¡Huye amigo!
Era tan solo un niño de diez años. Vivía en los páramos de la montaña Andina. Cuando se acercaba diciembre salía a buscar como de costumbre, su aguinaldo, de casa en casa. Le regalaban galletas, caramelos de papelón, hasta le daban a tomar una copita de Miche para apaciguar el frío decembrino. Luego recorría la plaza porque los dueños de las confiterías repartían a los visitantes, las típicas frutas abrillantadas rellenas de un blanco y cremoso dulce de leche. Salía contento de vuelta a su montaña con muchos regalos para sus hermanitos y después de comer su pastel con queso de cabra y aguamiel bien caliente, se iba en familia a cantar aguinaldos al toque de violines ejecutados por los mayores, hasta que los alcanzaba el sueño.
He was just a boy of ten years old. He lived in the moors of the Andean mountains. When December approached, he went out to look for his Christmas bonus, as usual, from house to house. They gave him cookies, candies and even gave him a glass of Miche to soothe the cold of December. Then he would walk around the square because the owners of the candy shops would hand out to the visitors the typical polished fruits filled with a white and creamy dulce de leche. He would happily return to his mountain with many gifts for his little brothers and sisters, and after eating his cake with goat cheese and hot mead, he would go with his family to sing aguinaldos to the sound of violins played by the elders, until sleep overtook them.
Así transcurrió la infancia de Samuel. Entre juegos y deberes. Su padre era agricultor y tenía cría de cabras finas. Allí sembraban hortalizas, legumbres y tubérculos. Con la leche de las cabras fabricaban queso, suero y nata. Allí también se preparaba el “Miche Andino”, que consiste en dejar fermentar la panela de papelón durante una semana y luego cocinarlo con hierbas aromatizadas (hinojo, clavos de olor y guayabita). El producto de ello es un licor anisado, con un aroma y sabor exquisito. Posee 40° de contenido de alcohol. Del Miche se prepara una gran variedad de deliciosos cócteles que desnudan de placer las papilas gustativas de quien se atreva a catarlo.
This is how Samuel's childhood went. Between games and chores. His father was a farmer and raised fine goats. They grew vegetables, legumes and tubers. With the goats' milk they made cheese, whey and cream. There they also prepared the "Miche Andino", which consists of leaving the panela de papelón to ferment for a week and cooking it with flavored herbs (fennel, cloves and guayabita). The product is an aniseed liqueur, with an exquisite aroma and flavor. It has an alcohol content of 40°. A great variety of delicious cocktails are prepared from Miche, which will delight the taste buds of whoever dares to taste it.
Convertido en un guapo joven, Samuel solía bajar las cosechas para vender en la plaza y aprovechar de echar una miradita a las mozas del pueblo. Era todo un galán. Rosa era la razón de sus ansiosas miradas, la buscaba entre los lugareños que sentados en los bancos de la plaza, aprovechaban los días de mercado para salir y descansar de la rutinaria vida del agricultor. Ella pertenecía a una de las familias más pudientes del lugar. Él, aunque no tenía ningún apellido famoso, ya era dueño de unas hectáreas de terreno en pleno apogeo productivo que su padre le asignó. Samuel, de vez en cuando cruzaba miradas con la pícara intención de conquistarla.
Now a handsome young man, Samuel used to bring down the harvests to sell in the plaza and take advantage of the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the young women of the village. He was quite the hunk. Rosa was the reason for his anxious glances, he looked for her among the locals who sat on the benches in the square, taking advantage of the market days to go out and rest from the routine life of the farmer. She belonged to one of the wealthiest families of the place. He, although he did not have a famous surname, was already the owner of a few hectares of land in full productive bloom that his father assigned him. Samuel, from time to time, crossed glances with the mischievous intention of conquering her.
En una de esas visitas a la plaza, decidió invitarla a su asiento para charlar y conocerse mejor. Cada día se sentía más atraído por los encantos de Rosa, sobre todo al percibir el aroma de aquel perfume que emanaba de su blonda cabellera, cuando se daba la vuelta para buscar la mirada de su padre, quien era muy celoso de su única hija.
Tiempo después, se consolidó una bonita empatía en la pareja, lo que trajo consigo que cupido interviniera en sus corazones. Samuel obtuvo el permiso para cortejarla, todo marchaba de acuerdo a lo planeado por ambos jóvenes. Iban al cine, al parque de la mano y se daban furtivos besos, cuando su chaperón se descuidaba. Estaban muy enamorados.
On one of those visits to the square, he decided to invite her to his seat to chat and get to know each other better. Every day he felt more and more attracted by Rosa's charms, especially when he perceived the scent of that perfume emanating from her soft hair, when she turned around to meet the gaze of her father, who was very jealous of his only daughter.
Some time later, a beautiful empathy was consolidated in the couple, which brought Cupid to intervene in their hearts. Samuel obtained permission to court her, everything was going according to plan for both young people. They went to the movies, to the park hand in hand and gave each other furtive kisses, whenever their chaperone was careless. They were very much in love.
