Do you know that moment in life where everything is going well, but out of nowhere the stars align perfectly to laugh at you? One night was enough to change my whole life. It was a warm night, dry as a desert. It has been more than a week since a single drop has fallen in this city. The streets were empty, even the most popular bars on the block were either empty or closed. My steps were weak, my legs trembled, and my vision was cloudy. He had just left a party held at a school colleague's house. He was a second-year high school student full of stereotypes of a student in that course. Parties, pure passivity... All this also made me stop going to class. Yes, even though I was technically enrolled in that course, I did not set foot on the floor of the institute from the first day of class.
Due to my condition, I tripped over a small pothole that was on the road, causing me to fall to the ground due to the poor balance I had at that time.
- You bastard! I exclaimed, thinking that the stone had really been a trip by someone.
Slowly and with a few extra falls, I got up from the ground and approached the stone, spitting on it and insulting it with all possible resentment:
- What problem do you have, mm? Tell me, why did you throw me?
At that moment it seemed completely logical to me to start arguing with a stone, but after thinking about it with the little brain I had, I reacted and shut up instantly.
I turned around and continued on my way. I put my hands in my pocket and looked down at the floor, never looking straight ahead. I started cursing everyone, both my friends and my family. The few people who passed by looked at me strangely and afraid of what I could do, but, even though I was full of alcohol, it is true that I would not dare to hurt anyone who had not done anything to me first.
The road seemed relatively short to me even though I lived half an hour from the house where the party was held. My friends, spoiled rich people, lived in the center of the city, I, for my part, lived a little on the outskirts of the city.
I got home and leaned on the door with one hand, bringing my head closer until it was stuck on the door as well.
It was that moment where I rested my head that I could hear what seemed to be an argument. They were already back.
I opened the door and closed it behind me. It was when I entered the house that I could notice how the drunkenness seemed to disappear almost instantly, but it was clear that it was still there.
"You're always doing the same thing!" My mother exclaimed from the kitchen.
"Me?" Always the same? Come on, don't with me, you're the one who brings a man home every time I'm not there.
"That's a lie and you know it!"
It was the same discussion as every week, which seemed to have become a daily topic to argue about.
I stood in the doorway, static, as if my mere presence was enough to break the cycle of screaming. It wasn't. They both turned towards me, and I immediately felt like the ball in a game that was lost from the start. They both looked at me with angry eyes full of things to spit out of those mouths.
"Oh, look who's coming this way, your son's drunk," my mother said.
"My son?" Our son, you will say," my father replied, stung by what my mother had said.
My eyes were narrowed, I was trying to stay on my feet, just like I was trying to keep quiet.
"I don't understand how this relationship still works," my father blurted out in a voice sharp as a dagger.
My mother opened her eyes and gave my father a hard push.
"This doesn't work because of your stupidity!" - My mother snapped.
Everything was confusing to me right now. Even if I had a slight idea of what was going on, I had no idea why it was this time, Dad mentioned something about "Your little friends" but I'm not sure, did he really mean it or did I make it up? Pf, I'm very bad...
The two continued to argue, each time raising their voices. My head began to pump scandalously. The screams came through my hatred like sticks to pull out the match that went through my eardrums.
"Shut up once and for all..." I muttered. I thought they wouldn't be able to hear him, but I noticed it as soon as the screaming suddenly stopped.
- What did you say, brat? My father asked, angry.
"I said shut up once and for all." Stop arguing, this is not going to come to anything.
My father looked at me for a second, then came up to me and slapped me, leaving my face red as a tomato.
- Don't mess around, you fucking drunk! My father shouted angrily.
My eyes were still half-closed but this time with a tear or two coming out of my eyes. Even so, my expression did not change, it was still serious and cold, without feeling. I slowly rejoined, pretending that his blow didn't affect me at all.
- Don't go where they don't call you, stupid. Get out of here! He gave me a push that propelled me to the back wall. I stamped my back to her. My tears welled up in my eyes and some of them jumped into the air when they hit the wall.
I didn't want to do anything else in this conversation, I didn't have anything to do either. Slowly I began to walk to my room while the screams that seemed to be background sounds in romance movies invaded the quiet atmosphere that a house should have.
I went into my room and closed the door harder than I thought, but since they were arguing they probably didn't notice the noise. My room was messy and dirty.
"I should clean up..." I murmured, "But I don't feel like it now," I added.
I looked at my small, narrow desk where my phone was located. I had forgotten to take it before going to party, I thought I had lost it on the street...
