“The Bull Came Home Alone”

[Ophi 258]

 

“The Bull Came Home Alone”
By Alfonso Tomas Salazar

They say a Salazar does not crumble.

They say we endure.
We swallow grief like wine,
let it burn,
and never let it spill.

But no one prepared me
for the sound of hooves without you.

I heard it before I saw it.
Heavy. Familiar.
The rhythm of something that belonged to you.

Your bull stood at the gates of Viru,
dust clinging to its hide,
letters tied cruelly to its harness,
like mourning ribbons.
Like proof.

It looked at me.

As if asking why you were not beside it.

As if I would know.

I did not open the letters at first.
I did not need to.
The air had already changed.
Something in my chest had already collapsed.

I think I broke before I even understood why.

You were there when my father was not.

When the house felt too large.
When expectations pressed into my ribs.
When silence answered questions that should have been met with guidance.

You stepped into spaces no one told you to fill.

You taught me how to lead before I knew how to speak without trembling.
You taught me that strength was not volume,
but decision.
That hesitation kills more than swords.
That mercy is not weakness,
but it must be chosen carefully.

You were the voice that steadied mine.
The hand that corrected my grip on steel.
The quiet presence at my side
when I thought I was alone in a room full of men.

You never embraced me.

Not once.

But you did not need to.

Your approval was in the way you watched me.
Your care was in the way you let me fail,
then stood close enough that I could rise again.
You never smothered me.
You trusted me.

You were my father in the ways that mattered most.

And I never told you that.

I thought I had time.

I thought men like you did not fall.
That pillars did not rot.
That lifelines did not snap without warning.

You were one of the few constants in my life.
One of the only people who saw me
before the titles.
Before the expectation.
Before the weight of a name.

With you, I did not have to be heir.
I did not have to be leader.
I did not have to be unbreakable.

I was just Alfonso.

And now the gates of Viru have closed behind a beast
that does not understand death.

It returned.

You did not.

I touched its reins with shaking hands.
I pressed my forehead to its brow
like a grieving child,
not a man grown.

The guards pretended not to see me fall apart.

I read the letters.

Each word felt like a blade dragged slowly across bone.
So final.
So clean.
So merciless.

How dare the world continue
when you are not in it?

How dare the sun rise over these walls
when you will never stand beside me again?

I thought you would always be there.
Even if we argued.
Even if we were silent.
Even if we never said the words aloud.

You were my certainty.

Now there is only absence.

A space beside me that no one can fill.
A silence where your voice should be.
A future I do not know how to walk into without looking back.

You were my lifeline.

And I did not realize how tightly I was holding onto you
until it was torn from my hands.

They say I am strong.

But strength feels different now.
It feels hollow.
It feels like standing upright
while something inside me bleeds without end.

Tío…

You told me to take action.
To move forward.
To never let grief paralyze me.

But you were the ground I stood on.

And now I am falling
through something I cannot see the bottom of.

If I lead now,
I lead without the man who taught me how.

If I stand tall now,
it is only because you built the spine beneath my skin.

And I would trade every banner,
every victory,
every title carved into my name,

just to hear you say,
once more,

“I am here.”

But you are not.

And I am lost.

 

[Eliseth 134]

Thank you - I didnt plan to cry tonight, but those plans changed. 

[LoxyTheReindeer 356]

Evangeline read the words, and felt a hollow pain ricochet through her soul
The grief, sorrow, and rage; the emotions she fought so hard to keep under control.

She gripped her letter tight, like it was the only thing holding her together.

Like if she dropped it, she may shatter, yet no one was any wiser. No one saw her tears.

 

No one except her son, who was never supposed to see that. Who was never supposed to see her be weak. Who was supposed to learn from her bravery, her unshakable confidence, her fierce passion.

 

But now, all of that felt hollow, a shallow facade. A porcelain mask, already cracked.

 

A shell of a matriarch, eaten away by the parasites of grief.

