17. Mirrors (EDITED)
17. Mirrors
Toni stood across from the boy who had conjured the storm. A grinning tucuxi drifted about them like a pink satellite. Everywhere else was cloaked in darkness.
The Encantado asked, "Have you ever wondered if what you see in the mirror is more than just a reflection?"
Never mind his riddles. Toni had questions of his own.
"Where is my sister?"
The boy lifted his chin. "She's safe, and at the moment, none of your concern."
"If you hurt Sofi . . ." Once again, Toni didn't know why he cared.
Something flickered in the boy's expression. "You just keep looking after our Sofia. I'm not the only monster haunting this river."
"What do you want with her?" Toni was getting nowhere with this creature, yet he kept asking questions.
The Encantado shook his head. "Even if I tried to explain it to you, it wouldn't make any sense."
"So then what are you doing here?" He couldn't stop his voice from rising. "Why are you talking to me?"
The boy reached out his hand to stroke the satellite as it floated in his direction. He said, "Do you remember seeing your shadow as a child? By then you knew the logical explanation for its existence. Still, you wondered if it had feelings. Whether or not it ever got lonely."
The tucuxi swam in Toni's direction now. It brushed against his shoulder and chirped.
"Remember how much you wanted to interact with it? And how the only way you could was by waving and watching it wave back?"
Toni watched the dolphin orbit back towards the boy. Instead of going around him, it nuzzled up to him. The boy and the dolphin's foreheads connected in both reverence and joy.
Without looking at Toni, the Encantado said, "I'm here because I wanted to see if you would wave back."
~
Sofi awoke in the absence of Toni's warmth. The storm had passed. Metal clanking against metal and sizzling sounds came from the kitchen.
Sofi sat up and took in her surroundings. The space had been transformed into something that resembled a real home.
"Good morning." Toni called from the stove. His back was to her. He had taken the table from the deck and repurposed it into a kitchen island. Onions were strewn across its surface. He dialed the stove down to a simmer and turned around. With ease, he unsheathed his knife and went to work on the onions.
Sofi marveled at the room again. "Toni, do you have a magic wand that I don't know about?"
Toni snickered, but not unkindly. "There was bleach under the sink. That's all this place really needed . . . . You hungry?"
He still hadn't looked up at her yet.
Shit. I'm still in my bra.
Sofi mumbled an apology as she hunted for her shirt.
Toni kept chopping onions. "It's drying on the deck."
Sofi disappeared outside and reemerged once she was decent. She closed the sliding door behind her and breathed in the zesty aroma.
"One day you're going to make some girl very happy."
Toni paused in his work and looked up. "Some girl?" His expression was light, but the silence weighed on Sofi's nerves. She shrugged it off and made herself approach the island.
"What are you making anyway?"
"Dolphin."
Sofi rolled her eyes. "Very funny." She went to the cupboard to find some plates. Soon they were eating out on the deck, watching the Amazon swell and shimmer under a cloudless sky.
"It's like that storm never happened," Toni said. Sofi took advantage of his focus on the water and studied him. How could she ever think that he and Julio were one in the same? Toni was safe, honest. Julio was . . . well, she wasn't sure what he was yet and that's what scared her.
"I'm sorry I didn't trust you earlier." Sofi said. "I didn't know what I was thinking."
Toni looked at her, his dark curls chasing the breeze.
"I get it. You were just being cautious." He leaned over the deck and peered down at the water. Then he held out his hand and flexed his fingers.
Sofi leaned on the rail too. "What are you doing?"
Toni stared at his dancing reflection.
"I'm waving."
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