A Summer’s Tragedy

Stalin was out of consciousness, and Callisto didn’t know why. Perhaps she was exhausted from what she had done. So he just carried her back to their house. After a few moments, Callisto reached their house and finally met Stalin’s mother, who was also searching for her.

“Thank you so much, boy. I have been searching for this girl everywhere. By the way, where did you find her?” the woman asked while helping Callisto carry her daughter inside their house.

“Good day, ma’am,” Callisto greeted. “I saw your daughter strolling down the road again. I was afraid that those cars may have run over her, so I decided to take her home. By the way, I am Callisto.”

“Again? Do you mean that it’s not the first time you saw her strolling on the road where too many cars are taking over?” They entered the house and laid Stalin down on the wooden bed.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

“Yes, I have seen your daughter since the first day of our vacation here.”

“So, you are just here for vacation?” The woman got the chair and offered it to Callisto, who also sat down on it with a sigh.

“I’m sorry for my daughter. You know, she has autism. Perhaps it’s caused by—” She stopped because of her whim. “I shall not tell you that you looked so exhausted from carrying my daughter. Do you want to drink some water before going home?”

Even though Callisto didn’t reply that he wanted to drink water, the woman immediately disappeared from the kitchen, while Callisto was just looking at Stalin’s pitiable face. A while elapsed, and the woman went back with a cup of clear water. She gave it to Callisto, who also didn’t refuse to accept and drink it, then she sat down on the wooden chair.

“You and my daughter look so close. I want to ask you directly: is there something between you and her? You know, what I mean is, if you have a relationship?” The woman asked in a serious manner.

Callisto was lulled; he didn’t know what to say. He felt something for her for the very first time, he thought. But it’s just complicated, because Stalin isn’t telling him anything about it. She wanted to kiss him, but he knew that was not enough reason that she liked him too, because it was just because of autism.

“Okay, I know what you’re thinking. You don’t need to answer my question if it’s difficult. I understand that. I’m just curious.”

“No, I have feelings for your daughter, ma’am,” Callisto admitted. “I know that even though she has autism, that can’t stop me from loving her. I know that it wasn’t just sympathy because of her condition, but isn’t it that sympathy leads to love?”

“I’m not in your position, Callisto, right?” She asked, and Callisto nodded. “So, I don’t know what you really felt for my daughter. What I only want is her safety and happiness. You know, I’m getting old, and soon I will die, and I don’t want my daughter to be a beggar who’s strolling around the town during the daytime.”

“Ma’am, you don’t have to say that. You can live as long as you want,” Callisto tried to convince her, but it seemed difficult.

“Callisto, tell me that you won’t leave my daughter alone once I die.” Tears ran down her face for an unknown reason. “Please don’t abandon her when I’m gone.” She said it like she was leaving.

A few hours later, Callisto and Stalin’s mother hadn’t realized that they were having a conversation since Stalin was out of her consciousness and now she had already woken up.

Stalin’s eyes turned wide at the first thing she saw when she woke up: her mother was lying on the chair beside her, but she wasn’t just simply lying, because she looked pale and was not breathing anymore. Stalin didn’t know why her tears dripped, but Callisto did.

“Don’t worry, ma’am, I’ll take care of your daughter whatever happens,” Callisto said quietly, looking at the woman in front of him, who was beaming with hope and happiness.

That woman was confident that Callisto would take care of her daughter. Especially since she saw in his sparkling eyes that he cared for her. And she hadn’t encountered someone who took care of her daughter except herself before, until Callisto came.

Callisto called an undertaker and let them prepare a simple funeral for the poor woman. Some hours elapsed, but Callisto didn’t go home; he wanted to stay beside Stalin. At the same time, the coffin of Stalin’s mother was sent to her house early.

They couldn’t even give her a formal funeral. How much less for her burial? It seems that their government isn’t really responding to the needs of its people, because they just put the poor woman inside a polished, wooden coffin. Perhaps they thought that whatever coffin they placed her in, she couldn’t complain about it anymore.

Callisto already told his parents what happened through talking with them on the telephone. He can’t go back home today. Perhaps his parents became worried because they didn’t really care what happened to Stalin’s mother, because they were indeed worried for them.

If Callisto is just like those other people out there who are so carefree about their brethren, he already went home and left the crazy girl behind, following her mother. But because of sympathy, and we can call it love, he’s the one who manages everything without complaining. He acted like a column, but of someone else’s home.

As dusk came, an average of five people (Stalin’s neighbors) went to their house to convey their condolences. They just glanced at the woman’s face and left without saying anything. Does that act show that they’re conveying their condolences?

They don’t even want to waste their seconds on a dead person, much less for those who are alive. Those people would just annoy Callisto, so he just changed his attention to Stalin, who still didn’t know what was happening around her. As is customary, Callisto is witnessing the curse’s penetration for the first time.

He didn’t know what was happening. So he tried to hold Stalin’s hands when something was pulling her towards her bedroom, but nobody could stop that strong force, not even the strongest person in the world. So he eventually let go of her. The door of her bedroom slammed shut, and he didn’t know what was happening inside.

“Stalin! Stalin! Are you just fine?” Callisto yelled and knocked on the door loudly, and it shows that he was so worried about her.

“Who’s knocking on my door?” A girl’s voice asked. It sounds unfamiliar to Callisto.

“Stalin? Is that you? Can you open the door for me? Please?” he implored.

“The door is already open. You can get inside, but first you must introduce yourself to me and my mother. Do you know where my mother is?”

“I am Callisto, and have you forgotten what happened?” Callisto slightly scratched his head. “Please open the door. I want to see if you’re just fine, and please make everything—goddammit—I’m so confused.”

For a while, silence prevailed over the whole house. Callisto dropped himself down on the floor by the door of Stalin’s bedroom. He wasn’t the only one who was confused about what was happening, but also Stalin, who had transformed into a beautiful girl, as what always happened.

Eventually, because of his eagerness to see if Stalin was just fine, Callisto insisted on opening the door, and he found out that it wasn’t locked after all. As he entered, a great surprise met him.

“Stalin? Is that you?” Callisto asked with amazement.

“Oh! You’re the boy I saw yesterday who was gazing at me through the window of my bedroom. By the way, what are you doing in my house and how did you know my name?”

“Don’t you really remember anything?”

“No?” Stalin sounded interrogative. “Can you please explain everything first?”

“I am Callisto, the boy who’s always with you during the daytime, and now I know that you have a different character during the nighttime. Can you please explain that thing to me too?”

“You’re with me every time I transform into an ugly girl?” Stalin queried. “I want to explain it to you, but first you must tell me where my mother is and how you could enter my house.”

“Your mother, your mother has died.”

“My mother? My mother had passed away? How can you say that? I don’t even know you. You must be lying. Please withdraw what you’ve said. My mother is not dead yet!” She screamed.

Seeing her cry, Callisto wanted to withdraw what he said, but what he could only say was, “I’m sorry.”

Stalin couldn’t believe him, but when Callisto opened the door of her bedroom, she saw a coffin below and realized who was lying inside it. She remembered their last conversation, but she didn’t expect that it would be the last. She told her that she’d do everything to fulfill her responsibility as her mother even though she was tired, but now Stalin couldn’t believe that she took a rest.