MARTIN FLORIAN GONZALEZ was born in a small Basque village in northern Spain and like almost everyone who lived there, he was another victim of the remnants of General Francisco Franco's government, having seen his parents brutally murdered in the kitchen of his home when he was just eight. years old.
For many years it was impossible for little Martín to forget that scene and even before he could be another victim, he managed to flee his house with only the clothes on his back, and did exactly what his mother ordered him to do.
He ran as far as he could without looking back...
And he went on like that his whole life.
Hunger and cold forced him to steal chickens, fruit and clothes, sleep in barns, but the luck of finding somewhere had not yet appeared.
From sunrise until the moment when sleep overcame his will to stay awake his thought was one...
Revenge...
Those bastards took everything from him, what little happiness he had left because of the meager change his parents couldn't afford.
After two weeks of wandering from town to town, Martín had a special encounter with an even more special person who welcomed him like a son, and surprisingly, was identical to his mother.
He followed her to the farm where she lived – which wasn't that far from where they were.
Martín watched from the window while they were having dinner and realized that it was Christmas, that made him realize that he had been away from home for more than a week, and suddenly he felt an unbridled longing for his parents, that was the first time he cried after leaving running for your life.
The husband of the woman resembling his mother came out and while smoking a cigarette looking at the horizon he said:
— Boy, I know you're there, go out, I won't hurt you, we've got plenty of food, if you want, we'll share it with you.
Martín came out from behind a tree and saw the man smiling in his direction.
— Good night, son, are you hungry?
The boy just nodded his head positively.
— I knew it, come with me, you're welcome in my house.
The boy followed the smiling man to the table where there was more food than he had eaten in the last two years.
During the entire meal, Martín didn't say a single word, he ate as if the world was going to end in a few minutes.
Looking closely he realized that this woman wasn't that much like his mother, but the twinkle in her eyes was the same, and for the first time in two weeks he discovered what it was like to be loved again.
— What is your name? — She said smiling.
Martín didn't answer, he just kept turning his gaze from one to the other, waiting for something bad to happen, as in the story of John and Mary where the witch gave him lots of sweets, just waiting for the right moment to take them.
— I still haven't said your name, son — said the smiling man who continued to smoke.
— Martín — the boy whispered, finding his own voice strange.
It's been almost two weeks since a single sound has come out of his mouth... my voice is so weird...
— What a beautiful name — said the woman — where is it coming from?
He just shrugged his shoulders and grimaced without having the slightest idea where he was coming from, he just knew he was running from the same fate as his parents.
— Where are your parents? – Said the man.
— Some bad men entered the house — his tears welled up at that moment — and I ran away without looking back.
The man hugged him while his wife held his hand helpfully.
— My name is Tomás, my wife is called Anelise, we would love to be able to help you.
Again a tear runs down his face.
— Did something happen, dear? — Said Anelise.
Martín looked askance at his benefactors and said something that shocked the hearts of that couple:
— I am alone in this world.
That sentence changed the story of the three of them in that instant...
TALKING TO THOSE strangers had been a great relief to little Martín, who since the day he left his parents' house hadn't found a shred of hope anywhere.
He woke up the next day, but his benefactor, Tomás was talking to two soldiers.
The same soldiers who had killed their parents...
His legs froze from the fear he felt in that moment, as well as the puddle of urine beneath him.
Tomás seemed to be enjoying this conversation.
Martín was shaking so much that he was startled when he looked at her, but Anelise motioned for him to keep quiet and follow her. The desperation was so much that if he wanted to scream he couldn't.
Anelise took him to her room and changed her clothes soiled with urine.
— It's going to be okay, dear — Anelise said with the prettiest smile Martin had ever seen — I think these clothes will fit you, it was our son's, he was almost your age.
— What happened to him?
— He went to live in a very special place — a tear came down from Anelise's eyes.
Martín couldn't explain why, but he blindly trusted that woman, everything she did conveyed security and peace.
— He will come back?
— No, honey, we're going to meet him one day, maybe soon."
Tomas entered the room.
— Don't worry, son, they're already gone, is there anything else you want to tell us?
The boy shook his head no.
— No problem — said Anelise smiling — would you like to stay with us?
Martín looked at the two of them in complete disbelief.
— Forever?
Anelise smiled.
— Of course — said Tomás — after our son left, there was a huge void in this house, you would be very welcome.
Despite the silence, everyone knew that was the best thing to do.
Nobody would ever be in the place of little Francisco in their lives, everyone knew that, his sudden disappearance was a real mystery, they had faith that one day they would find him, but in the meantime, they were doing for little Martín what they would like to do for their son .
Days, weeks, months and years passed and the only thing left was the hope within them. Martín's arrival was one of the few joys they had during Francisco's absence.
Martín turned out to be extraordinarily intelligent, and despite being skittish at times, Tomás and Anelise knew that this was a defense for everything the boy had lived through in his life and they couldn't.
For many years, Tomás woke up to the boy's screams because of his constant nightmares, in one of them, he ended up telling everything that really happened the night his parents were killed.
After that he never had nightmares about that night again.
Things were getting better. Martín went to school and Tomás was called every week because of the constant fights, he blindly believed that the boy had left his past behind, but that restlessness haunted him, the boy wanted to prove something that they didn't really know what it was, early or later he would find out.
DESPITE DISCOVERING himself an accomplished fighter, every time Martín saw a soldier, he fought with all his might not to urinate in his pants. Contrary to what many imagined, he fought for pleasure, there was a thirst that was quenched after seeing his opponent on the ground, preferably dead.
The first time he had killed a man was to save Anelise, a stray soldier from his platoon tried to rape her. At first, his legs were locked, but seeing the tears in his mother's eyes brought to mind everything that had gone through until then, and he would not lose a mother again.
His legs were moving slowly and little by little he picked up speed until he managed to overcome all fear and went on top of the damn thing who only noticed him too late, because the boy was already on his back, pulled the knife and stabbed it in his neck for a while. several times he killed him, he only stopped when Anelise touched him from behind, but she was extremely scared by the boy's gaze, the hatred coming from the deepest ward of hell was in the glow of that look that once inhabited a tenderness.
She knelt down and hugged him.
— It's okay now, honey, it's going to be okay, I promise.