POV AKIRA SELENA "Sel, sometimes Richard is explosive, but deep down he's a good person" Lilian not only puts cloths over my lips that were swollen from Richard's slap, but softens her brother's attitudes. "Sometimes? Because it's the first time I've seen him like that, and the impression I get is that he's been hiding under dry leaves all this time and then biting me like a snake." Having nothing new to argue in Richard's favor, Lilian cranes her head with a pitying expression that I hate them to have of me. "Don't worry Lilian, if I survived a fall from the cliff as a child, it won't be a slap to bring me down" I remove the cloth wet with warm water from her hand, so that I can be the one to improve my bruise. " Did you fall? And how can you not have a scratch? A broken leg or arm?" She is not very convinced. "Because my mother asked the guardians to give me my life back. Then I would serve their purposes." And who knows, maybe because I didn't, my life is doomed to ruin at
POV RICHARD Before dinner "Lilian, what happened?" I watched her walk out of Akira Selena's booth with an embarrassed expression. Very few things make my fake little sister nervous, and most of them are related to her stupid desire to perform a good wedding. Would this be yet another confirmation of Selena's inappropriate behaviors? If it is, I'd like to know, and as it turns out, I don't need to go meet Lilian to find out, she came towards me herself like a bull ready to hit me. "How did you have the nerve to bring a dishonorable woman to share the same roof with me? You know what will happen in London when everyone finds out about her reputation, don't you?" She's very upset, and it's amazing how un-united women are when their interests come into conflict. "There are many important things at stake, and her reputation is one of the least of our problems, Lilian" Not even my sister she is, and from what I remember, my father would marry her to the first man who was most con
POV RICHARDI was the first to arrive, followed by my father who was surprised by the set table and stared at me with a sarcastic smile of one who would enjoy dinner as well."Will we be celebrating a special date today?" he pretends to be confused and sits down at the table " I hope this is not a waste of yours, we are on the high seas and if the winds are not favorable it will take us a while to arrive. Reservations should last" He places the napkin in his lap and signals the maid to come forward and pour a wine for him." This is the first dinner Akira Selena has been with us, I thought it should be big. Just tonight..." I make eyes at him like a little boy begging for another pawn or a wooden cart he saw in a store window one Christmas time."I know exactly what you're getting at. I don't know from whom you inherited such a sadistic temper" He drinks a little from his cup."You tell me, that you left my mother dying alone after childbirth to go after a child of an unrequited love
POV ALFRED"Selenaaaaaa!" I scream desperately."Calm down, Alfred, it was just a dream" Tereza wakes up on my side a little startled and still caresses my hair and kisses me gently.While for me, there remains the embarrassment that I have shouted another woman's name when the two of us are naked and lying on the bed in her house."It was just a bad dream, Alfred" She reassures me, but only I know how I feel."No. It was real, I saw her falling from a place and asking for my help. I shouldn't be here, I have a mission to accomplish, I hope you understand" I move away from her body and go looking for something to wear."Alfred, I understand and I promised to help you. What happened here was just a moment of leisure. It won't happen again unless we want to relax" She replies and I am reassured that she sees things as we do in Skyfall."Thank you, Teresa, really" I thank her sincerely for her understanding."The diamonds are enough for me" She winks at me and it's nice to know that she
POV ALFRED"Don't take Sara's words so literally. Gypsies are a superstitious people" Teresa speaks as we arrive at her house.I observe her gesture of leaving her fan and shawl at the entrance, then do the same with her hat."She is identical to the women of my people who read our fortunes and warn us of the dangers of our choices" I note, it is only that I don't call her old mother because she is young for that "Besides, there were too many details. Almost no one knows the name of the real mother's mother Akira Selena. That is a forbidden subject in Skyfall so she wouldn't find out the truth. I only told it to you and there is no way she could have heard it, both of us being in a carriage on the way here" I defend Sara, because that is what my intuition commands me to do."You're right! I am being drastic and denying the obvious. I don't want you to create expectations that will then give you more grief, Alfred. You've been through so much already..." She laments."But I am resilien
POV RICHARD A sailor heard my ordeals, as did my father, Lilian, the captain, and the rest of the people on board. A boat was tied up with a rope and being suspended outside the ship, the bravest man among all, or, perhaps, unaffected by panic, ventured into the tiny craft and climbed down as two of his companions wielded the rope in parallel. As the boat sat in the sea, the boy jumped into the water and dove, tearing through the waves. My terrified eyes didn't shy away from the mission for a second, and frankly I trembled inside with all the regret in the world. It is one thing to want to scare Akira Selena, to hold her hostage to my madness and obsession to have her all to myself. It is another to carry the guilt of her death. She went from being a simple savage that it was my duty to seduce, to being the center of my life. If I were to treasure her, Skyfall or Akira Selena, what is my sense of living? And so, in one thing, the Gypsy I met on the pier, is right. My entire exi
