داستان کوتاه انگلیسی

Roller Skates to Revolution (part1)



This is a story about a resilient and smart kid who loved to roller skate and her journey to making it to America as a political asylum seeker from the Castro regime in Cuba. Beby Kells was born in 1949 in the beautiful town of Guantanamo, Cuba in the Oriente Province. She was the youngest of three, with one older brother and one older sister. Beby grew up going to the beach, having large gatherings with neighbors and family, roller skating, playing the piano, and hanging out with friends.

Her Sundays were filled with trips with her Grandfather to go on adventures, taking pictures and coming home to freshly baked cakes, that her mother lovingly baked for the family every Sunday. Beby lived a life of freedom and fun, without fear until one day it all changed. In 1959 around the age of ten, Beby knew that the revolution had begun and was starting to take hold of the life she held so dear. Castro and the rebels had moved into the Sierra Maestra in her province and they were taking control of the people and the land, burning buildings, the sugar cane crops and creating warfare in the streets.

Her father and grandfather were both in the military that was currently backing Batista, so her family was heavily targeted. Little things, such as taking piano lessons was no longer fun or a safe option for Beby, as she was insulted by a little girl who lived across the street to where she took her piano lessons, when she would walk to and from. There were many people who supported Castro and people were turning on neighbors, friends and political signage was only egging people on.

“There were signs in our town that said, ‘kill every single one of them, from the oldest to the youngest.’ And guess who was the youngest? That is how it all started. People did not want the government that was currently in place.”

“I can remember on my birthday, I think it was my 11th birthday and the rebels came through our house and they took everything from out of every closet, every drawer and threw it all around…they came through the house and took everything out because they thought my father was getting a group together to assault the Castro group. But Castro was already in power, and we could not leave the house, we were on house arrest.”

There Beby was, 11 years old and living under house arrest; her house was guarded by men with guns and one of her uncles had to be her bodyguard. When Beby went to school or left the house, her uncle wasthere. When she went to school, her parents had to tell the school the only people that can pick her up from school were either her mom or dad or her uncle. They had to do this to make sure was protected and not targeted by the rebels.


At this point in time, there was gunfire and bombs going off day and night; long gone were the days of roller skating around carefree. If she heard gunfire she was taught to drop down, do not look to where the shots were coming from. Due to the fighting her school was often put on lockdown, no students could leave without their parents or a guardian picking them up. The rebels would often go to the private schools, knowing the children of military and government members went there, and would tell the nuns or principal that they were there to pick up which ever child and take them.