the start of the narrative, Maria arrives at her grandmother's home after a long journey, feeling exhausted and anxious about her son’s enlistment. The scene is intimate, layered with familial affection, and tinged with the grandmother's concerns about the war's consequences. Amidst conversations about the young boy’s future and the societal expectations of women, Maria's internal conflict grows as she grapples with her fears for her son and the emotional burden of letting him go. The grandmother articulates the anguish that war brings to their lives, framing the generational differences of coping with the impending crisis, setting the tone for a story filled with personal sacrifice and the complexities of maternal love in times of conflict. (This is an automatically generated summary.)