Creative Nonfiction: A knot in front of the sea / Un nudo frente al mar (ENG/ ESP)

in The Ink Well12 days ago


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A knot in front of the sea

The first time I fell in love I was 22 years old and the boy I fell in love with lived six hours away from my city. I met him, by chance, on a trip I took with my friend Jenny, who was his cousin. We arrived at his house, a ranch where there were horses, cows, bulls and all kinds of animals. I had always doubted love at first sight, but as soon as I saw this guy I knew he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

The days I spent there were truly incredible and unforgettable. The guy went out of his way to take care of me and to entertain me:

"Do you want to ride a horse?" -He asked me on the second day of my arrival.

"I don't know how to ride a horse,” I answered apologetically.

"Better. I'll teach you,” and that's how I got on a horse for the first time, and every morning I rode with him all over the ranch.

Always, if I had to go to the bank or to the family business (they had a butcher shop), he would invite me and show me around:

"This is where the cheese is made. This is the place where the meat is chopped and kept. This is where they keep the ingredients".

Never in my life had I been so spoiled and indulged, and I have very spoiled parents. Anyway, I don't know if it was because of so much attention or because this guy was really handsome, or because in previous lives we knew each other, I fell in love that week with a complete stranger.


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Pixabay

But I had to go back to my city, to my people, to my routine, so after that week, I went back home. I remember that when I said goodbye to this boy, I did it with a kiss on each cheek and he just said to me:

"You must be very happy, Nancy!" -he said with narrowed eyes as if waiting for me to say something back, but I didn't know what to say. I was such a novice in matters of love, that I preferred to keep silent for fear that love would come out of my mouth. Then I got into the van and didn't even turn around when the car started leaving a trail of dust behind. At that time when there was no cell phone, text message or whatsApp, I had a feeling it would be the last time I would see that boy.

When I returned home, the first one to realize that something new was happening inside me was my mother:

"What do you have?" -she asked me one day.

"What do I have? Nothing,” I said, dodging her gaze. I was afraid my mother would see what I didn't see yet.

"You look strange, like you have a problem,” Mom insisted, but I managed to evade the questioning.


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Pixabay

ut even to me, my actions seemed strange. I was not the cheerful, outgoing, festive girl I always was, but a shadow that wandered around the corners looking for excuses to go to sleep early, not to talk to people and even not to eat:

"Let's go eat pizza",_ my friends would tell me.

"I'm not hungry. Thank you,” I would say, and it was true: I had lost my appetite. My stomach, as if it were full of butterflies, rarely felt empty. My chest also felt tight, with the desire to cry, with an old and unknown nostalgia, so much so that alone I asked myself in front of the mirror:

"God, but what is this I feel, why do I feel so sad?" -and my eyes, my heart that was beating strongly, shouted me the answer, but I was deaf, blind and mute like Shakira.


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Pixabay

A month after looking like a shadow of myself, Jenny invited me to the beach:

"I don't want to go",_ was my dry, blunt reply. Going to the ocean seemed like the most horrible thing I could do.

"Why not, if you love the beach,” she opened her eyes in disbelief.

"That was before. Just thinking about the salt water, the sun, the sand, makes me want to go,” I said childishly.

"Please come with us, my whole family is going and they want you to go". In the end I agreed just to not look bad with my friend.

The next day, Jenny picked me up and we went to the beach. Even though my friend was singing, I was looking out the window of the car, thinking that it would have been better to stay in my room: I wasn't sure I felt like socializing with people.

When we got to the beach, my friend asked me to help her carry some things down to an awning. I took the things and carried them to where she directed me. Just then, out of the blue, this guy came out and said to me:

"I have traveled six hours just to see you" -I turned my eyes at the sound of his voice and my heart did an Olympic somersault as I saw him standing in front of me, smiling. Suddenly as if my chest was a house, I felt all the lights turn on and a cool breeze caressed my whole body as his arms wrapped around me and we became a knot in that seascape.

All images are free of charge and the text is my own, translated in Deepl

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Thank you for reading and commenting. Until a future reading, friends

