Greetings, fellow writers.
"Insurmountable limit" is the resolution I found for the phrase "this time they went too far ..."
With this exercise I want to participate in the call for The writing contest of @theinkwell
I appreciate your kind reading
Insurmountable limit
Shaira was only six years old when she first looked at Darwin. Before, he had witnessed the care with which his mother washed and fixed the boy's clothes. Sometimes she managed to outwit her mother's zeal for clothes and touched the wardrobe, attracted by the design, the colors and the ornaments it had. He liked to caress the fabrics, closing his beautiful and bright eyes. With an innate wisdom he let his skin be captivated by the softness, guess the folds, explore the textures. He did the same with the only toys he owned, the flowers that grew on the path between his mother's humble hut and the mansion where the woman served as a slave.
The day she met him, it was the summer of 1669, he was wearing a garment that she had felt. They were both the same age. She was a beautiful babe, granddaughter of the first generation of African slaves, she had huge black eyes and a clear propensity for playfulness. He was a beautiful boy with soft golden curls and blue eyes, the last four children of a family of English descent who owned cotton plantations.
Shaira was in the backyard of the beautiful house, she had made a little pile of dry branches and on it she arranged the flowers that she managed to pick up on the way while she followed her mother's hurried pace. Once at the mansion, he only had to wait for his mother to appear to deliver him some food or announce that they would return home. Voices were coming from inside the house, speaking in words that Shaira did not know.
Darwin appeared next to her, sat next to her on the last seat of the staircase that led to the patio and stared at Shaira for a long time, the girl looked up, looked at her clothes and lowered her eyes again. So she remained until Darwin asked something that she did not understand, so she remained silent.
From that time on, Shaira and Darwin eventually saw each other ... She knew his name, but he did not know hers...
Some years later Darwin saw mother and daughter arrive, after a while he looked out into the courtyard, looked at the girl sitting in a corner of the wooden fence that separated the house from the rest of the property. Without thinking he went there and asked his name. Shaira answered and he simply asked her if she wanted to be friends with him. She nodded her head. They were in their eight years, but they knew the code of relationships between people of different strata.
On the loose earth of the patio Darwin drew the nearby river, with that reference he located the house, the cotton plantations, the main road and some small paths, a large oak, the lagoon ... On the loose earth the boy created a secret language ... She watched him draw; at some point she placed her home location. It was a silent agreement, they knew they couldn't be friends, but they were going to try.
Since then they have secretly met, according to the signs that they marked in the courtyard. They were secret and happy encounters, for years they climbed trees, swam in the river, looked at each other in the mirror of the lagoon ... they talked, like children, about simple things, at the same time important. They talked about the calls of the birds or the color of the sky when it welcomes the birds after winter.
In those moments they also spoke of the meaning of the different color of their eyes.
Darwin began to tell Shaira that a thousand birds could live in his eyes; to which she replied that Darwin's were the open sky.
They took advantage of the spaces between Shaira's mother's long working hours. The condition of the youngest son of Darwin, somehow freed him from the fixed occupations that his other brothers did have.
They were very good friends and they learned to know each other without the need for words. Both acquired a reputation as loners in the eyes of their respective families.
As adolescence began, the situation began to get complicated. First was Chaira's dizzying growth and the transformation of the innocent beauty of childhood into a powerful force of attraction for her figure. Her relatives made her a center for fertility rituals, so her steps, previously anonymous, began to be followed by the gazes of the town.
The blossoming of her friend produced in Darwin a certain feeling of sadness and unspeakable anguish. Little by little, Shaira stopped accompanying her mother to the mansion. Little by little the language of secret codes became obsolete.
One afternoon, Shaira found, in front of the door of his house, an invitation from Darwin to meet at the lagoon. She thought she missed him, also that she would have time to go and return before sunset.
When she arrived, she saw him sitting on some stones in a pensive attitude. She threw a pebble at him and he turned. His gaze lit up in such a way that the young woman laughed, they both ran and embraced. They were sitting under an oak tree when they felt a presence.
As they were separated in opposite directions, Darwin, aware that they had crossed an insurmountable limit, only managed to shout at him "There is room for a thousand birds in your eyes." She understood that the open sky, Darwin's eyes, was making her a promise of love.
