Little did she knew she was standing at the edge of the mountain. The air circulating the tiny space she was leaning on made her hair feel like a yarn of a thousands threads being pulled from a machine. No one around for miles and an echo trembling from the birds singing. She knew she wanted to be alone.
Marile planned this trip 36 months ago. As a planner and organizer she knew this was exactly the time and season to reach the mountain and be in a complete state of solitude. She never told anyone where she was headed and the reason of departure from her beloved town, family and friends. She decided to vanish and change who she was.
A Mayan man told her she was in the right place at the right time. She sighed from relief and smiled with content because she knows her life will be transformed and after all she felt it was the right moment.
She walked 4 more miles and the sun was setting in. Marile walked thirsty like instructed. She stopped in a space where there was a hill and she burned all the love letters he gave her, pictures and gifts. Finally some weight has been lifted, not only from her back but from her soul.
Then she saw it. It was better than the image she created in her head. Her great-grandmother told her that drinking just 2 glasses will erase the memories that hurt her, but not the wisdom she learned from them. Not only that, she will be 40 years younger. The only side effect not remembering people from her past.
Before drinking it she knew it was over. That life she had for 85 years it was over and it was time to go back to an age she could feel in control of herself and be the woman she always dream to be. Courageous, stronger and self-confident.
Seconds later a breeze came in, the stars set it, she drank from the fountain and light came in. She opened her eyes and there he was.
Short story by Cristina Rivera