POV SelenaMy soul watches my body being swallowed by the waves. It is a tragic end for one who once dreamed so much. I didn't delude myself that this act would lead me to an end to pain. I know that it is stored in our essence and that death is not a refuge to escape from it.On the contrary, between life and death, the veil of wisdom falls and everything expands. Memories are no longer the solitude of our blind self that saw only our version of ourselves. It is a recapitulation of ourselves and the lives of those close to us.Poor Richard, I don't hate him right now. He is much more lost than I am and confuses desire with feelings. A soul lacking affections, since the only way to have them in his whole life was to please his father and have rewards that he dubbed love.My body and purity also symbolized having my love and not having them, he felt rejected and driven by a hatred that is subtly fueled by his father's image. I am waiting for the guardians to come for me or open the ga
POV ALFRED"Alfred, please sit down! Everyone is looking!" Teresa forbid me quite embarrassed."I'm sorry, Teresa, but I can't..." I walk on and thank the guardians that there are no seats in front of us and the only obstacle I need to overcome is a stage.With the flexibility and agility of my body, in three times I find myself on a surface made of wood and covered with flowers that keep falling as she continues the show.Her singing is for them, but her gaze is for me. And although I am not the old mother or the gypsy, I can read what they say and they are hard on me. They judge me a barbarian when I judge their fairy mistress."You are not Akira Selena..." I state surprised as I stand closer.It is the same face, yet not the same look. Hers is that of one who has lived much and would have much to tell, complete with sad episodes. "Of course I'm not, you idiot" she says in the small pause of the song "Get out of here" she recommends."I won't, I need to talk to you, milady!" I reso
POV AKIRA SELENA It's Alfred wearing white men's clothes, but it's still the Alfred I know, who has the courage to cause a stir for the sake of his happiness at seeing a woman who is identical to me. And even though it is not me, I feel elated by the longing he feels for me . However, my heart squeezes to know that she insists on talking to the woman even though she recognizes that she is just a copy of me. I am glad he leaves the stage, but to my double dose of disappointment, it is to talk to another woman. The one who has accompanied him since his arrival in this splendid hall, and like me, she is uncomfortable with the possibility that Alfred is interested in the girl on the stage. I see the emotion of jealousy as a giant cloud around this Teresa. And it annoys me that she interrupts Alfred when he was going to explain why this girl is so important. Apparently it concerns me too, because Teresa mentions my name. However, she is not important to me, when I know now that Alfred
POV ALFRED"Luana?" I call out and enter without permission finding the door open.Involuntarily, my attention is caught by a scenery full of reddish objects, from curtains, carpets, and only the white of the sheet is saved."Alfred, welcome..." Luana who was hiding behind the door, closed it after I entered, and she is definitely no longer the same woman who almost took my eye out since we met.She bounces on my lap and in guardians name, that very light dress doesn't spare me from feeling her warmth and smelling her skin. However, that is not what I came here for."Luana, please..." I throw her on the bed and look into her eyes that turn to confusion."Yes, you are right, one night is not enough to reward you for the diamonds. How about, four seasons?" She smiles from the bed and gets up to wrap my body in a hug, but I need to resist."No, Luana! I've already said what I want from you, that we're going to London to find your sister!" I undo the snare of her embrace even though it fe
POV ALFRED"Luana?" I call out and enter without permission finding the door open.Involuntarily, my attention is caught by a scenery full of reddish objects, from curtains, carpets, and only the white of the sheet is saved."Alfred, welcome..." Luana who was hiding behind the door, closed it after I entered, and she is definitely no longer the same woman who almost took my eye out since we met.She bounces on my lap and in guardians name, that very light dress doesn't spare me from feeling her warmth and smelling her skin. However, that is not what I came here for."Luana, please..." I throw her on the bed and look into her eyes that turn to confusion."Yes, you are right, one night is not enough to reward you for the diamonds. How about, four seasons?" She smiles from the bed and gets up to wrap my body in a hug, but I need to resist."No, Luana! I've already said what I want from you, that we're going to London to find your sister!" I undo the snare of her embrace even though it fe
