Smiling River - Carmen García Suárez

SMILING
RIVER
Carmen García Suárez
Bilingual
Edition

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—Oh…! How will Grandpa feel today!? —the kid suddenly
blurted out.
—What do you mean, honey? —his mum asked, surprised by
the remark.
—Well, because… with so much rain (fffu), he’ll be soaked,
the poor... —clarified the tiny voice of little Martin, blowing
his fringe aside, looking up at the storm clouds, which—up
there—were bursting.
5

Yes, he was told that his grandfather had gone to heaven.
Martin could not understand how he had been able to fly so
high when it was hard for him just to climb a couple of steps.
Would he have gone up by plane? Grandpa had never liked
those ‘steel birds’, as he called them when he said that they
spoiled the silence and scared normal birds.
6

Since he left, Martin kept searching for him many times, in
every cloud; once he even thought he had seen him in a very
wavy one that resembled his white beard. Martin also paid
attention to the trees, for all day flying had to be very tiring
for him and, besides, some clouds did not seem solid enough as
to sit down on them.
9

He could not find him resting anywhere —he had heard the
grown-ups say that he just ‘rested in peace’ but no, he was not on
the birch trees or among the beeches, not even on the sun lounger.
Such a mystery! That story did not fit in. They said he was happy
wherever his current house was but, after that, tears would fall
down from Mum’s eyes. Why, if she was so sure that Grandda was
fine? Could it be out of happiness? Sometimes, adults weep for joy
but, anyway, everything seemed so weird...
Why didn’t he visit them anymore or didn’t they go to see him
either, as before… that? ‘That’s life’, they said once and again. What
is it like? Martin could not understand anything at all and felt like
crying his eyes out.
10

He would wait until Saturday. Then, Auntie Clare would arrive.
She was very, very clever. She knew about everything. She would
give an answer to all his doubts.
…
There were 2 days left, since after Thursday, Friday comes and
Mum said Aunt Clarita would arrive on Saturday because flights
from Madrid had been cancelled and it wos not possible for her to
attend the burial (burial...) but they would meet at the weekend.
Would Grandpa’s flying have anything to do with flight
cancellation? Would it be done to avoid crashing into him?
Besides, another question to ask Auntie was how it could be
possible that he had been buried and after that, he would be
able to be flying around.
13

Maybe they had not put enough soil on top of him... He knew
Grandpa liked that stuff about soil because they used to go together
to the orchard and he sowed lettuce and potatoes, also corn. And
they digged. But… what was the point in planting the grandfather?
Would lentils come out? Courgettes? So strange everything...
14

One summer they buried a treasure together. Could it be that
Grandpa was just looking for that treasure before going out to fly?
Because, of course, he would need it in his new cloud house. It might
make sense but anyway he would make sure by asking Auntie Clare,
who was really the wisest person on the map and even in the globe
of the living room, which was the entire world ball indeed.
He was sent to bed early but fell asleep late. Mum had very red
eyes. She gave him the sweetest kisses in the whole universe and such
an enormous hug that almost knocked him down.
Dad was picking up several Granpa’s boxes and kept some pics of
him.
Well, that’s what they said: that the boy in the photos was Grandpa
when he was a child. He did not look like himself at all. Those were
old pictures, with no colour in them.
17

Martin asked Daddy whether life before was in black and white.
He answered it was just like that: when Grandpa was a small
boy, everything was in black and white, even the telly! In winter,
it snowed and in the village they took coal out of the mine. They
didn’t have any smartphones or the Internet. They played with
sticks and stones. What a boring world they had! Although he had
to admit that sticks and stones are cool, Martin was happy not to
have been there then because with no iPad or consoles he didn’t
know what he could have done. ‘Without a console or iPad, Dad
could only get mad’, said Daddy. But in that time they did not even
exist! (the same as Grandfather now?)
18

