Baco
There were feathers on the floor, confetti in the air and a crowd of sweaty people trying to reach the plaza. I remember not understanding what their rush was, and (but I was) going against the current as the people bumped into me.
A gray mouse started running towards the arch of the plaza, it was the exit, I followed. No specific reason, I guess I was just tired of wandering around the city.
Then, I felt like the orange sun burning my skin, and the dust from the distant desert aching my cheeks. For a moment everything was moving in slow motion, I fell.
I heard voices, wandering around a dome. The echo seemed distant. My eyes suddenly opened, even though I didn’t have such intentions. There was a woman.
She had a long orange gown with pink feathers, probably in her mid 40s, with opal eyes and ginger hair, curled into a high bun. She had an evil smile, but gentle eyes that called for help when I woke up.
Apparently, I passed out after running and falling into the ground. The tests run by the employees from the store indicated I was dehydrated. I already knew that I hadn’t drunk anything since I woke up in the middle of the street 4 days ago.
I was in a clothes store, it was specially large, taking into account the situation of the city. The walls were bright pink and blue, the curtains a pale golden and the ceiling was primarily white. I tried not to question the wide selection of suits, and long gowns hanging from the counter.
I wasn’t weirded out by the fact that I had a medical tube connected to my arm in the middle of a store, but the man laying in a bed beside me worried me in various ways. The feeling of disgust was sudden, given that I pretty much lived on the streets where mice and cockroaches made me company in the dark, cold nights.
The man turned around, made eye contact with me, and started to convulse in the arms of a short, dark haired woman. The thin arms, and legs trembled as his torso and rib cage were exposed to the bright sun of the afternoon.
The man calmed down, as I approached the door and ran away from “Porapi”, one of the most famous stores 20 years ago, according to the pictures that hung from the wall.
I probably wasn’t thinking when I started running. The store was a cool and pleasant place to stay, the underfed man was the least of my priorities but managed to creep me out in order to leave.
The thin medical gown and bare feet weren't helping. It was August, and the afternoon was passing very quickly, the moon now seemed slightly more orange than usual.
The people were dancing around the fountain, there must have been a reason. Maybe a festival of some sort, but I had no interest in any of their actions.
The family of gray mice got out of a leafless bush, again they were running towards the arch. This time I got out of the village, it was the first sighting of poor loneliness after a couple of days of walking.
There was only one exit and entrance from Adirna, a village close to Mexico. At some point in time it was part of the American continent, but ended up separating itself from the country. I wish I knew why I’m trying to get out of the city, it’s not like I have any sense of urgency or anywhere to go.
I approached the arch that marked the only exit of the village. Since the rest of the village was surrounded by wild plants that could kill anyone that touched them. From those wild plants several small mice with long tails jumped around making weird, fun shapes. Again the noises that the little creatures made caught my attention,and I decided to follow. Someone stopped.
A man with a gray bear, long hair, tan skin, face full of freckles, small eyes, and a big nose; A man, being shorter than me, proceeded to pull me away from the mice.
“Don’t you ever touch any being that comes your way, you could literally die.” said the old man with a thin voice, while the mice hissed.
Quite literally he could die, thought the old man. “Follow me”.
I followed, still questioning the old man’s words.
What seemed like a desert from the inside, was a fever dream on the outside. The panorama had a bright orange sun, purple clouds, gray cacti,and colorful figures floating around, with no dimension or destination.
The old man kept walking, as I followed,I noticed how we approached a small village surrounded by cacti. There, the old man and a person that looked like me were talking.
We got near the lookalike beings, and the old man brought a woman with ginger and gentle eyes that said:
“Welcome to your new life, Baco” while they glitched away, with everything that I knew on what I could remember from the past 4 days, and my reality became a white blank space.
By Natalia Pérez S., Step 9 Yellow
