FEET ON THE GROUND

Alegria, as I had chosen to call my grandmother, invited me to sit next to her. She gently dragged my body to her side before taking off my shoes and my socks to place them carefully next to a pair of ragged sandals. Then, she took me in her arms to carry me down the stairs before putting me on the ground on the wet grass as if to plant me like a tree. My toes naturally dug into the earth like roots. The cool softness of nature at my feet instantly soothed me. Alegria took my hand and led me to the back of the house where a brown horse was basking in the sun, its tail sweeping the air cheerfully as it chewed the grass at its feet. I marvelled at the animal that shone in the early morning light like a new penny.

"Do you know what it is?" Alegria asked, pointing at the horse.

"It's a horse!" I proudly replied in Polish, happy to at least know the answer to that question.

Alegria smiled tenderly before telling me kindly: 

"Yeah, that must be correct, except that here we say: horse," she said in Spanish, raising one finger in the air. She emphasised each syllable with her lips.

She walked towards the stallion and began to stroke it gently, encouraging me with a simple smile to do the same. Just the thought brought a grin to my face. I made a few steps timidly, but surely towards the animal, my hand outstretched, my heart panting. After a few minutes, Alegria broke the silence again to ask me with excitement:

"Do you want to ride it?"

My eyes widened as my grin spread across my face from ear to ear. I nodded vigorously. Alegria then turned to shout:

"Pedro! I want to ride Pura Sangre!"

Her voice was so loud that I jumped in terror.