A special place

Alejandro C. Hidalgo

by Alejandro C. Hidalgo

Story

The buzzing of the mosquitoes distracts me from the words in my book, the humidity of the ground moves through my pants, making me feel uncomfortable. A cold breeze runs across my skin, giving me chills. In my incessant desire to romanticize my life, I have ventured out in search of some special place to spend my free time in the new neighborhood. The move has left me stranded in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people and no friends to talk to. But of course, my parents didn’t think of that; they made the decision to move without thinking of their son.

“What could be a worse place to read than this,” I mumble to myself as I settle down at the foot of the tree.

“It’s very special to me.”

A voice behind me startles me.

“The view from here at sunset is something unmatched, so if you don’t appreciate my place, you are free to leave whenever you want.”

The strange voice causes me annoyance. I find her comment rude so I respond with a comment I find clever,

“I don’t see your name written anywhere.”

I stand up to face the stranger, but the breeze stops, and sun breaks through the tree branches, hugging me and making my skin feel warm. Time stands still, and I am lost in the blue sky of her eyes. The stranger is undeniably beautiful, and her beauty has stolen my breath and my words.

“Yes, it is, on that little sign on the trunk. I planted this tree with my father when I was five years old.”

Sign? I think to myself, turning quickly to look for that sign of belonging, until a small yellow board stands out in my field of vision with two hands painted on it, one small and one big with names written on each hand. My heart betrays me, I can feel the beat in my ears and the ground moving slightly, but the battle is not lost against this stranger.

“You can’t own a place regardless of the fact that you have planted this tree, it belongs to nature.”

“I agree with your idea, but I won’t let you leave until you watch the sunset with me, maybe then you’ll change your mind.”

A playful smile emerges on her face, breaking down all my defenses against her. I could not be indifferent to her no matter how hard I tried; I decide to lose this time.

“My name is Elea, and this is my secret place to read and listen to music, so if we are going to share it” – she holds out her hand with bright orange fingernails for me to shake – “I would like to get along with my neighbor.”

“My name is Maximo and I’m new around here” – I say, taking her hand.

“I see you like to read; I think that will make us good friends” – she says while raising a book she holds in her other hand.

“Yes, I think we really are going to be good friends,” I say, imagining a near future.

© Alejandro C. Hidalgo 2022-08-16