Sofia’s Debt Walkthrough

25 April 2004

A unique premise to be sure.
Ana is a soon-to-be single mother. A rare form of schizophrenia runs
in her family, which resulted in both her mother
and grandmother committing suicide shortly after they gave birth. Not only
being alone, but worrying about whether she too has schizophrenia has put
added pressures on to a busy university work life. The window on Ana’s
life opens as she returns home from university…

She cannot decide which CD to
listen to. She favors musicals but Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera,
and Les Miserables have no place in her heart
tonight. The lamp at light casts only dim light on her life. She looks
at a painting by Dali. The irony of her choice in paintings and painters
is not lost. She picks up the glass on the table. The bottle and Ana are
longtime companions, though her current state has cast a guilty feel on
any thoughts of alcohol. How she had missed the eerie significance of the
name of this Spanish brew previously is a mystery. Quilme. Quil-me. Sounded
almost like… No, it is bad luck to mention it.

The front door key is on the table. She always puts it there with her
mobile phone when she comes home. Both are overlooked by a photo of friends
and memories of a different life.

She glances over books and periodicals, some old, some new, on the shelves
of her bookcase. Nothing can distract her from her worries tonight, though.
She would have to put away the broom next to the bookshelf but not now.

A lonely hatrack, left to her by her father, a thriving though unimposing
potted plant, and a rocking chair are her companions in the room but they
do nothing to dispel her ennui.

She lifts the phone to her ear. No one will be at work now. What about
Edward? She autodials him but his study prevents him from talking at length.
Or even listening briefly. Perhaps tomorrow, he says, and she hears only
silence.

Gabriel will understand, she
thinks. But, he does not know Ana’s
mind and their conversation is brief. She talks of timing and New Age epithets
but he is more at home with data. Nonetheless, he offers his support. But
then leaves her. Alone. Even Nat seems not to have the time she once did.
They talk only briefly and Nat mirrors Gabriel’s sentiments.

Her eyes turn again to the bottle.
Still, one glass won’t hurt,
she thinks. As she goes to pour the drink, she drops the glass and it shatters
beneath the table.

It is almost as if providence
caused the broom to be left out. Ana picks up the broom and with deliberate
care, uses it to collect the pieces of
glass from under the table. Ana turns to sit in the rocking chair after
her exertion. It is then that she notices the solitary sheet of paper that
has slid between the door and her slate floor. Someone purports to know
something about her grandmother’s…death? She must find clues
among her things.

With this new found information,
mundane objects take on a new, though nebulous, significance. A closer
look at the painting in the style of Rafael.
Strange, how only now she notices the outline of a…diary? She carefully
cuts the painting just enough to retrieve the diary. She rests in the rocking
chair and opens the diary. It is her Grandmother’s diary. Sofia’s
story is one of mystery and mysticism. Who is this accented stranger who
was Ana’s grandfather? Was her Grandmother schizophrenic or was there
something more mysterious at work?

As the story reaches its crescendo, it ends. There are no more entries
in the diary. Ana imagines the evil or insanity that followed. She is startled
by the phone ringing.

She rushes to the table, picks
up the phone, and waits expectantly for Edward’s voice. Perhaps he has found some time for her after all.
As soon as the receiver is at her ear, she knows who it is. The voice is
familiar but she has never heard it before. The insanity is beginning again.
It is “him”, the one who was her grandfather, the accented
stranger. Evil seems to pervade the room. Now, he wants her baby!

There are voices and scratching at the door. NO! They must be in her head.
NO! It is the evil one. NO! Ana is unsure, confused. What is real anymore?

There is only one way to find out. Ana snatches the key from the table
and in one movement rushes to the door and unlocks it. She pauses frightened
of what she might see. And even more frightened of what she might not see.

The face of the man at the door
is Esteban, the father of her child. Only now does she realize that he
is “him”. Neither her grandmother
nor her mother could pay Esteban’s price. The curse will perpetuate
until the debt is paid. Ana knows she is stronger than them. She knows
she must give Esteban what he asks for. Tomorrow the madness will end.
Tomorrow she will pay Sofia’s debt…

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