章 20: Chapter twenty

As if Luz was part of the nature of that forest; even if she stayed a whole weekend sleeping on the branch, she would not fall, despite not having a rope to hold her legs.

She never said it in a direct way to herself; but she always believed that that forest that was so scary for some, was the closest thing to the concept of home that she was taught in school.

"Shelter, protection, support and harmony."

Every time she woke up; although she could not remember her dreams exactly, she could find a clue, as long as she was in the forest and carefully observed the nature that surrounded her.

Luz needed to find the clue of the forest to try to know what her dream had been about. This may not be a matter of life and death for many, but for her it is vital to look for something interesting within herself.

She is used to people always noticing her flaws; you have to be honest, what sells the most is all the bad things you can do. It's as if people enjoy being able to care about someone other than themselves.

Phrases like: "Her sister has a swan neck, nothing to do with that double chin your older daughter is carrying around" (the aunt who gives her the extra quaker), "My god, she has legs like an elephant" (her so meticulous little classmates when she dared to wear a skirt-short in the sports championship) , "I remember when you were born you had guinea pig teeth; now they are only a little deformed and there are two very pretty little fangs but nothing more" (her mother encouraging her to love herself with all her defects) and, of course, her father "I thought you were smart but you look like your mother, they both don't think" (when Luz didn't get more than 15 in the history exam).

All her flaws have always been tied to visible things; if people could see what her inner self has to offer the world, it is compelling the need that if her exterior is flawed... her soul has no choice but to be valuable.

Her dreams give her ideas that Luz herself considers creative; therefore, that gave her the illusion of creating songs that would transmit courage to the souls of those who would hear her sing. She knew that her soul also lacked that courage that she wanted to spread so much... how can someone so far removed from the process of socialization achieve it?

Anyway she doesn't believe any of that is possible, nor can she believe that her dream is impossible. Each one chooses what to hold on to or what to be poisoned by or both like Luz.

That mental overexertion to unveil the clue that nature hides, is nothing more than an intermediate dream, he has not yet awakened. The first part of the dream is the story, then the intermediate and the one that now touches, the denouement:

The last part of a dream is the one you remember the most because it is supposed to be the one that generates the most uncertainty, the one that makes you an easy target for anxiety and makes you want so much that it transports you to an age you have no memory of.

"The age where you wished you knew everything and now you just long to evade it all."

For the second time, Luz opens her eyes but this time it's not just the forest that surrounds her; if it were, her heart wouldn't be about to burst with a crackling, trembling sound.

Her lips are kissing her well-trained pectorals. His muscular arm is around her waist and, as she looks up, she sees him: Alexis, her professional diver.

He stares into her eyes and Luz wonders if his gaze has always been so sweeping, so mischievous, or if the romance star inside her is playing a trick on her.

It seemed that time had stopped for both of them because neither of them moves, nor makes any movement or gesture of discomfort.

This makes him more afraid that there is a hidden camera out there or that all this is a joke... What else could it be?

But the laughter went out of her very quickly when she almost fell off the thick branch. Thank goodness Luz was able to grab hold of the branch and Alexis helps her up. Even though he acts so natural, the truth is that the situation is so awkward for both him and her. This time he doesn't hide it, he doesn't pretend to be indifferent because in a situation of danger, emotions are treacherous and are projected on somewhat hunched shoulders, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that someone as attentive as Luz could hear his agitated breathing since their faces were so close, as never before... but she moved away, lost her balance and now she is without a floor.

A tension is reflected in the atmosphere when a tremendous fright invades them because Luz almost falls from the tree.

Isn't Luz never supposed to fall?

Does she no longer have the good luck of nature in this forest?

Has she done something wrong and doesn't know it?

When Alexis manages to pull her up onto the thick branch, Luz tries to back away, careful this time not to fall. She moves away from him and covers her eyes with her hands, "can you put on a polo shirt", Luz demands with a serious voice; although, to tell the truth, she finds this situation very surreal and comical.

As she receives no answer, she looks through her fingers and, to make sure, she stops covering her eyes to discover that Alexis has disappeared in the blink of an eye, and none of this is an optical error of hers.

Is she dreaming about him again?

Flashbacks of when they were children come to mind. Although he often chased her with a stick, she remembers that he didn't look around for answers to his strange dreams before. No, like on weekends; almost always, her mother would go to visit her friend from school, Luz and Alexis became best friends. And if it wasn't for that, she or he would sneak off to go to the other's house to play. Once Luz fell asleep at Alexis' house and he could hear her talking in her sleep about everything that happened in her frantic childish dream. He found it so interesting, it generated so much curiosity that he began to record her talking in her sleep. All without her realizing it, or so he thought.

Luz knew it, she always knew it; but it felt so good to have someone alive take an interest in her, that she never told him. Maybe that's why she is so obsessed with the subject of imagination.

"Alexis is always to blame for everything."

She closes her eyes again to concentrate and put her senses on alert. This she always did; if looking around she didn't find any clue about her dream, and now even more so because Alexis didn't have any of "that" that made her dreams special, according to her of course.

Whatever caught her attention: features as delicate as porcelain (vision), a sound that shakes her sanity (hearing), if she touches something invisible to others (touch), if she inhales the perfume of a Greek god (smell) or if she tastes the honey of bees... maybe her dreams are bathed in something similar or equal to honey and, for that reason, the bees have already stung her on the tip of her nose.

Suddenly, he smells and hears something so different than usual.

"That can't be it, I know he smells like sour milk with sugar. I know that his heart sounds like the sound of a train that keeps smoking the sky... maybe that's the reason why he's only with me in the darkness of my closed eyes, when I dream like the protagonist of a paranormal romance".