Prompt: Barcelona
Character(s): Juan Corrida's mother (OC)
Originally Written: 6.17.2009

She had always believed that he would come back to them someday.

His phone calls home spoke of promise and reassurance – "Don't worry, I'll come home soon" – but there had always been a nagging feeling embedded in her heart that told her not to fall into those assurances. It was no easy feat to take a break from a career that refused to stand still.

Madina wondered if he remembered Barcelona.

It would be reasonable to assume that all of his memories had faded away; they had moved to America when he was all of five and moved back when he was old enough to make the (painful) decision to stay. Nonetheless, Madina remembered his childhood well. What a lively child he was! He could never stay in one place for very long.

He had changed when they moved to America. He grew increasingly self-important and competitive, leaving all those he deemed unworthy behind him. He relied on others for his identity and became dejected when they didn't give him attention. She supposed that this was what had led to his fierce rivalry with that other boy, the rivalry that would end in his demise.

Would things have changed if she raised him differently? Would he have been the same child if he grew up in America to begin with?

The streets of Barcelona were haunted in her eyes.

Yet the children still played, oblivious and unassuming, until their parents called them home.