At last —exhausted— he fell asleep thinking about all this. He was
a little bit afraid. OK, he was absolutely terrified. He had to burst
into tears before; lots and lots of tears flowed down his cheeks and it
did not take long for Mum and Dad to be by his side. They told him
he should calm down and sleep because it was already very late. He
asked if Grandpa would be sleeping as well.
—Yes, Grandpa sleeps —whispered Mum (so as not to wake him
up? ) How could Mum know? Had she heard him snoring? (he had
heard nothing at all and when Grandpa snored…) So if she knew so
much, why didn’t she tell him at once? Thank goodness there was
only one day left for smart Auntie to get there.
The next morning, the sun was drying the meadows when Martin
thought that his grandfather would be sweltering in the heat.
Definitely, living on the sky could not be very comfortable.
21

He looked up at the sky once more. Not a cloud. Well, just 2 small
ones. Not a trace of Granddaddy either. Where could he be? Martin
hoped he wouldn’t fall down from such height, without a cloud to
hold on to, with the fear Grandpa had of falls... Martin went out
to look in the garden, just in case he could have landed among the
bushes and may need some band-aids or something but Mum went
to fetch him, so the search was interrupted.
The day went by without any major findings. Some calls saying ‘I
feel so sorry for your loss’, ‘he passed away peacefully’, ‘what a nice
person he was’, but no further advance in the discovery of what the
meaning of all that was. What did they really feel? Heat, like sure
Grandfather, in the sky, so close to the sun? He would be melting like
an ice cream!
22

Feeling like crying one more time… Why did everyone suddenly
agree on saying what a wonderful person Grandpa was? Before that,
all of them complained and said he was such a ‘grumpy grampy’! To
be honest, with Martin he was always very good. They used to look
at the stars together. Perhaps Grandad had gone up to the Great
Bear, that one he said that was so bright. No, no… Its ray spikes
would have stuck into his trousers and torn them off. It nearly made
him laugh to imagine this but the truth was that he felt deeply sad.
25

The night wrapped him up, like Mum did, in his blanket. He slept
surrounded by lots of question marks, confusing thoughts and also
rather discouraged. Granpa was not seen in the darkness of the
night, nor did he turn up at home.
26

The day came. The noise of the shutters being raised in his bedroom
by Auntie woke him up. She had just arrived! Yippee! She gave him
lots of kisses and also a ‘special’ bag that he should keep carefully.
His aunt was truly wise. She could even speak Spanish and lived
in Madrid. He would wait for the right moment to drop all the
questions. She seemed to want to talk to him too.
After lunch, she reminded him to take the special little bag and
both of them went out for a walk in the forest. Martin did not waste
a second and threw out all the questions, which rushed without any
commas, pushing each other swiftly:
29

Auntie, where is Grandpa? why doesn’t he come back? is it true
that he has got a house in the sky now? is it a flying house or how
can it be floating? what happens when it rains? and when it is
very hot? was Grandfather really planted as if he were a tree? will
potatoes come out? courgettes? is it true that he unburied himself
and flew away? can Grandpa sit down on a star? and fall from the
sky? what language is spoken up there? (Poor Grandpa if they speak
Spanish...) why Grand…?
—Martin, that’s a lot of questions—smart Auntie interrupted,
bending over to be as tall as he was. She pulled his bangs back and
looked into his eyes. She went on. —However, the answer is just one:
Grandad died.
Tight hug.
Silence. Dead calm.
30

Clare has just said it clearly, clearly. Crystal clear.
On the way, there was only the sound of rustling leaves under their
feet. Of course, Martin felt the urge to cry again because that stuff
about being dead sounded awful but Auntie appeared calm. So it
couldn’t be so bad.
A bird chirped so loudly that seemed ready to take part in the
conversation and brought them back to the dialogue.
—That’s the bad thing about having grandparents, Martin: they
end up dying.
She continued:
—We are not immortal. We would get exhausted of living that
much, if we were. Just imagine, Martin, when you get tired of playing
some game, that you had to go on and on endlessly. This game we
are playing—life— is over one day and it is better this way. Not to
get bored.
33

