Water Planet
Luísa opened her eyes and, as she turned over in bed, she felt the sheet soaked with sweat. What a night! She saw Carlos sleeping soundly beside her, and decided to get up slowly so as not to disturb his sleep. The still, stuffy air and the incessant buzzing of mosquitoes combined to make the night hellish. A night marked by a succession of long periods of sleeplessness alternating with quick naps, in a rhythm dissonant with the hands of the clock, which seemed to be held back by a supernatural hand. When, at four in the morning, she finally decided to get up and open the living room windows facing the valley, a light breeze invaded the house, chasing away the mosquitoes and refreshing the room, allowing her to fall asleep at last.
As Luísa washed her face, the dreams of the early hours of the morning came back to her like a movie. She saw her grandmother and her father opening their arms to her in a silent, smiling invitation. How long it had been since she had dreamt of them!
- Why did they appear in my dream just tonight? They should have come during a peaceful night's sleep, so we'd have more time to catch up on what we missed. - She said to her image in the mirror, trying to dispel the unease triggered by the mystery of the dream.
When she entered the kitchen, she saw the table set and the smell of fresh bread coming out of the oven, while her aunt bustled around preparing the coffee. Ever since she had bought this house in Penedo, Luísa would often receive friends or relatives at the end of the day.Most of them sat around, waiting for a miracle to happen while she went out to buy bread and milk, prepare coffee and dinner, sweep the house and clean the bathrooms.
- Good morning! Why are you so worried? - asked her aunt.
- It's nothing, it's probably because of the bad night's sleep. I never imagined that here in the mountains there would be hot nights like last night.
- It must be because of the change in climate, El Niño, or who knows what else.
- Yes, it must be." She replied, no longer interested in the conversation, her attention now fully focused on the table.
- It's like the last meal of a condemned man. It's wonderful!
Her aunt laughed at the silly remark, as she enjoyed watching Luíza help herself to the homemade bread, jam and Canastra cheese they had bought on the way up the mountain.
Luisa had already put the towels, sunscreen and hats in her backpack, along with the sandwiches to stave off hunger. Dressed in her bathing suit, she now hurried Carlos, who was still sitting at the breakfast table.
- Come on, before it starts raining. The sky is getting cloudy down by the head of the river. I think the weather's going to change. If we hold back, we'll end up missing the chance to bathe in the waterfall.
- Listen, Luísa, there's important news in the Itatiaia newspaper. They've installed a si ...
- You can tell us the news later. - She interrupted her aunt as they ran out the door to their car.
When they finally reached the Campo Belo River, they saw a large group of tourists spread out over the rocks that lined the riverbed. They all seemed to know each other and were making a hell of a racket. The children ran past the riverbank and threw themselves headlong into the small lake at the base of the waterfall. Luísa looked on stunned at this tragedy foretold, not knowing what to do. There was hardly an unoccupied spot where she could open her kanga and lie down to sunbathe.
While she dumped her backpack on the farthest rock in the middle of the melee and waded into the water to cool off, Carlos decided to take a little dirt track that flanked the river, entered the forest and led to the top of the waterfall, upstream. Shortly afterwards, she saw him cling to one of the rocks that flanked the waterfall and slowly advance to the top.
Standing at the top, he proudly signaled for her to climb up too.
Luísa looked from one side to the other. So what did she have to lose? Nothing! She quickly gathered up all her things, threw them into her backpack and set off along the same dirt track where she had seen Carlos disappear earlier. Arriving at the top, she noticed that the noise of the waterfall covered up the shouting of the tourists, who looked like ants when seen from above.
They seemed to be in another world, just the two of them. For the first time that day, she felt relaxed. They stretched out their kangas on the rock and lay down in the sweltering heat. The sleepless night quickly took its toll and they fell asleep mesmerized by a flock of yellow butterflies hovering over a small backwater, where the water lapped peacefully.
The weather turned and a wind began to blow from up ahead. Carlos woke up with the impression that he had heard a siren in the background, but there was hardly any sound from below, as the noise of the waterfall seemed even louder now that the air was saturated with humidity. He looked towards the headwaters and noticed that the sky was black. From time to time, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, muted. A storm was approaching.
- Good, the weather will cool down! - he commented to Luísa, before lying down on a rock at the edge of the waterfall and peering down.
- That's strange, all the tourists have already left. If you want, we can go down.
- Carlos, look at the water in the river. It's gotten murky and now it's full of leaves and branches floating...
Suddenly they heard a deafening roar and felt the rock tremble beneath their feet. From upstream came a waterhead, rushing wildly towards them. Paralyzed with terror, Luisa closed her eyes and saw once again, projected onto the screen of her mind, the image of her grandmother and father smiling at her with open arms. This time, she clearly heard them say:
- Come, my child.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)