The Portrait

In a city in Italy lived a young music student who dreamed of becoming an orchestra conductor. His greatest wish was to go to Argentina to study at the school of the Teatro Colón.

He was able to make his dream come true when he won a scholarship at the conservatory where he studied, the scholarship was for one year and he committed to returning once it was up. When he arrived in Buenos Aires he got a room in a student hostel, he began going to the theater every day to study, but one day he witnessed a ballet rehearsal and was struck still by the eyes of one of the dancers and he stayed until the rehearsal ended.

It was love at first sight on both sides, they talked and started meeting, she showed him the city, he told her about his country. After a while they went to live together, everything was happiness, they talked about art, music, dance, their tastes were shared. They didn't think about the future, they just enjoyed the present.

But the year came to an end and he had to go back to his country to fulfill what he'd signed. They talked about it, they couldn't separate, the happiness was too great and they couldn't lose it. She decided to go with him, they arrived in Italy, they got married. He continued his career, she tried to get accepted into some dance company, she brought good references, but before long she got pregnant and under doctor's orders had to stay in bed and give up dancing. The fruit of that love was born, a precious boy, and she devoted herself entirely to him.

When the boy turned 7, she decided to go back to her country, she needed to be reunited with dance, he understood her but he set one condition: the boy would stay with him. With great pain she accepted, she gave her son a beautiful photograph of herself in which she was smiling at him, and told him, "Keep it with you always, through it I'll give you your goodnight kiss."

At first contact was frequent, calls, cards, newspaper clippings, greetings for birthdays, for holidays. It gradually became less frequent until contact was lost altogether.

The boy studied, became a musician like his father, married, had 2 children, but he never parted with the photograph.

He became a great, famous orchestra conductor, and was invited to conduct the orchestra of the Teatro Colón. He came alone, his wife couldn't come with him.

The night of the concert. He bowed, moved, his eyes searched the boxes, the orchestra stalls, and he wondered, what am I looking for? He took up the baton and put his heart into it, he was carried up to the clouds, taking the whole orchestra with him.

The last notes floated in the air. SILENCE. Like an overwhelming hurricane the applause, the ovations, broke out. At last, silence, rest for the body, for the soul.

In his dressing room, time hung caught in the smoke of a cigarette. Memories wrapped around him, he saw his father predicting, "someday you'll conduct the orchestra of the Teatro Colón and that will be your crowning moment." Two soft knocks on the door brought him back to reality. On the dresser next to the mirror was the photograph, smiling, he looked at it and said "avanti."

The image dreamed of for so many years appeared framed in the doorway, he couldn't believe what he saw reflected in the mirror, it was the photograph, his obsession, tears welled in his eyes, the photograph was smiling, it came closer, slowly began to turn, now they stood face to face, they looked at each other, in a trembling voice he said, "who are you?"

I'm your sister, our mother begs you to come have dinner with us, her health is frail and she couldn't come. She always waited for you, she knew you'd arrive as a great conductor, she dreamed of this day, and so did I.

They embraced, and he felt that with that embrace all the pent-up anguish came to an end and that every note took flight.