Límite insalvable
El día que lo conoció, era el verano del año 1669, él vestía una prenda que ella había palpado. Ambos tenían la misma edad. Ella era una hermosa nena, nieta de la primera generación de esclavos africanos, tenía inmensos ojos negros y una clara propensión a la alegría. Él era un precioso niño de suaves rizos dorados y ojos azules, último los cuatro hijos de una familia de ascendencia inglesa propietaria de plantaciones de algodón.
Shaira estaba en el patio trasero de la hermosa casa, había hecho un montoncito de ramas secas y sobre el acomodaba las flores que logró recoger en el camino mientras seguía el paso apresurado de su madre. Una vez en la mansión solo debía esperar a que su madre apareciera para entregarle algún alimento o anunciarle que regresarían a casa. De adentro de la casa salían voces que hablaban con palabras que Shaira no conocía.
Darwin apareció a su lado, se sentó a su lado en el último escaño de la escalera que llevaba al patio y se quedó mirando a Shaira largo rato, la niña levantó la vista, miró su ropa y volvió a bajar los ojos. Así permaneció hasta que Darwin preguntó algo que ella no entendió, de manera que permaneció callada.
Desde esa ocasión Shaira y Darwin se veían eventualmente… Ella conocía su nombre, pero él no el de ella…
Algunos años después Darwin vio llegar a madre e hija, al rato se asomó al patio, miró sentada a la niña en una esquina de la cerca de madera que separaba la casa del resto de la propiedad. Sin pensarlo se dirigió hasta allá y le preguntó su nombre. Shaira respondió y el sencillamente le preguntó si quería ser su amiga. Ella asintió con la cabeza. Estaban en sus ocho años, pero conocían el código de relaciones entre las personas de diferente estrato.
Sobre la tierra suelta del patio Darwin dibujó el río cercano, con esa referencia ubicó la casa, las plantaciones de algodón, el camino principal y algunas pequeñas veredas, un gran roble, la laguna… Sobre la tierra suelta el niño fue creando para Shaira un lenguaje secreto… Ella lo miraba dibujar; en algún punto ella colocó el lugar de su casa. Fue un acuerdo silencioso, sabían que no podían ser amigos, pero iban a intentarlo.
Desde entonces se juntaron a escondidas, según las señas que marcaban en el patio. Fueron encuentros secretos y felices, por años treparon árboles, nadaron en el río, se miraban en el espejo de la laguna… conversaban, como niños, de cosas sencillas, e importantes a la vez, como los llamados de los pájaros o el color del cielo cuando recibe a las aves de regreso después del invierno.
En esos momentos hablaban también del significado del diferente color de sus ojos.
Darwin comenzó a decirle a Shaira que en sus ojos podrían vivir mil pájaros; a lo que ella respondía que los de Darwin eran el cielo abierto.
Aprovechaban los espacios entre las largas horas de trabajo de la madre de Shaira y la condición de hijo menor de Darwin, que de alguna manera lo liberó de las ocupaciones fijas que sí tenían sus otros hermanos.
Fueron muy buenos amigos y aprendieron a conocerse sin necesidad de las palabras. Ambos adquirieron fama de solitarios ante los ojos de sus respectivas familias.
Comenzada la adolescencia la situación comenzó a complicarse. Primero fue el crecimiento vertiginoso de Shaira y la transformación de la belleza inocente de la infancia en poderosa fuerza de atracción por su figura. Sus familiares la hicieron centro de ritualidades de fertilidad con lo que sus pasos, antes anónimos, comenzaron a ser seguidos por las miradas del poblado.
El florecimiento de su amiga produjo en Darwin cierto sentimiento de tristeza y una indecible angustia. Poco a poco Shaira dejo de acompañar a su madre a la mansión. Poco a poco el lenguaje de códigos secretos fue entrando en desuso.
Una tarde Shaira encontró, frente a la puerta de su casa, una invitación de Darwin para encontrarse en la laguna. Pensó que lo extrañaba y que tendría tiempo de ir y regresar antes del atardecer.
Al llegar lo vio sentado sobre unas piedras en actitud pensativa. Ella le lanzó una piedrecilla y el volteó. Su mirada se iluminó de tal manera que la joven lanzó una carcajada, ambos corrieron y se abrazaron. Estaban sentándose bajo un roble cuando sintieron una presencia.
Mientras los separaban en direcciones opuestas Darwin, consciente de que habían cruzado un límite insalvable, solo atinó a gritarle “En tus ojos caben mil pájaros”. Ella entendió que el cielo abierto, los ojos de Darwin, le estaba haciendo una promesa de amor.
#Thankforreading
@gracielaacevedo
