FEET UP IN THE AIR

Suddenly, a man in his sixties with a brown wrinkled face came out of nowhere carrying a saddle. He smelt a strong odour of tobacco.

"Hey, it's little Borys!" The man said cheerfully, walking towards us with determined steps.

"He's still in shock from the separation. We'll take it easy with him," Alegria cut in as if to calm her friend's enthusiasm.

"I want to show him the property, staying outside in the morning fresh air will do him good," she added, grabbing the saddle and placing it on Pura Sangre's back before mounting the horse; her agility was outstanding.

"Well, Borys is off for a short ride with grandma," Pedro exclaimed, lifting me off the ground like a flower. He landed me on the animal in front of Alegria. 

She helped me place my legs correctly. Suspended a metre and a few centimetres from the ground, my feet dangling in the air, tickled by the coolness of the wind and the coat of the horse, I felt happy. She pulled me against her with a firm hand while she grabbed the reins of the other and gently kicked the stallion. Beneath my small boy's body, I could feel the strength of the horse that she controlled. This made me strong too. Entertained by the pointy ears and the rough mane of the animal, I forgot to appreciate the landscape in front of me until when she exclaimed:

"Can you see that, Borys?"

When I lifted my gaze, everything was green, dense, and bright. The reddish-brown earth shone in the sun like a silk carpet. In the distance, huge mountains seemed to ask our permit to pass. Alegria leaned against me from the side to see my reaction. I looked ecstatic. Then, she leaned closer, pressing me very hard against her to whisper in my ear:

"It's your home now."

She blew a warm kiss on my cheek before straightening up to kick the horse hard in the ribs. Pura Sangre immediately began to gallop, dragging her and me into its mad dash. The power of the animal's muscles beneath me, and the protective warmth of my grandmother behind me, made me even more invincible than the mountains in front of us. Tears of joy, which also carried my sorrow, streamed down my smiling face.

The next day, I woke up in shock in a bedroom that wasn't mine. The moist heat of the air clung to my skin strangely, which gave me a headache instantly. I stood for a while staring around me. This wasn't a child's bedroom. Because of my sudden arrival, Alegria hadn't had time to prepare her guest room for me. Everything was big and sober, with no toys nor distractions.

I remember when I woke up that morning, I had only a vague recollection of what had happened the day before. Despite the foreign environment around me, my brain seemed to want to omit the fact that I was no longer at my parents'. Suddenly, I heard a female voice speaking in Spanish.

"Mummy," I called out, jumping out of bed.

The coolness and softness of the tiles on my bare feet immediately awakened all my senses. I realised that I was just wearing my pants, the humidity of the heat all around covering me like a blanket. I gently pushed open the bedroom door, which had been left ajar. I arrived in a long corridor which I followed to the living room, guided by the murmuring sound of a radio. Placed on a large table, the radio was playing softly while big wooden furniture gathered in what seemed to be some kind of dinner party. They were adorned with immaculate white embroidery, coloured tablecloths, and few porcelains of various sizes and shapes. People in the black and white photos on the walls were staring at me as if wondering why I was sneaking around in their house, half naked. At the same moment, I realised that my bladder was full. So, I turned back down the corridor to go to the toilet, which I remembered coming across on my way.

Then, I headed back to the living room and the entrance of the house. All the doors and windows were wide open. As I passed by the kitchen, the familiar bitter smell of coffee tickled my nostrils. I also smelt the sweet fragrance of cake that had just come out of the oven. I heard the female voice again speaking in Spanish in between bursts of laughter. Soon a man's voice answered in Spanish too. With disappointment, I was forced to acknowledge the fact that my adventure the day before wasn't a bad dream. I had been cast far away from my family. The realisation hit me like a dagger. As I walked slowly towards the front door where the voices were getting louder and louder, I wondered about the attitude to adopt with my hosts. Their mannerisms and appearance frightened me. Unfortunately, having nowhere else to go, I had to get used to them whether I liked it or not.

When I stepped outside to the light of daybreak, standing on the balcony of my grandmother's house, I saw Alegria and Pedro cutting weeds. They were leaning forward in a posture that seemed very uncomfortable; their bodies were swaying to the rhythm of their machetes while nature around them was bustling noisily.

"Hello sweetie," Alegria said right away, straightening up when she saw me approaching. She planted her wrists on her hips as she gazed at me with a smiling face, glistening with sweat.

Pedro also greeted me with a grin. I walked down the stairs unhurriedly, still stunned by the damp heat around me. I stopped dead in my tracks without saying a word, staring around in both fear and wonder. I didn't feel neither hungry nor thirsty, I just wanted to see my parents. How could I possibly tell Alegria and Pedro without hurting their hospitality or risking rejection? I knew the language of the country, but I knew nothing of its landscape. How could I survive on my own?

Noticing the fact that I didn't intend to talk, Alegria and Pedro went back to their chore, disturbing the sounds of nature in the early morning with a few anecdotes punctuated with bursts of laughter. After long minutes standing there still, not knowing how to make them understand that I wanted to go home, I decided to make myself useful instead. So very slowly, I started to move in their direction. They seemed to ignore me, completely engrossed in their labour. I mimicked their posture and leaned down to grab a pile of weeds they had just pulled out. I took a good handful and threw them in the large bin liner placed on the ground for this purpose.

"Hey! Little Borys is helping out," Pedro exclaimed, straightening up to look at me proudly.

So, he headed towards the house to grab a straw hat hanging at the foot of the balcony, then he came to put it delicately on my head like a crown. My face was swallowed up by the hat. I held it immediately with my fingers to free my sight. Alegria burst out laughing, dropping her machete on the ground to clap with joy. Her spontaneity invited me to let out a smile. Pedro chuckled, carried along by Alegria's contagious cheerfulness.

"We keep working a bit more, then we're going to have something to eat, okay Borys?!" She said after a few seconds. As if she didn't expect me to reply, she leaned back down to pick up her machete. My silence didn't seem to bother or worry her the least. She knew that I would eventually speak when both my heart and my lips agreed to feel like it.