Santiago, Chile in the 1970’s under dictatorship (1973-1990)

I feel some events are personal and public at the same time.

Sometimes, past events and present events cross and connect each other.

I feel also that some memories express themselves in the present tense:

The helicopters surrounding the neighborhood pass constantly, without stopping. There is a lot of noise. They are under the table, her sister, her mom, and their dog Puck. They are afraid, her mother is afraid, her sister is afraid, she sees it in their eyes, they don’t say anything, she doesn’t say anything either. The dog breathes quickly, he is afraid also. You hear a rain of blows against the ceiling, of metal blows, it goes on and on and on and on, and they are afraid. Her father is not there. Her mother tells them, he will come back, where is he? When does he come back home? The noise ceases. Everything is calm again, but it is not as calm as before, and there is a tremendous silence. Her mom turns on the TV, there are cartoons. They sit in front of the TV, her sister and she, each in a chair. She remembers this chair very well, this TV, the floor, the table. She feels absorbed by Tom and Jerry, she forgets everything, the noise, the silence, the helicopters. Tom and Jerry, over and over again. She loves Jerry because it’s little and intelligent. Then the noise gets closer and they run under the table and her sister falls. She tripped over a wire and hit herself with an electric shock. She feels like she spends a lot of time between the living room in front of the TV watching cartoons (Tom and Jerry) and the dining room under the table covered with mattresses. The house smells like bread, and also like their dog! A lot of time was spent between that deafening noise, that very heavy silence and Tom and Jerry.