On the way to the table I stepped on a small stuffed animal from my favorite series. It was in perfect condition, but it was wrapped in a large amount of dust. I looked at the shelf it was on. He had fallen. I left it on it again, but not before blowing hard to get rid of a little of the layer of dust that the doll contained.
I took my mobile phone from the table and lay down on the bed, which was completely discarded.
When I turned on the screen, a blinding light made my pupils turn like a cat's in broad daylight. I put the screen away for a few seconds while I cleared my eyes, then I unlocked it and began to observe the unread messages I had.
Sonia, the girl to whom I proposed by message because I didn't usually see her much in person, rejected me.
- That's great... another one for the bill..." I murmured as I read the entire message he had left me.
"You're a splendid boy, Zaydir, but I'm afraid you're not the guy I'm looking for right now. I really appreciate that you told me and I feel bad having to write this to you. I only ask that we do not get along just because of this, please. Let's talk when you can, in person."
It was funny, all the girls had the same way of rejecting, first they make it clear that you are wonderful, but then they tell you that you are not their type. Come on, you peel it.
For a moment I thought about answering it, but in the end I decided to leave it in sight. One thing I regret about myself is the ability I have to ignore a person just because they are not embarrassed. Whenever a girl rejected me, I stopped talking to her the next day for life.
I turned off my phone and threw it on the floor carpet to make sure it didn't break. Suddenly an immense need for sleep dominated my body. The screams still did not stop, in fact, they became much more intense and unbearable. Slowly I began to fall asleep, as if I were falling into a deep lethargy from which I might not wake up.
It didn't take long for me to fall asleep soundly on top of my discarded bed, without covering myself or positioning myself in a comfortable way. My breathing calmed down in a way I'd never witnessed before, it felt like I was on my way to an angelic place. I began to feel my soul leave my body for an instant, making me feel as light as a feather. How could I possibly be sleeping so comfortably in such a tense situation as the argument between your parents?
***
Slowly I began to open my eyes. I couldn't focus my eyes the way I would like, so I rubbed my eyes hard, removing the rheum that prevented me from opening my eye properly in the process. My eyes were beginning to focus. I looked both ways, both left and right.
"How big..." I murmured when I saw the room. Would my parents have picked her up for me? I don't think so...
I moved a little, noticing in the process an intense pain in my back. Quickly due to the calamity I lay down suddenly and began to squirm. It was there that I saw how the bed seemed to be different. With the help of my two arms I leaned on the bed and got up to observe her. It was a straw bed with a body made of stone, as if we were in the middle of medieval times.
My gaze went everywhere, analyzing every detail of the room, making something clear after a few seconds. This was not my room.
With a little desperation of the body I got out of bed and left the room. The house I was in contained a long hallway, decorated with wooden tables and vases with strange flowers that I had never seen in my life. These flowers were blue with the shape of a heart which radiated a most curious brightness. I could see how there were some railings, these made of stone, which made me understand from the perspective I had that they were stairs that led to the floor below. The house, built of stone and making me feel strange and disoriented, had a refined appearance but gave the feeling of being in the middle of some kind of wasteland, that is, in a place for peasants.
I went down the stairs very carefully, alert that someone might be under this same floor waiting for me. Step by step my heartbeat began to accelerate, as if a murderer was waiting with a knife wanting to kill his next victim.
I only had two steps to go to the ground floor, which allowed me to observe the whole of it.
There was no one there.
Everything was composed of wood and a little stone, no marble or overly refined materials.
I went around the house feeling the strangest, it seemed that I was loitering around to steal anything.
A few steps from the stairs was the dining room, which was attached to the kitchen.
It was a cozy place, with a small fireplace that gave the feeling of being the best of the cold and dark nights that dominated the place.
My gaze was fixed on the table. On top of it, a plant, empty, with nothing. It was placed in such a way that it seemed like it was prepared for someone. for me? No, I don't think that was the case. Did the owners of this house know me? Everything was too strange... My head was beginning to spin, probably from yesterday's drunkenness.
Suddenly, the light coming in through the small window next to the door was eclipsed, creating a shadow in the shape of a person, in turn, hearing a voice coming from it.
My body was begging me to hide so I wouldn't get caught digging around here, but my mind was telling me to just sit still like a statue and pray that I wouldn't be beheaded when they saw me here.
The front door opened, revealing two figures, one taller than the other. The sun that came in with the door and the shadow that it made in the house contrasted in such a way that the figures were nothing more than luminous silhouettes. They looked like gods.
