AUTHOR: Ana C. Rivero Foucault
CHARACTERS:
1.- Cándida (Owner of the town's Cafetín and Horacio's girlfriend).
2.- Horacio (Cándida's fiancé)
3.- Comadre Cruz (Candida's friend)
4.- Captain Ludovico (Horacio's friend)
5.- Efraín (sailor)
6.- Eloísa (Owner of the boarding house)
7.- Doctor of the hospital
8.- Nurse of the hospital
9.- Estela (Candida's granddaughter)
ACT I
(An autumn afternoon in the 60's, hugging and crying at the entrance of Candida's cafe).
Horacio: Don't cry anymore my love! I promise to come back as soon as I can.
Candida: I have a bad feeling.
Horacio: A bad feeling about what?
Candida: That you won't come back, that you'll stay in those lands and I'll never see you again.
Horatio: Don't say that woman, of course I'll come back! I made you a promise that we would get married and I will keep it because I love you and you are the most valuable thing to me.
Candida: But what does it cost you to look for a job right here?
Horacio: The opportunity my friend Ludovico is offering me to manage his business is very valuable for both of us. With that money I will be able to buy our house, and the premises of your cafe, which I know how much you love it.
Candida: Let's hope that this hunch is not true!
Horacio: I must go now, please don't cry anymore!
Candida: It's not easy, your departure hurts me too much.
Horacio: I know it my love, so do I, but we must be strong, I love you, I'll write to you when I get there!
Candida: I love you Horacio, don't forget it!
ACT II
(3 months later on a ship, stranded at sea in the middle of winter).
Horatio: It's been three months and we haven't been able to reach any port Ludovico. I haven't been able to write to Candida either, she must be very worried.
Captain Ludovico: I understand my friend, but winter has caught us in these waters. It is a risk to cross the ocean with so much ice.
Horacio: If only we could reach land somewhere, or move slowly.
Captain Ludovico: I can't risk it Horacio, it would be suicide. Efrain! I'm going to take a nap, I'll leave you in command.
Efrain: Yes, Captain! Don't worry, I'll let you know what's new.
Horacio: Ephraim, what if we move forward slowly? That way, little by little, we could reach some port.
Efrain: No, my friend, that would be crazy!
Horacio: I'm going to go crazy out here in the middle of nowhere. At least let me go in a boat.
Efrain: You know that if you do it, it will be at your own risk. It's still risky.
Horacio: I take my responsibility. I must try.
ACT III
(5 months later in a room of the village hospital).
Candida: I was not wrong in my hunch, comadre. Horacio forgot me, and he won't even know that his daughter has just been born.
Comadre Cruz: Oh, comadre! All this seems strange to me. I know how much Horacio loved you and I think something must have happened to him.
Cándida: But not a phone call, not a letter. And I don't know where to get in touch with that captain friend with whom he left either.
Comadre Cruz: That is what seems strangest to me, that if something had happened to him that friend could have communicated with you.
Cándida: You see, comadre? Surely he did well and preferred to stay over there. How sad, but it doesn't matter, I will go ahead alone with my daughter. I will keep her memory intact so I can tell her about the great love I felt for her father.
ACT IV
(10 years later in an unknown hospital).
Horatio: Where am I?
Nurse: Sir, you spent 10 years in a coma after you were rescued injured on the shore of a beach. Do you remember anything? What is your name?
Horatio: I don't remember anything.
Nurse: Not even your name?
Horatio: No, I don't even know who I am!
Nurse: Try to calm down, I'll call the doctor.
Doctor: Good afternoon my friend. What a joy to see you awake, I never gave up hope.
Horatio: Doctor, I can't remember anything. I don't even know how I got here, or what happened to me.
Doctor: The only thing I can tell you is that you were shipwrecked in frozen waters, and that some fishermen saw you near the shore and brought you here. It still seems incredible to me that you survived, but you had many blows and fractures, apart from a very strong blow to the head that probably caused the coma and the loss of memory.
Horacio: What should I do, doctor, how am I going to live like this without memories and without knowing if I have a family?
Doctor: We have posted notices everywhere and no one has come, that tells us that you are not from here. And if you feel well, I should discharge you.
Horacio: And where do I go?
Nurse: You can go to the boarding house where I live, I'm sure Doña Eloísa will understand your situation and will give you lodging until you get a job.
ACT V
(On a cold autumn afternoon, 45 years after leaving his village, in Candida's café).
Horacio: Good afternoon! Do you still prepare the coffee with lots of cream and cinnamon, the owner's specialty?
Estela: Yes, sir! Have you ever tasted it before? First time I've seen it here.
Horacio: I've been here many years ago, is the owner here?
Estela: Yes, she's in the back patio, I'll call her. Grandmaaaa!
Horacio: Grandma? Are you Candida's granddaughter? Then she is married.
Candida: No, sir! I'm not married. And yes! She's my granddaughter... and yours too.
Horatio: My God! You recognized me in spite of the years.
Candida: Your gray hair and wrinkles didn't prevent me from knowing it was you, after so many years.
Horacio: Love of my life! Until a few days ago I was able to remember all my past, and I looked for ways to return. An accident didn't take my life, although my memories did. But I always knew there was someone special in my heart.
Candida: My love, I never stopped loving you, but I thought you had forgotten me.
Horacio: My mind forgot, but my heart didn't. He couldn't forget my autumn love, and here I am never to leave again.
This is my participation in: CONTEST - 2nd Anniversary & Valentine's.
I invite 
