Looking back I was incredibly calm about the letter I got. When I opened the door and the postman was standing there wanting my signature, I was half asleep. I took it inside and set it on the table and thought “I’ll look at it later” and went back to bed. What I didn’t know at the time is that that was a letter from the Nobel Prize Organization saying I had won a Nobel Prize in literature.

Now as I walk into the Stockholm City Hall, in Sweden with my wife and my son, I can't think of anything else but “I’m cold.” I say as much to my wife, Mercedes. I can feel the sweet crisp winter air and it smells like champagne. We go further inside and look at the mass of people in the room. Out of the corner of my eye a lady catches my eye, she is dressed in a white gown with a crown atop her head. She has a sash across her chest, as I turn around to see who it is I quickly realize it is the queen of Sweden. I poke Mercedes in the side and discreetly point to her.

“I didn’t know she was going to be here.” she says.

“I didn’t either.” I respond. I turn to look at my wife and I can’t tell what's going on inside her head.

“What are you thinking?” I ask her.

“I just don't know about this Gabriel.” She whispers

“It’ll be ok.” I say as I pull her in for a hug. When I pull back the queen is standing next to us.

“Do I curtsy or do I just stand here?” I thought to myself. I bend down in an awkward curtsy and hope I didn't do anything wrong.

“You don’t have to do that.” She says sweetly.

“Oh sorry.” I grumble.

Just as I am trying to stumble for words a person calls over the speakers that it is time to sit down. I walk over to the fanciest table I have ever seen, cream colored silk with beading and embroidery at the bottom. As I look around the room and see so many people who look like they could buy a whole country with their handbags, I can’t believe I'm sitting here. I look at my wife and son, my happy life I have made for myself and think to myself, “You know what, this isn't so bad” A waiter comes around the corner and asks if we would like chicken or steak. “Steak please” I say “Medium rare” He writes it down and ushered to put our order in. When I get my food it may possibly be the best thing I have ever eaten. The steak was tender and juicy, but not raw. The rest of the dinner goes by in an uneventful blur and before I know it I am looking at the stage where a man says

“Now we will announce the winners of the 1982 Nobel literature prize!” I knew what was coming but being in that chair it felt like everything was in slow motion. I couldn't breathe. Then he calls out “Gabriel García Márquez!” I quickly walk to the stage and receive my prize, when I am about to go back to my table the guy on the stage whispers to me “You're supposed to give a speech”

“Oh. Of course” I go back in front of the microphone and say “I thank everyone who has helped me get here, my dad, mom, wife, and son. I hope for a day where no one will be able to decide for others how they die, where love will prove true and happiness be possible, and where the races condemned to one hundred years of solitude will have, at last and forever, a second opportunity on earth.”

I step off the stage feeling like I am finally free of all the negative things that I have ever experienced. As I go back to my table, I look at my wife and son and am truly happy for the first time in a long time. I kiss Mercedes on the head and clap my son on the back. I sat through the rest of the dinner, and at the end the queen once again came up to me and asked for a picture with me. Of course I agreed, she's the queen. I smiled and said “Cheeze!”

Twenty Years Later

I often think back to the night when I won my Nobel Prize. That night changed me,

I realized that if I of all people could win a Nobel Prize, anyone can do anything! My way of life didn’t change much, I didn’t go on shopping sprees or buy a plane, I just went on living my life like normal. Now when I look back at where I’ve come from I just can’t believe it worked out like it did, it feels like a dream. But, I had a dream and as long as you keep dreaming, you will live on forever.