La música es nuestro territorio
Todo estaba cubierto de capas de polvo y sumergido en una oscuridad que se estaba convirtiendo en la norma. Las calles, llenas de escombros, parecían la boca de un lobo, de día, de tarde y de noche. En las casas, también habían abandonado la costumbre de encender las luces: no había electricidad, pero tampoco encendían velas ni hogueras, prefiriendo vivir sin verse unos a otros. Por ejemplo, a Cole le encantaba vivir en la oscuridad, caminar entre las sombras, aunque su hermana Juniper siempre se quejaba de la oscuridad permanente en la casa:
"Siento que uno de estos días voy a morir de tanta oscuridad", gritaba Juniper, dejando que su espíritu vibrante y luminoso brillara. Pero ella era la única que echaba de menos la luz, la música, la vida que tenían antes.
Sean estaba enamorado de Juniper y había sido capaz de ocultar ese amor durante muchos años: era bueno fingiendo, ocultando sus sentimientos, simulando indiferencia. Juniper, por su parte, no podía ocultar la atracción que sentía por Sean, aunque solo hubieran hablado unas pocas veces.
Una noche, sin nada que hacer, Juniper se recostó contra una de las paredes de la casa. Sean llegó buscando a Cole, pero este se había marchado unos minutos antes:
"Si quieres, puedes esperarlo", le ofreció Juniper, y Sean se sentó lejos, evitando la proximidad de la chica. El corazón de Juniper comenzó a latir tan fuerte que temió que Sean lo oyera. Sin saber qué decir ni qué hacer, Juniper comenzó a cantar una canción que había oído en un pasado que creía haber olvidado. La canción hablaba de cómo el amor iluminaba el mundo y de cómo la música era el lugar donde podían estar a salvo.
En ese momento, las luces comenzaron a encenderse en algunas de las casas, como velas, como si los habitantes hubieran despertado y dijeran: estamos aquí, seguimos vivos. Desde algunas casas se oían voces cantando a través de la brisa, yendo y viniendo armoniosamente como notas musicales. Cuando Cole apareció, vio toda la casa iluminada: Sean y Juniper tenían dos llamas vivas en los ojos que lo iluminaban todo y amenazaban con devorarlos.
La imagen principal fue creada por mí en Canva, y el texto fue traducido con Deepl Translate
HASTA UNA PRÓXIMA OPORTUNIDAD, AMIGOS
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Perhaps if humans had seen the signs, the devastation would not have come. Everyone was preoccupied with their cell phones, with their own problems, too distracted to pay attention to the wars that some powers had started, the diseases created in laboratories that had spread, forming new epidemics, or the water and food shortages that had also been a cause of war between some governments. When people looked up or took their eyes off their screens, everything was destroyed.
Everything was covered in layers of dust and submerged in a darkness that was becoming the norm. The streets, littered with debris, looked like a wolf's mouth, day, afternoon, and night. In the houses, they had also abandoned the habit of turning on the lights: there was no electricity, but they didn't light candles or bonfires either, preferring to live without seeing each other. For example, Cole loved living in the dark, walking among the shadows, although his sister Juniper was always complaining about the permanent darkness in the house:
“I feel like one of these days I'm going to die from so much darkness,” Juniper would shout, letting her vibrant and luminous spirit shine through. But she was the only one who missed the light, the music, the life they had before.
Sean was Cole's best friend, and they had once formed a band together, but now he belonged to a group of young people who spent their nights wandering among the rubble and slept like vampires during the day, in dark rooms with no open windows.
Sean was in love with Jupiner and had been able to hide that love for many years: he was good at pretending, hiding his feelings, feigning indifference. Jupiner, on the other hand, couldn't hide the attraction he felt for Sean, even though they had only spoken a few times.
One night, with nothing to do, Jupiner leaned against one of the walls of the house. Sean arrived looking for Cole, but he had left minutes earlier:
“If you want, you can wait for him,” Jupiner offered, and Sean sat down far away, avoiding the girl's proximity. Jupiner's heart began to beat so hard that she was afraid Sean would hear it. Not knowing what to say or do, Jupiner began to sing a song she had heard in a past she thought she had forgotten. The song was about how love illuminated the world and how music was the place where they could be safe.
As Juniper sang, Sean's eyes sparkled with excitement and twinkled like stars in the dark room. Then Juniper sang louder, feeling love pour out of her soul, eager to break through the walls.
Just then, lights began to come on in some of the houses, like candles, as if the inhabitants had awakened and were saying: we are here, we are still alive. From some houses, voices could be heard singing through the breeze, coming and going harmoniously like musical notes. When Cole appeared, he saw the whole house lit up: Sean and Juniper had two living flames in their eyes that illuminated everything and threatened to devour them.