— I can’t hug him now… Is he really buried?
—Martin, no. Now he is not what he used to be before, as you are
not a baby any longer. Currently, you are a boy and, in some years,
you will look like Daddy and much later, like Grandpa. NOW you can
(and must!) hug Mum and Dad and me. We are all the time evolving
and becoming something different, although our essence will remain.
The same happens to seeds and plants and puppies... They grow up
and change… We turn into something new. Where is that baby you
used to be?
Martin stayed thoughtful, his eyes settled on a nest of newborn
birds.
—Come on, Martin; you can now open the little bag I gave you
before.
—What is it?
34
— You’ll see. It’s the life bag, it contains seeds.
We’ll plant some near the tree where Grandpa
used to take a nap in the afternoons. Do you
remember?
Martin nodded and pointed at the leafy chesnut
tree looking out over the river, while the bag —
hanging from his right arm— was dancing to the rythm
of the forest trills.
—That one!
35

As they were approaching the river, he went on asking:
—What is Grandpa now?
—Just look around. He might be part of the nature energy. Can’t
you hear those birds, the river…? You know about the water cycles,
how it evaporates and goes up to the sky and then it rains and goes
back down to the river… See that glint of sunshine on the water!
Come on, throw a stone!
Martin liked that idea. He crouched down, picked out a little and
threw a pebble with a lot of that kind of ‘emergy’ he had just been
explained about. He suddenly felt superstrong! He looked at the river
and… did he see him!? He did feel... him… Grandfather! Just beside
the newly inaugurated miniorchard.
—Grampyyy!!! —A shiver ran through his little body.
37

The water splashed on him; it was cool. Granddad liked swimming,
fishing and playing with him in the river. And taking a nap under
his tree.
— Auntie, can I throw another one?
—Of course you can!
—Might I hurt him if I... hit him? Won’t I give him a bump?
—Martin, you cannot give a bump to energy. It’s an advantage…!—
Auntie smiled. —Come on, play, communicate with him as you
prefer. Cry, pray, if you need to. In your memory he is going to be
alive. He, from the river, from the orchard, from heaven o from
wherever you want, will stay by your side too. We won´t let him
go because he will live with us in our memories. We’ll come back to
look after our special plant and we will see how it grows up and
develops. How it lives.
38

One small pebble plunged into the river. Gentle ripples arose. One
of them streched to form a semicircle: Grandpa was smiling. Martin
and Auntie saw it clearly from the bank of the river and smiled back.
They returned, happy, from the great adventure in the forest and,
with the reflection of the water in their eyes, they planned to go
back the following day.
They were already walking away when they heard the leap of
a fish behind them. They turned and looked back; a sudden wink
appeared drawn on the surface of the river. Some tree branches
framed a perfect picture of light, water and hope.
—Grandaddy, see you tomorrow!
The voice of the forest answered with an echo:
—See you tomorrow
tomorrow
tomorrow...!
41

Keep on smiling
and coming back
to your river.
Smiling river
42

©Carmen García Suárez (de la obra)
©Apuleyo Ediciones (de esta edición)
Primera edición en Apuleyo Ediciones: abril del 2023
Diseño de cubierta: Claudia Álvarez Vega
Corrección: Francisco Javier Cintado Fernández
Maquetación: Francisco José Cordero Mora
Ilustraciones: Carmen García Suárez
Coordinación editorial: Isidoro Cidre González
info@apuleyoediciones.com
www.apuleyoediciones.com
ISBN: 978-84-19648-23-5
Depósito Legal: H 51-2023
No está permitida la reproducción total o parcial de este libro, ni su tratamiento informático, ni la transmisión de ninguna forma o
por cualquier medio, ya sea electrónico, mecánico, por fotocopia, por registro u otros métodos, sin permiso previo y por escrito de
los titulares del copyright
Hecho e impreso en España–Made and printed in Spain

Can Grandpa sit down on a star?
And fall from the sky?
From a child's perspective, Smiling River (Río risueño, Carmen
García) provides a cosy, communicative atmosphere to tackle the
unavoidable reality that we all share, death, while it offers itself as a
kind tool for dealing with it in a natural way. A necessary tale, with
drops of tenderness and humour splashing all over its pages.
This lively river is aimed at families, schools —ideal for adults and
children to read together— and, of course, at anyone who feels like
approaching the riverside. Full of details and values, it encourages
observation and respect for nature, taking the reader into an environment
of understanding and hope.
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