Caminaba, como todas las tardes, un rato por el bosque, de repente, escuché el sonido de unas pisadas a mis espaldas. Sin voltearme, automáticamente, me aparté del sendero. Un muchacho sonriente pasó trotando. Llevaba puesta una camisa gris y un short.

I was walking, like every afternoon, for a while in the forest, suddenly, I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. Without turning around, I automatically turned away from the path. A smiling boy trotted by. He was wearing a gray shirt and shorts.

Lo seguí con la mirada mientras se alejaba hasta que, al girar en una curva, dejé de verlo por completo. Entonces, inmediatamente, escuché el sonido de una persona estamparse contra el suelo. Sin pensarlo. Salí corriendo hacia la curva y, al tomarla, mi sorpresa fue que allí no había nadie.

I followed him with my eyes as he walked away until, as he rounded a bend, I missed him completely. Then, immediately, I heard the sound of a person crashing to the ground. Without thinking. I ran out towards the curve and, as I rounded it, my surprise was that there was no one there.

Estaba solo. Miré el camino, que seguía hacia adelante, y no vi nada. Traté de observar lo largo que era para ver si, en el poco tiempo que tardé en llegar allí, al chico le había podido dar tiempo de recorrerlo. Era imposible. No tenía sentido. La única realidad era que, hasta donde me alcanzaba la vista, allí no había nada. Por un instante dudé de mí. Tenía, una sensación compleja de entender, tan desagradable que, sin pensarlo, decidí que el muchacho estaba allí, a un lado del camino, lastimado.

I was alone. I looked at the path, which continued forward, and saw nothing. I tried to observe how long it was to see if, in the short time it took to get there, the boy could have had time to walk it. It was impossible. It didn't make any sense. The only reality was that, as far as I could see, there was nothing there. For an instant I doubted myself. I had such an unpleasant feeling that, without thinking about it, I decided that the boy was there, on the side of the road, injured.

Apenas podía verle la cara, ni siquiera cuando se incorporó un poco, lo justo para sentarse en el suelo y abrazar su pierna derecha. Me pareció escuchar de su boca un silencioso llanto. Me agaché para ayudarlo, puse mi mano sobre su pierna, casi sin darme cuenta de lo que hacía. De la rodilla raspada salía sangre que recorría su piel hasta casi los tobillos. Entonces algo me habló, apenas un susurro, algo que me decía al oído, simplemente, que debía de parar. Me aparté del muchacho. Dejé de sentir en la palma de mi mano su gemelo. Fue sólo por un instante, necesitaba incorporarme, respirar un poco, pero entonces, en un torpe pestañeo, lo perdí. Me parecía imposible. Sobre el sendero ya sólo había una fila de hormigas que se dirigía hacia una cucaracha muerta. Entonces comenzó atormentar la extraña idea de haberlo perdido para siempre.

I could barely see her face, not even when she sat up a little, just enough to sit on the floor and hug her right leg. I thought I heard a silent cry from his mouth. I bent down to help him, put my hand on his leg, almost without realizing what I was doing. Blood was pouring from the scraped knee, running down his skin almost to his ankles. Then something spoke to me, just a whisper, something telling me in my ear, simply, that I should stop. I pulled away from the boy. I stopped feeling his twin in the palm of my hand. It was only for an instant, I needed to sit up, to breathe a little, but then, in an awkward blink of an eye, I lost it. It seemed impossible. On the path there was already only a row of ants heading towards a dead cockroach. Then the strange idea of having lost him forever began to haunt me.

Tuve que relajarme. Cerré los ojos, para poder recuperar su imagen en mi memoria; al principio eran solo fragmentos; sus manos, sus piernas, y así hasta que compuse mis recuerdos en una sola figura, clara y global de él. Pensé que, sólo así, podría dejarlo marchar para siempre.

I had to relax. I closed my eyes, so that I could recover his image in my memory; at first they were only fragments; his hands, his legs, and so on until I composed my memories into a single, clear and global figure of him. I thought that, only in this way, I could let him go forever.