Click here to read in spanish


Un nudo frente al mar
La primera vez que me enamoré tenía 22 años y el chico del cual me enamoré vivía a seis horas de mi ciudad. Lo conocí, por casualidad, en un viaje que hice con mi amiga Jenny, quien era su prima. Llegamos a su casa, una hacienda donde había caballos, vacas, toros y todo tipo de animales. Yo que siempre había dudado en el amor a primera vista, inmediatamente que vi a este chico supe que era la persona con la que quería pasar el resto de mi vida.
Los días que pasé en aquella haciendo fueron realmente increíbles e inolvidables. El chico se desvivía por atenderme y por divertirme:
_¿Quieres montar a caballo? –me preguntó él el segundo día de mi llegada.
_No sé montar a caballo –respondí apenada.
_Mejor. Yo te enseño –y así fue cómo por primera vez me monté en un caballo y cada mañana paseaba con él por toda la hacienda.
Siempre, si tenía que ir al banco o al negocio familiar (tenían una carnicería), me invitaba y se dedicaba a mostrarme todo:
_Aquí es donde se hace el queso. Este es el lugar donde se pica y se guarda la carne. Aquí es donde guardan los ingredientes.
Nunca en mi vida había sido tan consentida y complacida, y mira que yo tengo unos padres muy consentidores. En fin, no sé si fue por tantas atenciones o porque realmente este chico era muy guapo, o porque en vidas anteriores nos conocimos, me enamoré en aquella semana de un completo desconocido.
Pero debía volver a mi ciudad, con mi gente, a mi rutina, así que transcurrida esa semana, volví a mi casa. Recuerdo que cuando me despedí de este chico, lo hice con un beso en cada mejilla y él solo me dijo:
_¡Debes estar muy contenta, Nancy! –expresó con los ojos entrecerrados como esperando que yo respondiera algo, pero yo no supe qué decirle. Era tan novata en cuestiones de amor, que preferí guardar silencio con temor a que el amor se me saliera por la boca. Entonces me monté en la camioneta y ni si quiera voltee la mirada cuando el auto arrancó dejando una estela de polvo detrás. En aquella época en la que no existía celular, mensaje de texto ni whatsApp, presentía que sería la última vez que vería a aquel chico.
Cuando volví a casa, la primera que se dio cuenta de que algo nuevo estaba ocurriendo dentro de mí, fue mi madre:
_¿Qué tienes? –me preguntó un día.
_¿Cómo qué tengo? Nada –dije esquivando su mirada. Temía que mi madre viera lo que yo aún no veía.
_Te ves extraña, como si tuvieras un problema –insistió mamá, pero yo logré evadir el interrogatorio.
Pero hasta para mí, mi actuar parecía extraño. No era la chica alegre, extrovertida, festiva de siempre, sino una sombra que vagaba por los rincones buscando excusas para dormirse temprano, no hablarle a la gente y hasta para no comer:
_Vamos a comer pizza –me decían mis amigas.
_No tengo hambre. Gracias –decía y era cierto: había perdido el apetito. El estómago, como si estuviera lleno de mariposas, pocas veces lo sentía vacío. El pecho también lo sentía apretado, con ganas de llorar, con una nostalgia vieja y desconocida, tanto así que a solas yo misma me preguntaba frente al espejo:

_Dios, pero qué es esto que siento. ¿Por qué me siento tan triste? –y mis ojos, mi corazón que latía con fuerza, me gritaban la respuesta, pero yo estaba sorda, ciega y muda como Shakira.
A un mes de parecer una sombra de mí misma, Jenny me invitó para la playa:
_No quiero ir –fue mi respuesta seca y contundente. Ir al mar me parecía la cosa más horrible que pudiera hacer.
_Cómo que no, si a ti te encanta la playa –abrió los ojos de forma incrédula.
_Eso era antes. De solo pensar en el agua salada, el sol, la arena, ya se me quitan las ganas –dije de manera infantil.
_Por favor, acompáñanos que va toda mi familia y ellos quieren que vayas. Al final acepté solo para no quedar mal con mi amiga.
Al día siguiente, Jenny pasó por mí y nos fuimos para la playa. Aunque mi amiga iba cantando, yo miraba por la ventana del vehículo, pensando que habría sido mejor quedarme en mi cuarto: no estaba segura de tener ganas de socializar con la gente.
Al llegar a la playa, mi amiga me pidió que la ayudara a bajar unas cosas y llevarlas a un toldo. Yo tomé las cosas y las llevé a donde ella me indicaba. En ese instante, así de repente, salió este chico y me dijo:
_He viajado seis horas solo para verte –Yo voltee la mirada al escuchar su voz y mi corazón dio una vuelta olímpica mortal al verlo parado frente a mí, sonriendo. De repente como si mi pecho fuera una casa, sentí que se encendían todas las luces y una fresca brisa acariciaba todo mi cuerpo cuando sus brazos me rodearon y nos convertimos en un nudo en aquel paisaje marino.

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Falling in love can turn your life upside down and make you do crazy things. This is a wonderful story of a special moment in your life. The beach is also a very romantic setting.

Yes, love has that power. Thanks for your comment, friend. Regards

Ohhh

Quite a lovely tale...

6 hours away is quite a journey even now when transportation is incredibly easier 😂😂✨

😒 6 hours is too not too much for love 😑

Yes, it was a lot of hours! That, in the end, could be one of the reasons for our breakup: the distance. Greetings and thanks for commenting

Awwww... I really do hope the love or at least a connection still exists between you both because this is such an enchanted story. One thing with us women is, while looks are attractive, a man who cares for us becomes our weakness and at the same time strength....

The story of our breakup I told at some point in creative nonfiction! But I do maintain a friendship with him, in the distance, every now and then we talk on the phone and send each other a message. First love is not forgotten and even less if the love was beautiful. Thanks for your comment and best regards

Good to know the friendship is retained 🤗

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Very happy and grateful for your appreciation. Thank you very much, friends

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