The farewell.

They reached the counter and were served by the apothecary. Jim left the bags in the right place and went to look for the shelf he had left outside. Meanwhile the girl was talking to the apothecary about the purchases she had made.

When Jim came back in with the shelf he placed it where the apothecary asked for it and thanked him for the good service.

Just as he finished handing over his shelf and was about to leave, Carol was also leaving so he asked her if he could escort her to her destination, to which she nodded.

And so they chatted animatedly along the way. Jim invited her to an ice cream, she accepted, they were talking and walking little by little so that they would not run out of steps.

They arrived at the front of the grocery store and Carol said goodbye, but not before showing him the best of her smiles, Jim shook her hand and took the opportunity to ask....

"Can I see you again tomorrow?"

To which the young woman replied... "I can’t tomorrow… I have other things to do that I had planned before but we can meet in two days right here and we'll go for another walk and ice cream."

Jim smiled and said...

"That's fine with me, in two days I'll be here at 2pm" and started to leave, he ran to get his wagon to head home.

His heart was galloping like a wild horse in the mountains. He ran in the wagon as if he was trying to get off the ground, his joy was such that he did not measure the consequences, his cart dislodged a wheel and went tumbling dizzily to the ground. His body bounced off the ground and hit his head on a tree… He lost consciousness.

At home at dinner time they were already worried because he was missing. Then someone arrived and told them that they found the wagon lying on the road and the young man was unconscious, it was then that they took him to the nearest hospital and as they identified him, they went to notify his family.

The father and mother rushed out to see their son, they took what they needed for their son and in case they needed to stay at the hospital with him for a while. In the meantime, John was to stay at home and take care of everything, and so it was.

John was to go into town to pick up some orders to work on the farm. He passed by several places and suddenly stopped at the grocery store to see the girl who had captivated him, he entered silently, searching with his eyes until his eyes caught sight of her.

There she was, with those wide black eyes and giving instructions about something, he approached her and now he knew what he would have to say.

He said to her "Hi! Do you remember me?" She looked at him and with those cheerful eyes replied. "Of course I do, you're the honey boy! With or without honey, what did you decide in the end?"

"It's not me, it's my mother who gives me the directions, and she decided I could take the one you have, and I'm coming for it."

She handed him his order and as she was giving it to him, he asked her...

"Are you new in town? I've always been around the place and never saw you here before.”

She replied that she was spending time with her aunts, uncles and cousins and she was taking the opportunity to put everything in order.

John brings her a flower he had tucked away in his shirt and offers it to her.

"This is not something meaningful in the face of your kindness but it goes as an offering to offer you my friendship and I hope you will accept it."

She took the flower and smelled it, at the same time thanking him for the detail. She told him he had about 15 minutes of time before she got busy again and if he wished they could go for ice cream, to which John gladly offered to accompany her.

Thus began a series of questions and answers from both sides and at the end of their time, they were to meet again, they would meet the next day at 2pm, right there in front of her uncle's store.

And so time went by and in a week they had already had several dates and the relationship was getting serious for both of them.

John told her about his family, he also told her that he has a younger brother. That he was in an accident and sustained a blow to the head that keeps him unconscious but with positive responses, the doctors tell his parents that soon the swelling in his brain will go down and he will wake up.

After 15 days, Jim awakens from his sleep. He opens his eyes and looks at his parents and looks at himself.

He asks the only question in his mind. "What happened? What am I doing here?"

His parents look at him and hug him in tears and tell him everything that happened. He can't believe it, how has it been 15 days, he had just left town to go to their farm...? This can't happen!

And his family encourages him to calm down and keep giving him details of his accident and hospital stay.

Jim only remembers the girl he just met who has his heart racing, he has to get out of there quickly and go to the appointment.

But it dawns on him that he has already been in the hospital for 20 days, thanks to the doctors checking him to make sure nothing was wrong, and now he has to start over with the girl, he’s discharged and goes home.

 John is waiting for him. They both embrace, crying with emotion and Jim then tells everyone that he came running in the wagon to tell them that he had met the most beautiful girl his eyes had ever seen and he had agreed to meet her in two days but fate had it that the accident happened and now he had to go to town to make things right.

John tells him the same thing, “I was looking forward to you coming home that afternoon because I had met the perfect girl! In fact, we are dating and tomorrow I’ll bring her home for you all to meet.”

But it’s then that Jim tells him that his girl is the most beautiful he had ever seen, with pink lips and a perfect smile, her name is Carol.

Then, John felt like a slap in the face and his countenance suddenly changed. He said...

“What's the name of the girl? Carol, you say? That's the name of my girl in town.”

She's the grocer's niece.

“No way” says Jim. “It can't be, we fell in love with the same girl… But she accepted you? Are you two sweethearts? No way! What's going on?”

Jim was disturbed but so was John. How do we get out of this situation? John wonders, he love her, they both love each other… But he also loves his brother and just can’t bring himself to break his heart.

Jim is heartbroken. The accident happened just to come with all the excitement of a runaway horse to tell of his love affair and then fate played this practical joke on him.

"Tomorrow we'll go into town. We'll see the same girl and make up with her about the situation." John says to his brother, to which Jim agrees.

John doesn't want his brother to be filled with false hope, the girl has told him she accepts him as a boyfriend, so how devastated is Jim going to be?

“But I've been with her for 20 days, dating and I love her and... I think she loves me too…” He says to himself.

The boys couldn't sleep that night, they both had anguish in their hearts. The morning came after an eternity and later on so did the time for the scheduled appointment with the girl.

In the morning they both went about their business and then John took Jim in the wagon and both they went over to the grocery store together.

They saw the store owner and greeted each other, with John then asking for Carol.

“Carol? She left on the morning train, she came to stay here with me for a month to help me with some things… oh and she also tried to to pick up some things she needed for her marriage.”

"What?" says John. “Carol is getting married in the city? But how, when?"

“She just told me to tell you that it was nice to meet you but she had to leave now because her time here was over.”

John and Jim looked at each other's faces and left the premises.

Both had fallen in love with the same girl and both had been equally disappointed.

On the way back they walked in silence, with their thoughts, and with the feeling of having gone to a funeral. To the funeral of the love of their lives. They both understood and respected his pain.

The unfortunate matter was never spoken of again and their lives continued with the same brotherly love they had for each other.

Thank you for reading, I know for some this is not the ending they were hoping for but this is as far as my imagination took me.

Thank you to all my readers and sponsors. I love you all.