Short Story: Beginnings

Beginnings from Our Migrant Souls by Hector Tobar

This passage starts off on a gentle tone, recalling bits, and pieces of a journey that the migrant tells with optimism in their eyes. How proud they appear when recalling details, even with the hardships that came along the way, perhaps migrants are able to tell their story from a changed perspective, now that time has passed, and they know that they have made it out OK. I can relate to Hector, being a professional listener to these narratives for most of my life on the non-bothersome repetitiveness of hearing the migrant stories of my parents, and other family members. The hero’s tale in our families, carry the weight of trauma, while already unknowingly providing a better life for their future children.

“We arrived here like dandelion seeds, floating through the air, reaching firm ground by the blessing of God”.

“Beginnings” from Our Migrant Souls by Hector Toba

The search for belonging is a key theme migrants experience probably first and foremost. Hector goes on to elaborate on the journey of his parents and how they came to settle in East Hollywood, California. The story is the same for many. They crossover and choose a location to settle into. Communities form, Latino “barrio” filled with overcrowded families, squeezing together. A man-made poverty. For many, the gritty stage is considered a steppingstone or rite of passage towards their idea of the American dream, giving some migrants ambition of I will work hard and not stay here. This is not my destiny.

“Even the humblest person becomes more cunning in the United States then they would have been back home”

“Beginnings” from Our Migrant Souls by Hector Toba