Vagabond Multilingual Journal Spring 2013 | Page 21

Ludic It was four months since I saw her, and it wasn’t easy to see her. The doors opened between us and I start kissing her all over. I grabbed her face, her ears; I pulled her close to me and gently, yet thirstily, I bit her lips. Gradually, sobbing, we were loosing ourselves in the long awaited affection. A man in uniform rushed us, while others admired the warmth with which we contemplated each other. Our foreheads were close to one another; our hands were caressing our faces. What a devotion for each other! We picked up the few belongings I had and went towards the exit. Life out there was something else; the midday sun was shining with justice, with enchantress divinity. I noticed that Ariel felt a tug on her right hand when the guard roughly pulled back the collar of my shirt. My things were scattered on the floor and she clawed the man with hatred and passion. “Leave him, leave him!” she shouted. The man neither understood nor cared. I, what could I do...? Run? Where? Hit the man? The poor guy was doing his job, what blame did he have for the rules. Finally, the siren rang, the game was over and we went home. I told Ariel we had to leave quick, we could not play this way, because if we did we would always be caught. We need to be bolder and follow the rules of the game in a more practical way. She feigned a grin and went ahead making a funny tictoc with her shoes. She did not like what I had told her; that was certain. What I was sure of was that the next day we would have to play the same adult game once again. The good thing was that the siren always saved us when we were wrong; the bad… mermaids do not exist. by Juan E. Miranda 21