THE LOVE OF MEN

When Alegria walked into the kitchen with two bags in her hands, she found me slumped against the table, holding my head in my hands.

"Are you thinking about what you're going to feed your children?" She said laughing.

She put the bags on the counter before coming to kiss my forehead. With firm hands, she removed my head from between my hands to lift my face by the chin.

"You're too young to look so worried!" Tell me what's bothering you so heavily and I'll carry it for you," she continued softly.

"Nothing," I said weakly, avoiding her gaze.

"Nothing?" She resumed suspiciously, still trying to catch my eyes.

"Nothing," I insisted, getting up from my chair. "Do you need help?" I added, walking towards the bags on the counter.

Alegria sighed deeply, letting her body fall heavily onto one of the chairs.

"Life is hard, Borys!" She began calmly, turning to me. "It's not going to change for you or anyone. No matter what the films say, there'll never be a charming-faced saviour who's destined to come and make you happy. He or she won't come, and that's the way it is. Your happiness is your business," She took a deep breath again before continuing: "If you don't learn to know yourself and live by your own values, you'll always live like a zombie, half dead half alive. Life will teach you everything you need to know about yourself. Trust life."

Alegria's words invited me to take my seat back at the table next to her.

"How did my parents meet?" I asked Algeria shyly, staring at her.

"Have they never told you?" She asked surprised.

"No,"

"On a beach," she finally replied before continuing with a smirk: "Women aren't always men's prey. We know how to hunt too, and we also happen to be very cunning predators," she began in a calm and threatening voice, staring at me. Her eyes suddenly lit up like fire. "First, we go to the places where our prey drinks and we observe them from afar to understand how they behave. Then, we identify our ideal prey: one that we like, one our taste with the attributes that suit us. Next, we approach very slowly, making sure to wear as little as possible on ourselves to reveal as much as possible of our body without saying too much about ourselves. The feminine mystery intoxicates our prey. Then, we let the prey notice us, desire us while we pretend not to understand. We make our prey believe that he's the one that possesses us entirely and that it's him who's made the right choice, and finally we attack.... A rope around the neck, a ring around the finger, we finish off our prey!"

Alegria burst out laughing, clapping her hands. All the kitchen utensils vibrated and so did my heart. I laughed amused by her performance. As strange as it may seem, I wasn't terrified by the idea of ​​being the prey of a mysterious feminine energy, quite the opposite. The idea exalted me.

"So, isn't it true what people say about love?" I asked.