Unforgettable Aromas / Creative Nonfiction Prompt #31

In vacation times it was customary to go to Uncle Teto's farm, there lived Grandma Inés, who was happy to receive us, it was not only me, several of my cousins were also taken to vacation with LELA, as we affectionately called her; There are many smells that come to my mind when I remember that place, the smell that stood out was that of fresh grass, you could breathe fresh air, without the smoke of cars polluting the rich fragrance of nature, I remember with nostalgia the last time I was there.

—Lela, lela,— I shouted euphorically as I got out of the car.

My grandmother slowly approached me, for her age, her walk was already slow.

—My little girl, I'm so glad you're here,— she said excitedly as she hugged me and kissed my forehead.

My cousins and I put our arms around her, on that occasion it was Mario, Elena and me; My grandmother was so excited that several tears rolled down her wrinkled cheeks, that day I realized how much she had aged, she could no longer carry us, nor play at the races, what remained the same was the love she inspired.

—Let's go boys, take the luggage to the house,— said uncle Teto, interrupting that warm welcome.

We took our bags and headed for the house, Aunt Margot held out her hand to Grandma and helped her to get to her rocking chair, which was in the corridor; as we entered we perceived different smells, the fragrance of the flowers in the garden at the entrance, it was a natural aromatizer of the house, inside the house we could feel the smell of freshly brewed coffee, which was not lacking in Grandma's house.

We were in the same room as always, it was right next to grandma's room, it was the biggest room in the house, really big, so big that there were 3 bunk beds, 1 single bed and a hammock, no TV, because there was no electricity, with so much to do for fun, we did not miss that device at all.

—Come and have a snack— shouted grandma.

—Here we go,— we all shouted at the same time.

When we left the room, by the smell I could guess what the snack was, there it was served on the small wooden table, an almost giant glass of coffee with cow's milk and some delicious sweet arepitas, with its particular smell of anisette, we quickly sat down on the benches and in moments we devoured everything.

—You were hungry,— said grandma.

—Even if I am not hungry, I will always eat whatever you cook, Lela,— said Mario.

—I'm glad to hear that,— said Grandma, touching Mario's head.

— Do you want to go to the river? — asked Uncle Teto, interrupting that moment.

A resounding yes, from all of us, was the answer.

We picked up some bath clothes and a towel, grandma prepared some bread, we put them in the backpack and we went to the river with uncle Teto, this was inside the farm, so we arrived very quickly, when we arrived we changed our clothes and we went to play, we had a lot of fun playing and catching some fish with a jar, then we let them escape, the time passed very fast, in the middle of the afternoon, we returned home, a delicious smell of sancocho, awoke our appetite.

—Change your clothes and come to eat,— said grandma.

That's what we did. In a few minutes we were already eating the sancocho that grandma prepared for us with love, it not only smelled good, the taste was delicious, after eating, we rested for a while and went for a walk in the surroundings.
How happy we were! We took off our shoes and socks and lay down on the grass to look at the sky, the field was giving off its aromas, the clouds were moving very fast, forming figures that we tried to guess, we could hear the occasional bird singing.
—Let's hunt some coquitos,— said Mario.
—Let's go then,— I said.

The coquitos were small insects that made caves in a sandy part of the farm, then, we introduced a straw, they bit it and so we hunted them, after we had some, then we left them there and again they buried themselves in their caves, so we spent a good time.

When we returned to the house, the grandmother received us with a pleasant smile painted on her face and a glass of fresh cow's milk.

—Drink all the milk, so you will grow up healthy and strong,— said grandma.

Then we took a shower, had dinner and sat around grandma to listen to the fantastic stories of the dead that she told us before bedtime, it was time to sleep, and we went to bed, then grandma came by and kissed each of us on the forehead.
We spent 2 weeks practically doing the same thing, but we were not bored. The day came to return home, it saddened us and grandma too. We gathered our things and uncle Teto was ready to take us.

—Come back soon, children,— said grandma with a broken voice.
—On vacation, I will come again, Grandma,— said Mario.

We all hugged her, kissed her and got into the car, starting our way back home with our hearts crumpled. From afar we could see grandma, still waving her hand to say goodbye, saying goodbye, without wanting to do it.

That was the last time I could enjoy the aromas of the countryside and the smell of grandma's love, then I had to see her in a cold drawer, with the smell of sadness and pain.