Una tarde, estando Samuel en el pueblo, llegó una comisión de la guardia nacional y fue reclutado con la excusa de que debía servir a la patria como soldado. No tuvo tiempo de despedirse de sus padres y mucho menos de su amada Rosa. Impactado por lo violento de hecho, fue presa de la incertidumbre y se derrumbó apesadumbrado. Lo llevaron a la Capital junto a otros jóvenes. Entre ellos estaba su amigo de la infancia Sebastián. Casi a la media noche llegaron al cuartel del fuerte militar. Aprovechó de enviar una carta a sus padres y otra a Rosa, con el conductor de la unidad donde fueron trasladados. Ella por supuesto al recibirla lloró y prometió que esperaría por su amado Samuel.
One afternoon, while Samuel was in town, a commission of the national guard arrived and he was recruited with the excuse that he had to serve his country as a soldier. He did not have time to say goodbye to his parents and much less to his beloved Rosa. Shocked by the violence, he fell prey to uncertainty and collapsed in grief. He was taken to the Capital together with other young people. Among them was his childhood friend Sebastian. Almost at midnight they arrived at the barracks of the military fort. He took the opportunity to send a letter to his parents and another to Rosa, with the driver of the unit where they were taken. She of course when she received it she cried and promised that she would wait for her beloved Samuel.
Samuel recibió un fuerte entrenamiento, pues nada sabía de armamentos ni de milicias. Solo lo enseñaron a manejar armas y adoctrinamiento.
Pasados tres meses, le asignaron la vigilancia de las mazmorras donde tenían a los presos políticos. La situación en ese tétrico lugar, era espeluznante. Se escuchaban gritos, quejas y lamentos. Nunca se imaginó que en pleno siglo 21,existiese esa clase de torturas. Lo que se convirtió en su rutina. Comenzaban desde la primeras horas de la mañana , hasta el siguiente día por la noche, en la llamadas tumbas del fuerte militar. Así transcurrían su tiempo de guardias...
Samuel received heavy training, as he knew nothing about armaments or militias. He was only taught how to handle weapons and indoctrination.
After three months, he was assigned to guard the dungeons where the political prisoners were kept. The situation in that gloomy place was horrifying. Screams, complaints and moans could be heard. He never imagined that in the 21st century there would be that kind of torture. It was his routine. On guard days, he would go down in the mornings to the so-called tombs to spend 24 hours on duty.
Una de tantas noches de horror, escuchó sonidos muy fuertes. Gritos desgarradores de dolor que provenían de uno de los calabozos más pequeños. Salieron dos esbirros con una bolsa de ropa ensangrentada en sus manos, palos y látigos trenzados en un cuero tejido. Todo quedó en silencio de pronto escuchó pronunciar su nombre. Rápidamente, Samuel se asoma impactado y descubre que ese hombre convertido en guiñapos de irreconocible rostro era su amigo Sebastián que al borde de la muerte, pudo decirle,
_¡Huye amigo! ¡Sálvate, vendrán por ti! Cayendo sin sentido
One of the many nights of horror, he heard very loud sounds. Heart-rending screams of pain coming from one of the smaller dungeons. Out came two henchmen with a bag of bloody clothes in their hands, sticks and whips plaited into woven leather. All was silent when suddenly he heard his name being called. Quickly, Samuel looked out in shock and discovered that the man had become a wreck with an unrecognizable face. It was his friend Sebastian who, on the verge of death, was able to tell him,
Run away, friend! Save yourself, they will come for you! Falling senseless.
Samuel abandonó ese lugar, pues conocía todos los pasadizos. Logró burlar al centinela, saliendo como lo hacía día tras día. Como pudo, subió a un autobús directo hacia su pueblo En vista de que estaba uniformado, no pagó pasaje y fue bien atendido. Manifestó que estaba de servicio. Asustado miraba en la vía por si lo seguían.
Debía apresurarse antes de que notarán su ausencia. Llegó a su hermoso pueblo andino, buscó a su adorada Rosa, y contó a sus padres lo ocurrido. Todos sabían que no podía dejarse ver, pues lo buscarían de igual manera.
Los padres de Rosa, lo ayudaron a cruzar la frontera por los lados de la montaña. Cuando estaba a punto de pasar la barrera de ingreso a Colombia, escucha un grito. _ ¡Espera amor, iré contigo…!
Samuel got out as best he could, for he knew all the passages. He managed to outwit the sentry, leaving as he did day after day. As best he could, he boarded a bus directly to his village. Since he was in uniform, he paid no fare and was well looked after. He said he was on duty. Frightened, he looked on the road to see if he was being followed.
He had to hurry before they noticed his absence. He arrived at the Andean town, looked for his beloved Rosa, notified his parents, telling them what had happened. They all knew that he could not be seen, because they would look for him in the same way.
Rosa's parents helped him cross the border on the mountain sides. When he was about to pass the barrier to enter Colombia, he heard a shout. Wait love, I will go with you...!
Agradezco a la comunidad CELF Magazine por la promoción de esta magnífica iniciativa literaria. A 
I thank the CELF Magazine community for promoting this magnificent literary initiative. To