A leap into the unknown

by Júlia Freire (Brazil)

A leap into the unknown Brazil

There are two phases in life that mark us. Childhood and old age. The beginning and the end. And life presents us with people, moments and surprises. During my childhood life gave me a gift. He lived in the metropolitan region of Bahia, everyone was running out of time and life seemed to pass faster as the light steps accelerated. My mother yearned for her true love and I for something, lighter, better. Upon receiving an unexpected call, my mother decides to pack, not just theirs. And we set out in search of the unknown. Scary, was the word. We traveled to the interior of Ceará. The journey seemed longer than it presented. With each swing of the bus, my heart leapt and I peered out the window at the vegetation and villages passing under my eyes. We arrived. Everything was very new, people I had heard about came to life in my imagination. My father was waiting for us anxiously, I could tell. What used to be just me and my mother, has come to be called family. We went to the rural area, where my father lived. As I got out of the car, I could see the vivid colors of the trees, flowers and many animals that many had seen in magazines and on the old TV we had. At the same time he wanted to run, explore that new space full of life. I did. I made many new friends, we founded the explorers club, with our missions, pirates, fairies and Indians. There, daily the imagination ran wild and I drowned in it. That place, made a girl's peaceful and shapeless childhood on long days of fun and adventure. Nights staring at the bedroom ceiling at nights watching the constellations. What was supposed to be a journey of reconciliation between two adults, full of uncertainty, became my home, my everything. I wish I could finish with happily ever after, but no. Life is full of doubts, disagreements and dark moments. We did have moments like that, but in that quiet little place I chose to be happy.