I saw the blue ocean, but I didn’t really know how to get there.
There were some horses far off in the distance that I didn’t remember seeing before.It was definitely a road I hadn’t taken.Still, I kept walking uphill, heading toward them.
I had never spent much time in nature.My friends back in the city didn’t either.They would go on vacation to their country houses or spend time on their small yachts.That was it.That was theirnature time.
Usually, I didn’t make many plans for the summer.There was a time my mom was dating a man who owned a boat, and we spent a whole August with him and his loud sailing orders.I was ten, and aside from his yells and my mom’s nausea, I remembered actually enjoying it.A year later, my mom dated a guy who decided we would all experience living in the wild.He took us camping for a few weeks in a forest straight out of theTarzanmovie.I didn’t remember her ever mentioning him after that.
My mom was never an adventurous person, but she always went for men you could call viral — or Vikings, even.I never understood that.
Despite those attempts of family vacations, I had spent most summers in the city.
I stopped and looked around at the infinite green.This place really did look like a beautiful postcard.
On the horizon, my eyes met a girl, with flowing hair in shades of sunlight.
She plucked leaves from the plants around her and fed them to the horses, who chased her movements on the other side of the fence that separated them from her and the road.
And I quickly realized who she was.It took me three seconds.
Ella was barefoot.But as I approached, I noticed that there were some shoes next to a handbag on the floor.Given that they seemed to be in perfectly good condition, it was as if she arbitrarily preferred to walk barefoot on that dusty, dirt floor.
She had headphones in her ears and moved serenely.Her body was dancing to a calm song.One hand held the Discman, where her headphones were connected, while the other hand held plants, letting the horses take their time with it.She wore a blue dress that matched the sky and twirled around with her.There was a certain lightness around her — around that whole picture.
There was also an instrument lying on the floor.Next to it, she had a small notebook and some pens scattered around.
I got closer, and she noticed me.A warm smile spread across her face, and she took the headphones out of her ears, placing them around her neck.“Hi,” she said, her voice sounding surprised to see me.And my face must have mirrored the same.
“He—Hey, I…” I felt like I was stammering for a few seconds.“What a coincidence to find you,” I managed to say.
She smiled.
“What are you doing here?”she asked, not losing her smile.
“I just… I don’t know.I’m kinda lost, to be honest.”Why was I feeling nervous?“Do you live nearby?”
“Yes, I do,” she replied.“A five-minute walk from here, actually.”
“So, you come to visit them often?”I pointed an arm to the horse eating the leaves from her hand.
She grinned and nodded in response.
“I feed them grass from the outside, and in return, they listen to my out-loud life diary.”She bent down to pluck another branch.“It makes me feel less crazy if they’re here to listen when I talk to myself.”
“Oh,” I chuckled.“That’s a nice deal.”
“It is!”She stretched out her arm to me, with some leaves in her palm, and I accepted them.
I had never been so close to a horse, let alone had one with his snout glued to the palm of my hand.
It was interesting how such ordinary happenings could make you feel so present.A horse was tickling my hand, and my mind stopped popping questions.I was focused.I was here.
A few moments later, I had forgotten the restlessness or disquietude that I had brought with me.
“This place feels like a postcard.It feels like we’re living in a movie,” I said.
Her lips curved into a smile as she searched the horizon, her eyes focused in the distance.
“Yeah, I love this place,” she said, getting down and sitting on the grass next to the fence, observing the horses.
