another woman to occupy the house? This part of the story I can’t tell you, you’ll have to figure it out on your own.
Are you familiar with the rather dreadful story 'The Lady or the Tiger?'?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/LadyTige.shtml
Well, this is not dreadful, but it can't help remind me of the story--vignettes are often about leaving the ending indeterminate--you do a strong physical description and ring in a human story as the piece proceeds. Tricky to combine the two, to switch from description to narrative, especially indeterminate narrative, but you do it very adeptly.