Dia de los Muertos (El Loco - Part 2) - (Five minutes freewrite)

Don Tomasso ignored the stares and the nudges of the people waiting for him to begin the sermon. Ever since he could remember people had viewed him as a curiosity. As a child, he was constantly made fun of because of his weird eye defect. The kids taunted him mercilessly - 'Come, Tomassito, take the red car' - then shrieked with laughter while he sweated profusely trying to pick the right toy. Nobody in the town of Juarez had ever heard the term color-blind, even his parents were a bit embarrassed when they had to explain the weird condition of their son.
With time, they stopped bothering him, the joke was becoming old and boring, but by then Tomasso had grown into a shy boy who shunned the company of his peers. His decision to become a priest was met with relief by his parents - at least this was a job where his eye-sight won't be a problem.
The grey corridors and the mostly black habits at the seminary seemed the perfect environment for the color-blind Tomasso and for a while really tried to blend in, yet by the end of the first year it became obvious he didn't exactly fit the mold. With his inquisitive mind and relentless pursue of of an argument, Tomassito drove his teachers crazy. While he didn't have an issue with the concept of Hell, he couldn't quite grasp the idea of Paradise and sometimes his questions verged on heresy.
'So, people are happy to be in the presence of God, I get that, but what is is they do all day? Do they just sit around staring at Him or what? What about the next day?'

Ironically, he came to understand this profound state of bliss at the exact moment he was condemned to go to Hell. He didn't know that at the time, but the first time he set eyes on Lucia his soul was doomed.
Lucia sold tamales in the main square and Tomasso got to see her every time he was sent out on an errand by one of the teachers. The boy used to hide behind a tree and watch her - he loved to see her smile, even though she did not smile at him and only did it to attract customers. Maybe the red on her lips was lost on him, but not the glint in her eyes. She was only fifteen and her eyes had not yet cried for any man. The day the boy mustered enough courage to go buy some tamales wrapped by her delicate fingers, their eyes locked and for many months they spent their time in an incredibly small universe, that only had space for Tomasso and Lucia. A Paradise for two, full of bright colors Tomasso had never dreamed existed. When Lucia was gone from his life, the world turned grayish again, like the mass of gray faces looking at him from the pews. Faces drained of all colors, like the dead lose their color. Quite befitting, thought Don Tomasso, as in three days they would be celebrating the Day of the Dead. 'Dia de los Muertos'.
Don Tomasso gave a little cough to draw their attention and started to speak:
'Dearly departed people of Santa Clara'.
The audience gasped.

Story written for @mariannewest's freewrite challenge. Today's prompt was: mold! Check out her blog and join our freewrite community.

You can find the beginning of the story of Don Tomasso here: El Loco - Part 1

Thanks for reading!

Image: Pixabay