Carmelo always since his childhood was a lonely child, at a very young age his father abandoned him and a few years later his mother died ill, and this little boy was left in the care of his grandfather who was an elderly man, but who knew how to take care of him in his childhood.
Carmelo grew up listening to the stories and experiences of his grandfather who never sent him to school, because there the children only went there to waste time and did not learn anything, so he himself educated him on his small ranch and taught him the activities to be performed in the field.
A couple of years later his grandfather passed away and before he died he told him, son remember who you are and everything I taught you, Carmelo was a noble and very innocent young man, he always remembered that his grandfather told him "son in this world you should not believe in your own shadow", he never fully understood this but he did not forget it.
When government organizations found out about a 12 year old boy who lived alone and was illiterate, they immediately went after him and took him to a government boarding school.
From the day of his arrival to this place Carmelo felt shivers, and did not feel comfortable, the following days he was a victim of bullying by his classmates, and one day while he was on the terrace thinking about his grandfather for the first time he saw his shadow, he stared at it and began to walk trying to get rid of it, under his great innocence.
When he reached his room he noticed that the shadow had followed him, but how could it be that it would arrive so quickly, he thought.
The contempt of his classmates led him to look for a different friend, some way to be heard, so he began to talk to his shadow because even though he did not say anything he was always there with him, in good times and bad, he had never betrayed or abandoned him, he spent hours talking with his great friend, who supported him in all his decisions without complaining, and they only said goodbye to sleep.
In spite of the little socialization with his classmates Carmelo finished school and when he came of age he returned to his grandfather's house.
But he was no longer a fearful and weak child, now he was a man and he was not alone, he was with his inseparable companion the shadow, always his support, he began to work and work the fields as one day his grandfather taught him, the people of the town considered that Carmelo was going crazy, but he never stopped them, he lived all his youth accompanied by his shadow and lived and enjoyed the countryside and his solitude.
When he was about to die, Carmelo, who was 95 years old, wrote a paper that he said to read at my wake.
The text read as follows:
To you my shadow friend I thank you for being in every single important moment of my life, thank you for listening to me for hours without complaining, for supporting all my decisions without criticizing me, for getting up with me when I fell, for not judging me for my actions, for following me in silence for hours, thank you for being that part of me that no one sees, everyone joking around, but never betraying you, that's why my only heir is my shadow friend.
I was another shadow in this world, very few looked at me, many posted me and I was always there.
This letter was read at the funeral as was his wish where a great many people attended, anxious to know who would be the heir to grandfather's large field.
When the people of the town thought they could appropriate the inheritance they ran to the ranch and many of those who tried to take the house left instantly when they noticed a shadow walking around the property. No one had the courage to take that property and they called this property the shadow ranch.
FIN
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