The Rose Garden

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The Rose Garden
José sleeps at his desk, his face glued to the keyboard. He is resting so peacefully that his snoring sounds like the swell of the sea. The alarm clock abruptly jolts him out of his sleep and he opens his eyes. His body is heavy and he slowly raises his head, his cheek slightly rimmed by the computer keys. He looks at the clock and sighs. He has studied so hard that he has fallen asleep at the table. Somewhat groggy, red-eyed and drowsy, he sips an old, cold coffee he had left on the desk before falling asleep and then heads to the study institute.

He walked through the corridors of the high school. He was alone, like an invisible ghost. He had never managed to make friends, still he liked to live in isolation, without any social contact, so it didn't affect him at all. He stopped at his locker and opened it. Inside, he found a note:

"To Jose Melanilo. You have been selected for Maritza's big party at Cocobart nightclub, this day at 6 pm. If you are attending, please reply to the email at the end of this note."

José lowered his eyebrows, leaving a strange expression on his face. It looked like he was being pranked. He had never been invited to any activity, let alone the party of the most popular girl in school. He took the note out of his locker and read it again. No doubt it was addressed to him. However, he was still confused and suspicious.

José enters the classroom and hears one of his classmates bragging:
"Hey, I've been invited to Maritza's party! I'm one of the few who got a note."
At the back of the classroom, a girl also reacts
"I got a note too!".
Jose wonders
"Hmmm.... she got a note too. They are both popular, where do I figure in?”

When he got home, he lay down on the bed in his room, looked up at the ceiling and stared at the stripes on the tiles. He thought about how he was wrapped up in a cycle of routines. "Every day the same," he said. He remembered the note. The note that had drawn him out of himself. He picked up his cell phone and sat down to write to that email.

"What's this about?"

A few seconds later he received a reply to the email

"We will be waiting for you".

As he approached the discotheque, he noticed that there was no music playing and there was no party atmosphere. The place looked as if it had not been used in years. When he entered, he saw that it was empty, except for the voices of a few people talking in the distance. He walked towards the sound of the voices, and when he reached the back of the room, he saw Alejandra.

Alejandra spoke with an authoritative tone. "I have gathered you all together to congratulate you. I have chosen you to be part of

The Rose Garden, a film in which you will all participate."

Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Lucero, one of the guests, replied angrily. "What stupidity are you saying? We are not actors."

The rest of the guests began to boo and insult her. "That's what you didn't bring," one of them said. "Yuck, pay some actors, I'm not an actor," said another. "You're crazy," said a third.

Jose, who knew nothing about acting and wasn't interested, couldn't stand to see a person treated like that. "Hey," he said. " are you afraid to act?"

Among the guests was Roberto, who replied, "And where do you come from? You're the weird kid from school, aren't you?". He looked ready to fight when he saw Maritza on the other floor.

Maritza came down the stairs in a red dress, like a spring flower. Her skin looked like porcelain as if she were not a real girl. She looked at Roberto with her eyes as blue as crystal water, and as she gave him a nod of her head as a gesture of refusal, her golden hair danced like sunlight. To look at her was to behold a movie star in the making.

As much as Alejandra explained, Maritza with her style created a kind of hypnosis and formed the miracle,

"I will be the protagonist" said Robetor.
The rest of the guests signed up except one, Jose had nothing to do there anymore, he walked towards the exit and a hand took his.

"Wait" said Alejandra "Thank you for helping me"

José did not respond, but nodded slightly and left.

The next day, at school, Alejandra approached José.

"I spent the night thinking about you," she told him. "I didn't want to cause you trouble. You were the only one I wasn't part of the filming cast. I wanted you to be the one to edit the videos. I want to have a pretext to see you."

Her cheeks flushed with shyness. He had no choice but to agree to work on the editing.

The first few days, Alejandra showed up with the visual material. He was in charge of adjusting the tones, some effects, and sounds. They both began to enjoy each other's company, and José's love for her began to emerge, as well as his love for the art of cinematography.

One day, José went to pick up the mouse and inadvertently put his hand on hers. She fixed her gaze on him, and he said, "You and I are also a story being filmed."

"How will it end?"

"Where death doth part us."

And they signed with their lips a pact of union

A few months later, the film was ready. José took it upon himself to share the trailers. Although they had no budget or money, the film had thousands of hits on all the web services. It had been a success. The whole cast celebrated. They turned out to be good actors and the film sold.

Alejandra had directed everything, and Maritza shone like a star for the world. However, José's eyes were only for his girl.

Not content with all the attention she was getting, Maritza turned to Jose and said, "You're no longer of any use to us. Retire. Alejandra only used you to give us the effects. From now on, we'll find another effects editor."

He turned to Alejandra, to corroborate what Maritza had said.

"Is it true?" he asked.

Alejandra paused in silence, the stares of the others forcing her to confess.

"I'm sorry."

Alejandra always dreamed of bringing her stories to life. However, she had no money, no equipment, no actors. It was she who came up with everything and who convinced Maritza by offering her fame and success. They were all puppets for her, but when José left, she felt an emptiness in her soul.

For the moment, she was still very happy. Many people congratulated her that day, but as evening fell she felt empty, incomplete. "I'll get over it," she said to herself.

She sought comfort from other lips, but nothing could replace the warmth of her own.

The nights began to grow long. Jose's face invading her thoughts. By the time she realized she could not live without José, he had already left for another country.

She had used him to make her dream come true, and now that he was gone, she was left without the protagonist of her life.