DISEQUILIBRIUMS. The Individuals. Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
Thursday 22 December 2016
Time: 4:00 pm
Since my father’s disappearance a year ago, it’s the first time that I’ve felt so bad. Fortunately, I’m surrounded by people and I walk unnoticed. Today, I need to feel as one of a crowd, to hide among the multitude. The city is big enough to be able to go out and not have to meet people you know at every corner, of course on streets where I assume that my acquaintances will not be present.
The incident with my mother just now has left me confused, frightened and very angry at the same time. Although I think it’s worse for her as, after she closed the door of my father’s office and forbad me from entering, I grabbed my coat, my bag, my mobile and left the house without a word. I know that it’s not the right thing to do, but what she did was awful and I have to make my protest felt in some way.
I’m already beginning to feel better. I don’t know if that’s because it’s been a while since, or if it is because I’m looking up at the famous metallic weather vane Nicola showed us.
It’s there still. It’s special. I observe the people passing under it, and no one looks up at it. The wind continues blowing from the northwest and the weather vane continues to point in the opposite direction. Gradually, I shift my gaze towards the window where Nicola lives, but I can only see the same white curtain drawn as always, without seeing anything inside. I am sure that none of the people milling around here know what we know: that the balance has been broken and therefore people are collapsing in the street; and that, according to this man, who we barely know but have come to respect, we have to travel back to the past to discover the balance that has been broken and try to re-establish it. I suppose that, if at this moment I said this to anyone passing by me, they would think I was mad and not take any notice of me.
I am at the margin of incredulity, irrationality and need to do something urgently. There are only a few more hours to the time he mentioned when we have to make the ‘jump’ and we don’t yet have the clue that he told us we needed to find, and he could not help us in this. He only told us that for the first ‘jump’, the portal only opens once a year at dawn of the winter solstice, just when the light shines directly on the intersection between Don Jaime Street and Calle Mayor.
And I am standing here, at the very same spot, right now.
It still seems mad. According to the old man, in this same place, only something totally unreal can be opened. But what else can we do? The city continues to lose its balance and the authorities do not know what to do. It’s in the news and since this morning the city is full of TV news channels from other countries and a load of journalists talking in different languages. ‘The sacred city… the capital of balance’ are the only things that come to mind.
However much I turn, I have come to a decision: we have to follow the advice Nicola had given us. So I set off to walk along Calle Mayor to the Church of La Magdalena.
My mobile is ringing. I look at the screen and I am dumbfounded when I see that it is Erik calling.
“Hello,” I answer listlessly, after it rang five times.
“We have to talk! We have to talk!” He surprises me, speaking very quickly, with a highly agitated tone of voice. I expected first an apology for his behaviour earlier. “Sofia, I need to tell you something very important.”
I hesitate for a moment because I’ve had so many emotions today. I don’t know if this is all a dream or if it is reality. I relax, but I do not stop walking to where I am going.
“I’m meeting up with David, Samuel and Elsa at the Church of La Magdalena. You can come if you wish.”
“No, no.” He replies again in an agitated voice. He calms down a little before continuing. “Everything that’s happening to us may have an explanation and I have just found out something that I have to tell you. But, I can only tell you.”
Now I don’t know what to think. The boy with whom I am going out makes a fuss, goes off in a huff when we are all together, does not call for several hours afterwards and when he does, tries to add urgency with a mystery.
“Look Erik,” I respond, a little annoyed. “I don’t know what you want to tell me, but I think you ought to come. Samuel, David, Elsa and I are continuing with this because it’s all begun to take on a greater dimension.”
“But…” Erik cuts in.
“Come,” I interrupt without letting him finish, “or make an appointment online.” I end the call.
What could he be thinking?! How could he think that he can behave so badly and pretend that nothing has happened?
The hoot of a car horn brings me back to the present. I realize that I have been walking while talking on the mobile and was about to cross the St Vincent de Paul Street without looking, with the pedestrian light on red. I almost dropped the mobile on the ground. Fortunately I caught it. If not, the car would have smashed it to pieces. What would I do without my mobile?
After crossing the street, I continue on my way and notice how narrow the street is, particularly in the last section on the left where the side wall of the church is located. It’s a very interesting area because when I pass here, I see a great mixture of cultures, people of many races and religions passing next to one of the places which, as we now know, was crucial to the design of the city.
And here it is! I am now in the Plaza de la Magdalena.
It’s the first time I have come here since we began hearing about the solstice rectangle, since Nicola told us the story. It continues to hold a mystery as always and, perhaps, even more so for me. But before looking at the plaza, I turn my head to the right. Even more carefully than ever before, I again observe the painting of what the Eastern Gate looked like years ago when it still existed, on the wall of the building. I stop. I watch the archway of the gate and behind it, you can see the entrance of the church. It is strange that, in the photos and pictures of this church, which I have seen recently, the entrance catches the sun. You can see people from previous eras walking by and…
“Oh! Goodness gracious!” It’s the only thing I can say. I can’t move. “I can’t believe it!”
A woman walking by stopped! I feel her at my side, also looking up. She must have heard me.
Standing in front of the great mural, there in the painting on the wall on the right, I see the same inscription on the ashlar at the museum and, subsequently, in the photo in my father’s briefcase.
The woman continues on her way not before looking at me and shaking her head from right to left. I don’t know what expression was painted on my face.
When I turn, I see David and Elsa sitting on one of the benches in the plaza. But something is wrong. David is pale. He looks very sad. Elsa seems to consoling him.
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Writer: Glen Lapson © 2016
English translator: Rose Cartledge
Publisher: Fundacion ECUUP
Project: Disequilibriums
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