“The Creation of the Sun”, by Javier Sánchez García (Mérida), was the winning story of the II Leandro Perdomo Spínola Micro-story Contest, while “The Best Protection”, by the journalist Mar Arias Couce, from Lanzarote by adoption, received the second prize in a new call for the literary contest in honor of the Adoptive Son of Teguise, which has stood out for its high level of participation, with 1,200 stories.
This contest is held every two years and was born in 2018 within the framework of the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Villa de Teguise, with the aim of once again paying tribute to one of the most illustrious figures of the Villa de Teguise, Leandro Perdomo.
"Unfortunately, in his day, he was not given all the attention that his human quality deserved; but the important thing is that today we meet again in his name, and what better way to do it than by calling for the participation of all lovers of literature and the written word, who have exceeded expectations. If in 2018 we launched an edition in which almost 80 stories were received, two years later, the public has responded wonderfully, giving us up to 1,200 small writings, which I am sure has been very difficult for the jury to select, but to whom we are enormously grateful”, said the mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, during the event held at the Municipal Library of the Villa de Teguise.
The councilor of the area, Sara Bermúdez, also thanked the members of the jury for their participation: Miriam Hernández, a teacher with a degree in History and winner of several story prizes; Iballa González, a teacher with a degree in Hispanic Philology; and Mariano de León, a Law graduate and Local Administration Official with National Qualification.
“It has been very gratifying to receive so many writings from different parts of the world and we hope that this contest will be consolidated and become a benchmark for literary events, as is already the Love and Heartbreak Letters Contest Los Novios del Mojón de Teguise”, concluded Bermúdez.
"The Creation of the Sun" (first prize). By Javier Sánchez
He only had one cigarette left.
The old bearded man had saved it all week and, after six days of work, he lit it with satisfaction. While smoking, he proudly contemplated his great sculptural work: Animals, plants, mountains, plains, rivers and seas.
Everything remained calm and, suddenly, the people who populated his creation looked up. They discovered the long beard of the old man, which they confused with clouds, and among them a powerful light. Soon, those tiny characters began to adore the intense luminescence that shone at the end of the cigarette. Angry, jealous of the clumsiness of those figurines, the old man decapitated the cigarette on the desert sand and thus invented the night, which stuns the senses and engenders orphaned questions.
On the seventh day, the old sculptor decided to stop smoking.
"The Best Protection" (second prize). By Mar Arias Couce
It had become as habitual as combing his hair or washing his face, every morning, before leaving home, he adjusted his mask and went to work. That day it seemed to him that the mask was larger than normal, denser, better. When he parked the car and prepared to climb the stairs of the building where he worked, he noticed that the garment was beginning to impede his vision. He tried to adjust it, but there was no way. The more he tried to lower it, the more it grew. Standing in the middle of the stairs, not daring to go up or down, for fear of falling, he felt how that mask, bought the day before at the pharmacy, continued to increase in size and cover his entire face, his neck and even his chest. As it grew, it adjusted to his body. Soon it became evident that he was immobilized. Gripped by the sudden fear of the unintelligible, he felt his heart race. “Wow, Antúnez, you really take protection seriously”, he heard in the distance. It must be something of the new normal, he thought, and leaned against the wall, feeling immensely protected.