LOVE IN THE TIME OF EBOLA
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When a complete-denture wearer, Florentino Ariza, kissed America
Vicuna who was having braces over her mal-aligned teeth, both of them were
oblivious about the time-distance between them. It was just sixty years.
Florentino was, meantime, sending messages with his
trembling fingers on keyboard. The messages contained meditation on life, love,
old age and death. And the recipient Fermina Daza found these messages compassionate
because she was recovering from the demise of her husband Dr Juvenal Urbino
lately. Dr Urbino lost his life chasing a wild boar which has invaded the towns
from its endangered habitat. Winning her heart, Florentino Ariza made several
visits to Fermina Daza’s place and finally convinced her to an unplanned trip.
America Vicuna, whom Florentino had promised to marry
despite their ages, found the secrets enshrouded within the wrinkled skins of
old man. Hacking his personal account, she found that he was involved in
countless love affairs in an ultimately failed mission of forgetting Fermina
Daza. She committed suicide in her chemistry laboratory when Florentino was in
his spacesuit.
Grief-stricken by
betrayal from Fermina Daza, Florentino romanticized with poetic Sara Noriega,
his office assistant Leona Cassiani, the widowed businesswoman Nazaret, his
friend’s wife Ausencia Santander, an unknown passenger in an airbus Rosalba; to
name few among many.
For Florentino Ariza love was a one-way flow which began
when he had met Fermina Daza during those schooldays while Facebook was common
platform for the lovebirds. Maddened by this enigmatic feeling, they chatted
for hours and sleeplessness had disturbed their classes in school. Knowing the
chronic indulgence of his daughter in social site Fermina Daza was deprived of
her mobile phone by her father. However love found the other ways to flourish
until one summer day when she contracted an unknown disease during her late
adolescence culminating in the CT scan and MRI which led Dr Ulbino playing with
her hearts, first ethically then emotionally.
Thus, they were happily married, aside from an instance of
adultery with a beautiful Barbara Lynch which the doctor liked to call result
of ‘wooden heart’.
It was about fifty long years
Fermina had to wait to find an unabated journey to heaven which Florentino was
able to afford for their newly found love on the spaceship.
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