POV ALFRED"Luana?" I call out and enter without permission finding the door open.Involuntarily, my attention is caught by a scenery full of reddish objects, from curtains, carpets, and only the white of the sheet is saved."Alfred, welcome..." Luana who was hiding behind the door, closed it after I entered, and she is definitely no longer the same woman who almost took my eye out since we met.She bounces on my lap and in guardians name, that very light dress doesn't spare me from feeling her warmth and smelling her skin. However, that is not what I came here for."Luana, please..." I throw her on the bed and look into her eyes that turn to confusion."Yes, you are right, one night is not enough to reward you for the diamonds. How about, four seasons?" She smiles from the bed and gets up to wrap my body in a hug, but I need to resist."No, Luana! I've already said what I want from you, that we're going to London to find your sister!" I undo the snare of her embrace even though it fe
POV Alfred "Now can we talk?" I am more confident of a positive answer now that the man has left and only the two of us are left on a deserted street. But, what I have to receive from her, is a beautiful slap given to my face. "That's for disgracing my last chance to change my life. I don't know who you are, but stay away from me!" She says and walks off without looking back. "My name is Alfred, I am a skyfaller, indigenous as you speak. I met your sister and I need you to listen to me..." This information spoken out of my desperation to see her go, does slow the brave girl down, but not enough for her to look at me or give up on leaving. "I know you were left as a baby in a church. I have come for you, Miss, whatever your name is..." I am forced to speak the whole truth and hope that she feels prodded to know about her past. And apparently, this time it works. "How do you know I was left in a church?" She stops walking and turns to stare at me. "Your mother lived with my peopl
POV LUANAWith difficulty, Father Augustine leads me into a small room where host and wine are kept."I came to bring you this here..." I place the money in his hands and squeeze his fingers tightly so he won't let them go to the floor."No daughter, it's sin money. I can't accept it" He refuses, and deep down I already expected that attitude from him.He never accepted that I did not want to follow the mission of being a novice and becoming a wife of God. And being a woman of life affronted his values as much as he cultivated that everyone deserves God's forgiveness."It's not from sin. I will remake my life with a good and serious man. I need your blessing" I speak the truth."I give it to you, but I don't need the money. Distribute it to the poor on the street. Each one of them is our brother, God's family" He refuses the money again."Speaking of brother, family, priest, has no one ever come looking for me?"So many years have passed, but I never lose hope."No, you were left by
POV LUANANoon strikes the clock and it's just another day like any other. The dreams also remain as usual, as well as the head aching from last night's punches. The only things that change are the ambitions.One day, a part of me laments that I am not a high society lady, that I cannot wear luxurious dresses and jewelry. Another morning, the other part of my self, is thankful for the freedom.My classmates still sleep in their rooms. Good thing we have a house we can call our own. Luckily, my friend and colleague Cecilia ensnared an old man and he granted her the deed before he passed away. The man had no children, which ensured that we would not be evicted a week later. Laws don't usually apply to people like us, while those who belong to high society, their word is enough.So it's no sin to delight in the old age and withering away of petty men who in their youth, by daylight, would kick women like us like a freckled dog, and at night, rub themselves on our bed shamelessly and wit
POV ALFRED"Alfred, please sit down! Everyone is looking!" Teresa forbid me quite embarrassed."I'm sorry, Teresa, but I can't..." I walk on and thank the guardians that there are no seats in front of us and the only obstacle I need to overcome is a stage.With the flexibility and agility of my body, in three times I find myself on a surface made of wood and covered with flowers that keep falling as she continues the show.Her singing is for them, but her gaze is for me. And although I am not the old mother or the gypsy, I can read what they say and they are hard on me. They judge me a barbarian when I judge their fairy mistress."You are not Akira Selena..." I state surprised as I stand closer.It is the same face, yet not the same look. Hers is that of one who has lived much and would have much to tell, complete with sad episodes. "Of course I'm not, you idiot" she says in the small pause of the song "Get out of here" she recommends."I won't, I need to talk to you, milady!" I reso
POV SelenaMy soul watches my body being swallowed by the waves. It is a tragic end for one who once dreamed so much. I didn't delude myself that this act would lead me to an end to pain. I know that it is stored in our essence and that death is not a refuge to escape from it.On the contrary, between life and death, the veil of wisdom falls and everything expands. Memories are no longer the solitude of our blind self that saw only our version of ourselves. It is a recapitulation of ourselves and the lives of those close to us.Poor Richard, I don't hate him right now. He is much more lost than I am and confuses desire with feelings. A soul lacking affections, since the only way to have them in his whole life was to please his father and have rewards that he dubbed love.My body and purity also symbolized having my love and not having them, he felt rejected and driven by a hatred that is subtly fueled by his father's image. I am waiting for the guardians to come for me or open the ga