You never saw me, long time no see. I forgot you just as you forget things that exist and then do not return, things that belong to everyone and at the same time belong to no one, a legacy of routine that ends. He was … At night, as dawn approached, I returned through La Campana in those hours when the city of palpable skies barely whispered, the timid echo of the street lights casting rays of intimate light, which flickered and swirled over the cobblestone veins as if they were donating golden blood to the darkness.
I’m back in my world, calm, chewing on some paranoia. As I headed down Serbes Street and intoxicated by the intense scent of history mixed with a mixture of perfumes from the establishments, I found you. It was nothing more than a shadow stuck on the wall, the moon’s furniture. He was still far away, so I thought about the hallucination. Not hearing your voice for so long has led me to the selfish conclusion that you have disappeared. I never thought that you might get tired of the place, or that you might want a change of scenery, or that you might simply go back to your country. I simply concluded that you had disappeared, that you had lost your way when you turned a corner of mystery, that you had evaporated like a secret that Seville wanted to keep to herself. You see, as if you were not a person. Sometimes I’m that stupid.
I was so happy to close the distance and see that you weren’t having any side effects. And then I started to suspect that I didn’t know what to do with myself. With my steps, with my body. We were alone. If I tried to practice stealth I might make you nervous, I wasn’t sure if you missed my presence. It just occurred to me to go talk to you, ask you my questions from when I was a kid, and see if you could tell me your story. But it was neither the moment nor the hour. I was afraid I would scare you, that I would alarm you, that I would make you think I was drunk and trying to make fun of you.
Moreover, I was so comfortable that disturbing you seemed like a sin to me. You walked in your chair, hunched over in silence, like a sad and sombre statue. Your torso was bent, your head was tilted, and your gaze was at the infinity that eluded me. In your lap the accordion settled as if it was about to start speaking. But you did not touch it, but simply embraced it with the affection with which those who endure us are treated. I walked past you, noticing that you didn’t even flinch, I stopped a few meters in front of you, at a safe enough distance so as not to disturb you. I waited a few minutes to see if you would move, or if you would tear something. But nothing, I was convinced that you play the same way you notice: inside. When you started walking again, you looked back and it happened: You moved your lip into a smile similar to the one in the anime. You raised your hand towards me, drawing a silent farewell.