Sin Fronteras Spring 2017 Sin Fronteras Spring 2017 | Page 40
Chase
Joaquín Gutiérrez
A placid mirror in front of me, a sea lacking its imperfect bumps
of waves. Now, at this time, with no waves in sight, I took some time to
contemplate. Time for me to wiggle and stretch my arms a bit, or have
my feet play with the current and maybe also have some daring algae
touch me after leaving the rock that it called home. Doing this I lost myself
in the sun setting far to my right. Past the natural rock dock that stubby
little concrete lighthouse that seemed to have been there forever. So in
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By Karen Amaya
awe, I saw how the sun seemingly began to mesh its corpulent circular
body on the palm bedded tree tops, as its once orange glare reflecting to
the skies shifted to a sapphire hue that spread faster than the blink of my
eye. It was such a mesmerizing display that I lost track of the water’s flow,
almost submerging my upper body into an icy current alien to the season.
Soon enough some shivering shout awoke me to the waves that had now
broken the stillness of the blackish sea. It didn’t seem to be a good set, but
at least it was something. So I quickly lay down and went from the sun to
the waves. Their crests warned me of their growing size. It was then that I
saw her. She struck me as extraordinary, more so when she seemed to call
for me. And so, like a fish to the hook or the algae to my foot, I ventured
beyond my comfort. Strongly paddling against a growing current that at
times pushed me back and then drew me closer. Avoiding the rest of the
waves and their apparent charm, I passed them with respectful regret. I’m
sorry, I thought, but there is simply one that’s calling for me. Whether it
was destiny, fate, luck or a mere coincidence I dared not question, for I was
simply focused on the matter at hand. I recall now that I faced that moment
unconsciously, being driven by something bigger than myself. Shifting
my thought abruptly to someone bigger than me. It didn’t matter then
and neither does it now. Because I was then approaching the moment, I’d
turned around and instead of chasing I began to be chased. Actually, we
were both going in the same direction, not chasing each other. Going to
the same point, towards the same objective. A moment, perhaps, always
a bit further off than we were, up to the point where it ceased to be. It
happens to me almost every time. And it’s what makes me go through this
life, it’s that drive that shoots me forward in an almost endless search, and
once I find it I realize it’s already happened, and so I have nothing more to
do but to go at it again. As an endless cycle. On and on, just like the waves
of the sea.
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