The closest she ever had to a brother, gone, without her ever getting to say goodbye.

 

But time does not stop for grief. Time does not stop for mourning. And prying eyes do not cease their clawing gaze.

 

Back straight, eyes clear, posture elegant. A matriarch, not a grieving woman.

 

A matriarch... Who wished so desperately to, just for a moment, be anything but.

Who wished, for a moment, that she may hold her son and husband close, and cry until she had no more tears to shed.

[MrGarden 295]

Spoiler

 

A sudden fog rose within in Virú as a tall figure appears, traces of his poncho and hat were all that the citizens would see. He carried some boxes to make sure to clean and grab his belongings before departing to never come back. As he walked to the house, he could sense the tension that layed around. The feeling of sorrow and sadness, but he decided to ignore it as of now, all that he had in his mind was the memories he shared with his family. He walked across the corridors, placing his hand on the walls. "I will miss ya'll" he said as he made his way towards Alfonso's door. He stopped sighing as if he was gaining courage "If ye had the courage to ask her in marriage, why can't you do this?"  He glanced at the iron door that stood on the side of the wooden one, pondering what had happened for him to remove his sign. Yet, he shook his head, it didn't matter now; as his mistakes and decisions were made, and final. So, with that in mind, he opened the door, praying to see his nephew's face one last time. One last time to tell him goodbye and ask for forgiveness of lying to him and his family, but nothing. No sound, no animal. All that was around was a sleeping baby, the one that he refused to meet, so he couldn't lie to one more of his kin. He nodded and walked towards the table, noticing a paper. He knew that his nephew was a writer and even did a poem to an old Salazar. For a second, he thought it was just a simple letter to the Lord Paramount, but upon reading, the figure collapsed. Words that he didn't hear in a while and feelings that he didn't know were hitting him like the sword that took his mortal life. But as said, he was no mortal anymore, and so he left, making sure to stop by the barns to say goodbye to the one that was by his side since he came to this new land. Pedro became unstable upon seeing the figure, as if to him, no matter how much he hid himself, the bull would know its owner. Pedro would only calm down once the figure entered it's enclosure. "To you my dearest friend,  I leave our family to protect. To be by their side when I can't anymore. The same way you protected me, do it to them too, por favor. May our destiny cross one last time when both of us are set free from this cursed world. Even when you were a calf and I trained you, it was never a task, as with you I could be myself. You knew me, and were with me wherever I went...and to that, I thank you, Pedro."  It's eyes open wide, as if it was understanding this was the last time seeing his owner. The figure removed his hat, resting his head on the bull's muzzle. No more words or gestures were needed. To the citizens of Virú that were on the street, they would see the fog rising once more as the figure walked across. A nameless cowboy with his poncho and hat was all they could see, as his whistle could be heard across the whole of Virú.

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[KeiaTypeBeat 3276]

On 2/21/2026 at 4:46 AM, Ophi said:

You taught me that strength was not volume,
but decision.

So hard

On 2/21/2026 at 4:46 AM, Ophi said:

You were my father in the ways that mattered most.

And I never told you that.

Damn 

On 2/21/2026 at 4:46 AM, Ophi said:

It returned.

You did not.

I touched its reins with shaking hands.
I pressed my forehead to its brow
like a grieving child,
not a man grown.

The guards pretended not to see me fall apart.

Damn

On 2/21/2026 at 4:46 AM, Ophi said:

How dare the world continue
when you are not in it?

Damn

On 2/21/2026 at 4:46 AM, Ophi said:

And I did not realize how tightly I was holding onto you
until it was torn from my hands.

I'm going to cry

On 2/21/2026 at 4:46 AM, Ophi said:

And I would trade every banner,
every victory,
every title carved into my name,

just to hear you say,
once more,

“I am here.”

But you are not.

And I am lost.

There it ******* is now I'm crying dammit dude I wanted to wait until I was home to read this 😭😭😭

 

Good shit man. This was so freaking sad I can't even bro I can't even, +1