sexta-feira, 25 de março de 2011

ONCE UPON A TIME

Lua Nova, 5 de Dezembro de 2010


"Once upon a time there was a little girl.
This little girl was like many others... Had family, friends and dreams.
This little girl lived happily through every day.
One day, she grew up.
One day, everything changed."
_____________________________________________________

"Yeah, yeah..." She said not too sure what she answered to. Lazily, she got upstairs and locked herself in her room. The dim light reflected her figure on the mirror across the room. It looks like I'm looking to a stranger. The hard truth was she was no longer a little girl and people had expectations. Too high, for my liking. Her parents have expectations.
She walked to her bed and sat down... Being eighteen is too much of a pain in the ass. As she glanced to the pile of homework to do and notes to study, she decided to leave it to the next day. She lied down and intently watched the ceiling: it was full of the drawings she had done through the years... Why the ceiling? Well, the walls were filled by the age of 10. Now they're empty... Though she replaced some of the old drawings by newer ones, all of them were now in a box under her bed, next to some texts she used to write too but never showed anyone. Well... At least ALMOST all of them...

Two years ago... When "it" happened, she couldn't save a couple of them... They were shattered in front of her tearful eyes. She cleaned a lonely tear that prickled her way down her cheek and tried to ignore the knot on her throat.
When she was younger, her parents would keep all the drawings she made for them and encouraged her passion. Some years after, they only complimented them, but no longer cared so much about them. Then, she started to do it only for herself... Everything had to have doodles, sketches or drawings on them, even in school... And that, that was her biggest mistake.

One of teachers complained about her constantly drawing after and sometimes during tests and other moments of evaluation. When they got home a handful of the drawings on the walls were ripped off and turned into nothing but garbage. "Life is not made of this trash..." She whispered to herself not remembering of ever hearing more offensive words. She cried the rest of the afternoon that day and the next one she didn't show any sign of weakness, grieve, pain or anything to her parents. Not then, nor ever since then.
She turned into the best student in her class. All the time she used to spend talking and bonding with family were changed to study... Her mother often asked her to join them in the living room, but she always had to study something, read some literature or had homework to do.

Her parents felt happy now. She was fully committed to studies and in having grades. She was finally a great woman and would be a very important person in the future.
Now, she was unhappy. She felt hollow. She was empty.
At first, it was difficult. All the emotions and stories she wanted to put in paper whirled inside her head making it so harder to stop herself from put her pencil on the paper and let it all flow. Even when her hand, absent-mindedly, started to draw, she would erase it as fast as possible. This was so painful that her own soul was shred to pieces along the way.
She didn't want to feel this way. She always dreamt with her happy ending. How can I have a happy ending, if the rest of the story isn't happy at all?

Silently, she got up and moved to the drawer with her old pencils, rubbers, markers and blank paper. She dared to take one sheet of paper and grab a pencil. Turned on the light bulb over her desk and asked herself What if... ?
Would it be worth the trying? Everything she worked for to block these feelings would be thrown to waste; all it took was allowing the pencil in her hand touch the paper in front of her.
Anticipation rushed over her and she did it.

How many time went by since she started, she didn't knew. The dawn was breaking into the sky when she finally stopped, put down the pencil and lifted the paper in order to admire what her mind intended to show her all this time. What her heart had been crying out loud this past years. When she did she cried.
She didn't try to stop those tears... She didn't want to.
The image... It's me. She sobbed louder. She'd drawn a younger self, as she remembered herself to be; Not what the mirror showed her. She'd drawn her drawing and smiling... The last time she had truly been happy.
Some teardrops smudge parts of the lines. She didn't feel empty for the first time in many years. She was happy.
_____________________________________________________

"One day, she learned to listen to anyone but herself.
One day, she started to live again.
Now, the shreds of her soul are fixed.
All it took was a drawing on a brand new sheet of paper and a turn of a new page of her life."

domingo, 20 de março de 2011

HOW DOES IT FEEL?

Lua Nova, 6 de Novembro de 2010


Can you feel it? That disgusting feeling of something crawling on your skin?
It's fear... Your fear.

Your heart is hammering in your chest. The thump-thump is so loud in your ears that you can swear that anyone could hear it... That it's resonating in the walls that surround you.

You're so small now... At least, that's how you feel like. Isn't it so terrifying? So nerve-wrecking?
As you see, it's easy to sweep you out of your feet.

I can see you. Everyone can. You thought you were better than the rest... That you were different! Stupid.

Scream as loud as you want... Panic won't help you. Who'd say you were so easily frightened?
The way you're freaking out it's nearly amusing, only if it wasn't so pathetic...

Are you cold? Or those shivers are just out of fear? What do you fear for?
Your life? Do you think you're going to die? Oh. So pitiful.

I bet that all you want now... All you long for... Is a hug.
Hearing my voice whispering in your ear and engraving this words in your mind... It's enough to chill your blood... And feel nothing but cold. All you want is to feel human heat again... You want someone to comfort you while you cry your eyes out.

Don't worry you won't die. At least, not now.
I just want you to understand how worthless you are.