When my eyes cleared a little, thanks to the help of my two hands, I was finally able to distinguish the two people. They were a normal man and woman, with nothing strange. They seemed not to be surprised by my presence at all.
— Vyka tula, luraa endorën. Said that voice of the man. This one was hoarse, as if her mouth was dry. Of course I didn't understand anything he said.
I shook my head hoping that his words had become tangled by the hangover on me.
The woman slowly approached me with a smile from side to side of her lips.
She was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and a most attractive body structure.
He put his hands and shoulders on me and with a sweet and hopeful smile he said:
— Luraa vareshen, emlirën vareshen tula. Luraren endorën, naé tula lurarën," said that woman. Indeed, I wasn't crazy, they just didn't speak the same language as me.
In order not to look like a complete idiot, I tried to understand what they were trying to say at that moment thanks to their facial movements and gestures. The woman seemed to be happy and excited to see that I am here, or perhaps she was asking me to please get out of that house as soon as possible.
I gave a thumbs up and nodded my head, guided more by the first proposal. I smiled a friendly but very forced smile. I think it showed.
"Emlirën vareshen?" The man asked, feeling worried about this uncomfortable moment we were experiencing. How did you know it was a question? Easy, because of the emphasis at the end of the sentence. Perhaps that was the only thing I was understanding of the moment.
"I don't understand what you're telling me," I said with a tired tone, but with a certain nervousness.
The two people were petrified to hear me speak. Surely it was because of my beautiful voice, or maybe because they had never heard my language...
The two stared at each other for a few seconds. The woman pulled her hands away from my shoulders and approached the man, grabbing his arm tightly. I was terrified, but why?
"Emlirën demonën?" The man asked, frightened but determined to act on me if necessary.
I don't think they had understood that he didn't speak the language of the place where he was, but judging by the way he said "demonën" I'll assume that he means something like "demon." If so, I shook my head, denying that it had anything to do with demons.
That word gave me food for thought. I wasn't 100 percent sure that was the meaning of that word, but if it was, it meant that I was somewhere other than my city, or even my world.
Daemons? Just thinking about it made my hair stand on end. Were they as ugly as the Christians portrayed them?
As I felt the two of them staring at me with a calmer look, I relaxed.
"I can't understand you," I said, moving my hands and fingers in the form of signs to be able to communicate with them.
It didn't help.
The man opened his eyes wide, as if he had grasped the meaning of my signs, but nothing could be further from the truth. His face, which made me understand that he had understood, changed a few seconds after thinking of some answer.
Suddenly, an idea that could solve this communication problem, for now, came to my head. This house looked like it housed at least one dictionary with the meaning of each word. Of course, just thinking about the fact that I had to look for each verb and its conjugation gave me a headache.
With immense clumsiness, I made some gestures again, this time referring to a book.
"Do you have a dictionary?" I asked. I was already fully aware that they were not responding to me, but I felt strange if I did not mention the object I wanted to express while making the gestures.
"Verisa," the woman said.
The man shook his head and replied:
"Verisarën," she counterargued.
I realized that both words were related to each other, one of them having an umlaut and some additions.
I had nothing to lose, so I nodded my head to try my luck and see if it really had anything to do with what I was describing with gestures. But, now that I thought about it... Wasn't there ink and paper to write on? That way it would be easier for me to communicate with them, even though my drawings would not be the most accurate.
The man quickly climbed the stairs he had come down a while ago, and after a few minutes, he came down with a book. He came up to me and offered it to me.
"Naé jora verisal. "I said.
Without a doubt, this was starting to generate a bigger headache than the hangover had already generated in me.
Indeed, that was what he was looking for. It was a dusty, old book that gave the impression of containing something mystical. I blew with all my might, causing the dust particles to disperse through the air of the place, generating a small sneeze in the woman.
"I'm sorry..." I murmured, making a gesture of forgiveness by clasping both hands.
The woman smiled.
— Naé lurën. — The woman said,
Apparently, he understood my gesture of apology.
I looked at the cover of the book with intrigue. It was the first time in 17 years that I had been interested in the content of a book.
On the cover he had written what sounded like a phrase: "Vareshen elfirën". I didn't know what it could refer to, but I prayed that it would be a dictionary.
I opened the book carefully, generating that, just like when I blew, a lot of dust came out of the pages, this time flooding my nostrils completely, generating a big sneeze.