“That child is cursed,” they said… but the old man who rescued him defied them all and paid a price no one imagined.
It was an ordinary afternoon, one of those where the sun sets slowly and tiredness weighs more than hunger. I saw it. Don Manuel walked hunched over along the dirt path, a nearly empty bag dangling from his hand. It wasn’t just the weight of years bending his back… it was loneliness. That silent loneliness…