You're not different from me: a unimportant, meaningless person; easily replaced.
Understand this and accept it. It's a universal truth.

You want to be acknowledged, but what is there to acknowledge?
Can you see me in this darkness? Behind the surface we're the same: just flesh and bone.

Look me in the eyes and tell me what you see? A person. Exactly I'm just a human being.
Now close your eyes and don't worry... Next time you'll open them, you'll be safe and probably you won't remember... But deep inside you'll notice something has changed.
Are you still listening?
Then, please answer me.
How does it feel?
...
How does it feel to be like me?

sexta-feira, 11 de março de 2011

SANTUÁRIO

Lua Nova, 7 de Outubro de 2010

Acordo e preparo o pequeno-almoço silenciosamente. Visto uma camisola com capuz, uns jeans, umas Converse antigas e estou preparada. Acabo de pôr umas coisas no saco. Fecho o zipper do casaco e pego nas chaves.
Há pouca luz a entrar no quarto e ainda ninguém (para além de mim) está acordado... Nem em casa, nem no prédio, provavelmente.
Vou até à cozinha e escrevo uma nota a avisar que saí de casa, para quando os meus pais acordarem não ficarem preocupados.
Destranco a porta fazendo o mínimo barulho possível, saio e volto a trancar pelo lado de fora.
Quando saio do prédio reparo que não há movimentação nenhuma, exceptuando alguns camiões que passam numa ponte afastada daqui. Bem, o sol já nasceu por isso não mete medo nenhum andar por aqui sozinha (de noite também não, mas é preciso ter um pouco de cuidado se nos cruzarmos com algum javali que apareça na estrada).
Ponho-me a caminho, sem pressas... Levantei-me um pouco cedo, por isso posso dar-me ao luxo de passear e aproveitar a vista. É incrível como faço este percurso todos os dias, mas nunca tenho oportunidade de ver a beleza e o silêncio em que se encontra a estas horas.
Ando do lado junto ao bosque e apanho algumas flores (adoro fazer isto e deixá-las nas fechaduras das portas de outras pessoas ou então numa mesa ou cadeira, mas acabam sempre por ser deitadas fora e não percebo bem porquê; se fosse eu guardava-as). Quando passo junto ao estádio vejo uma data de coelhos que entram num frenesim para se esconderem, mal me vêem e eu como não quero estragar o pequeno-almoço deles não fico ali muito tempo e continuo a andar.
Adorava ter uma câmara fotográfica comigo, nesta altura, para poder fotografar a paisagem ao meu lado: a luz do sol que passa por entre as brechas formadas pelos eucaliptos e pinheiros, a evaporar o orvalho da manhã formando um nevoeiro muito subtil... A única palavra com que poderia descrever a beleza do cenário seria "mágica". Quem me dera poder guardar esta imagem... Mas se trouxesse a câmara fotográfica, depois não tinha sítio para a guardar! Tenho de arranjar um dia para vir para aqui e ver se volto a conseguir uma imagem destas.
Como já estou perto da minha paragem faço uma mini-corrida como aquecimento e chego num instante ao local pretendido. Fico feliz por ver poucos carros estacionados e entro. A diferença de temperatura é mais do que razoável, mas isso só me faz gostar mais deste sítio.
Entro nos balneários e preparo-me. Procuro um cacifo vazio, do qual não me esqueça do número e meto a mochila lá dentro. Fecho tudo, pego nos óculos e na toalha e passo para a enorme divisão adjacente.
Ahhh... O maravilhoso cheiro do cloro! Não me importava de passar os dias inteiros na piscina... No entanto, só lá posso estar uma hora. Vou para as bancadas, à espera que terminem os 5 minutos restantes aos turnos dos outros nadadores e vou escolhendo uma pista que esteja com menos gente (não sou muito fã de estar a nadar com pessoas desconhecidas). Esta humidade quente, o cheiro a cloro e o barulho da água (e alguns apitos de professores de natação) são tão relaxantes, que tornam este sítio o meu santuário. Venho para aqui sozinha e, durante uma hora, sou só eu, os meus pensamentos e uma pista.
Quando vejo uma pista vazia, levanto-me passo pelo chuveiro, ponho os óculos e entro. Finalmente, sinto-me à vontade. Ninguém repara em mim, ninguém me julga, ninguém me conhece e, mais importante, ninguém me chateia.
Começo a nadar e tudo à minha volta deixa de ser importante... Sinto-me tão livre, que nada nem ninguém me conseguiria parar. Se me impedissem de nadar, eu acho que uma grande parte de mim morreria. Toda a minha raiva e frustração é libertada em cada braçada, fazendo-me sentir viva e cada pensamento flui facilmente à medida que avanço na água.
Quando me quero sentir melhor, escolho uma pessoa que esteja a nadar numa outra pista e faço uma corrida com ela até a ultrapassar. E ao fim de uma hora, a única coisa que quero é fazer mais uma volta.
Sempre que saio da piscina sinto uma felicidade enorme inexplicável... Só sei que o resto do dia estou completamente hiperactiva e estupidamente feliz.
É uma pena só ter tempo de visitar este "local sagrado" uma vez por semana.