(Spanish) Bilingual Flash Fiction: Gertrude and Alice Go On Holiday

Gertrude and Alice were on holiday in Tuscany. They wandered away from their Golden Tour group and came upon a strange tree with a single red shiny apple on the topmost branch. They each climbed as fast as they could to see who could get to the apple first. 

Alice won, so Gertrude came down in defeat. Alice sat on the branch and took a bite of the apple. It was delicious, so she continued to gobble it up. Nectar dribbled down her chin and onto Gertrude’s hat. 

When she had finished eating her apple, Alice felt an itch between her shoulder blades. She turned her head around and scratched it with her beak.

“I think I’ll stick around up here,” she called down to Gertrude, “‘cause there’s a very comfy nest on that branch over there.”

But Gertrude couldn’t understand all the squawking. And it was getting dark. So she left to try to find the tour group. Alice settled into her new nest and slept until Saturday. And later that day, she opened her wings and migrated.

Gertrude y Alice se Van de Vacaciones

Gertrude y Alice estaban de vacaciones en la Toscana. Se alejaron de su grupo de Turismo Dorado y se toparon con un árbol extraño que tenía una sola manzana roja reluciente en la rama más alta. Cada una trepó lo más rápido que pudo para ver quién llegaba antes a coger la manzana.

Alice ganó, así que Gertrude, en derrota,  bajó del árbol. Alice se sentó en la rama y le dio un mordisco a la manzana. Estaba deliciosa, la devoró. El néctar se le escurría por la barbilla y salpicaba el sombrero de Gertrude.

Cuando se había terminado la manzana, Alice sintió comezón entre sus omóplatos. Giró la cabeza y se rascó con el pico.

—Me parece que me voy a quedar aquí—, le gritó Alice a Gertrude, —porque hay un nido que se ve muy acogedor en esa rama de allá.

Pero Gertrude no entendía nada de todos esos graznidos. Además, se estaba haciendo de noche. Así que se fue, tratando de encontrar otra vez al grupo de turistas. Alice se acomodó en su nido nuevo y se quedó durmiendo hasta el sábado. A la tarde de ese mismo día, ella abrió sus alas y migró.

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Sofia Ballesteros

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Sofia Ballesteros (Mexico City, 1979) is the author of the children’s books La Princesa Rana (Textofilia, 2010), and Olga (Libros del Marqués 2021), as well as the short story collections La Sirena voladora y otros relatos (Caligrama, 2015) and Cuentos de Navigay (Libros del Marqués, 2019). She has contributed work to The Same Havoc, a Home Anthology (The Selkie), and SpecBook 2021 (Speculative Books). She was selected to participate in the inaugural Write Toscana retreat with Helen McClory, of whom she translated On The Edges of Vision to Spanish. She lives in Barcelona.

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