Do UFOs Exist?

— Come on! It would seem to you, because you were small.

— Look, little yes, I won’t argue with you, but silly, no. Something that had swallowed my friends, left and only left a hole in the ground, just that.

He was silent again for a few seconds, surely that he was thinking about that distant moment. I looked at him, but I didn’t want to break his silence and I also waited quietly. When I already thought that he would not continue, that the memories would not leave him, he continued again.

— The big ones started running, you know! The parents, and I saw how my mother, who was crying, took my little sister and me and hugged us and there was no way she would stop crying, holding us there, almost drowning us, and she didn’t want to let us go. Then, over the years I have understood that all that was joy, but then, I did nothing more than say “Mom, I have not touched it, I have not touched it.” She seems not to understand what I wanted to say and later I had to repeat it many times to others who asked me. It is true that my life changed. I still remember that many strangers came to town. Very ugly men, all dressed in black, who did nothing more than touch me and ask me what had happened and where the other children were. I kept repeating them what had happened, but they did not want to believe me. I lived there a few more years, but one day my father got tired and said that we would leave because he did not want to be there anymore. It seems that other men wanted to keep asking me, so one night in a car that we had in which my father went to the field to work, we got up and left the town. I do not know where we would go because I fell asleep. I would have been about ten years old, and my little sister seven, but they had never bothered her because they said, since she was so young when that happened, that she would not have realised but I know that she did because sometimes I noticed that she couldn’t sleep and asked quietly what was wrong, and she told me “I don’t want to sleep so they don’t come and take me when I don’t see them.” That ended her life — one doctor said. She became ill and there was no way to heal, the fact that she did not sleep left her with less and less force, until her body could not bear it anymore. By then my father had also died. Well, it was a silly accident. One rainy day he started running to take refuge and when he got close to a tree, it seems that a lightning bolt broke a branch of that tree and it fell on my father killing him on the spot. Of course there are things in life that are better to forget. Well, the fact is that I had to take care of my mother who did not raise her head, refused to eat, another older sister and my little sister. And of course these are the things. Where are you going to get a young man to pull an entire family from? I enlisted and became an aviator, that way I helped them. The pay allowed them to eat, but they could not bear the loneliness, and my mother and my little sister soon gave up. So now I only have my older sister, who, by the way, is not that we get along very well, because she always blamed me for everything, she said that if I had not left we could have gone ahead, and my mother would not have died.

Tears ran down his face and I stood in silence at his side. I decided to wait, not to break that silence that I thought it was necessary.

All he was telling me was something he must have deep inside and when he released it, he was freeing himself from a heavy burden.

Suddenly Enrique got up and approaching where I was, hugged me and in my ear I heard with a thread of voice that said to me:

— Thank you, friend! I needed it, you know, I had never told anyone like that — And walking away a little bit, he told me — Have I made you feel bored? — While he cleaned his face, as if wanting to erase those spilled tears.

— No — I replied, smiling. I wanted him to calm down completely and to be sure that by my side he was fine, that I would never reveal his secret.

— Well, if you want, I’ll tell you something else — he said, looking at my reaction.

— Even more? — I asked quietly.

— Yes, it is that my life has been, I think, a little particular.

— Well, go on, I’m all ears.

— Look, I was already in my twenties. One night I couldn’t sleep and I went out to the field, you know, the needs that sometimes we have. Well, I was going back inside and when I reached the door, I thought I heard something. He didn’t even give me time to turn when a blinding light crossed the sky. I stayed in the same place where I was. It couldn’t be true! I didn’t want what I still remembered as a child to happen to me and that it had given me so many headaches, but no, I was lucky. At the moment, the truth is that I do not know if it was seconds or minutes, or perhaps hours that I was there without moving a single muscle, as if wanting to go unnoticed, and if someone was somewhere that did I expected that it did not notice that I was there. It was natural that all those who lived around the environment were asleep at that time, but I was not lucky, perhaps their way of detecting is different, because I am sure that nobody had never moved me and I could not know if I was there much less if I was far away.

— And what happened? — I asked him, curious. You have to see how impatient I am, but he was even making me nervous when listening to him.

— Well, what had to happen, no more and no less. They approached me and said “Hello” and I don’t remember anymore. Probably, I fainted.

— But how are they going to talk to you? And who were they? Come, clarify it for me!

— I don’t know, because I don’t remember seeing them, but I can assure you that I did hear them, and I think there were three of them, but don’t ask me why I know. I know! And I can only say that, I heard perfectly how they said to me “Hello”.

— Come on, joker! That can’t be possible. Assuming they were, I don’t know, aliens, how would they know your language? So how could you have understood them?

— Look, I’ve asked myself that a million times. Well, yes, it is an exaggeration! But what I want to tell you is that every time I think about it, I ask myself the same question. How could they talk to me about something that they understood? That would be impossible, of course, I’ve been through something like that twice in my life, everything can be possible now, don’t you think?

CHAPTER II.

We were sitting quietly. The afternoon was coming to an end, the sun had just hidden over the horizon. When he proposed his idea and I heard it I thought it was great.

— What do you think if we go there? And we see “in situ” the place and if it is possible, that, surely it will be, talk to someone who witnessed it.

— But what do you say? And how could it not have occurred to you before? Of course, that would be great — was my immediate reply.

Now remembering it, with the perspective given by the passage of time, it did not seem to me such a good idea. That little trip had brought us a lot of complications, and in the end, what for? We had not clarified anything, just a lot of preoccupations.

I sat on the bed, here alone in my room. I began to review mentally, I do not know why, that distant day when the two of us gradually entered that place. As we saw it, we did not find it pretty, as we both at the same time express, “Ugh, what a place! Nothing beautiful.”

I remember as if it was just a moment ago, that when we finished saying it, we burst out laughing at the coincidence.

— Well — we said to each other by way of comfort —. Places are as they are, and they may seem better or worse to us, but we have to take them in their own way, not in the way we would like them to be.

— But friend — you said to me —. It is that this has “tomato” and surely that of trails nothing at all. We will have to manage by climbing as if we were wild goats.

— You are exaggerating! — I remember answering —. It will also be good for us to do a little of exercise.

We continued walking for a long time in silence, neither of us dared to tell the other to stop, that we should not continue, until the inevitable happened, the ankle said “I have come up to this point!” and tired of climbing those rocks, almost inaccessible, decided to break.

I looked at him, I still have the scar, and I said, “Why did you have to do that to us at that time?” Of course, the ankle is not going to answer me, but if I remember correctly, that problem made us not be able to continue, but it didn’t let us turn around either, so we had to spend a few days on those burning rocks, which seemed endless.

Even though I want to stop thinking about it, it seems that I can not, it is as if something I have inside, some memories of the moments we spent there that I must take out and try to forget.

I will keep remembering them sitting here, nothing will happen to me, there is no one, I am at home, in my room, in my bed, I have enough tranquility to review all that, without emotions arising in between from those events, but the truth is that just thinking about it, something gets in my stomach, which barely allows me to breathe, it seems that I have not overcome it yet. Although I believed that since so much time had passed, it no longer affected me, now I see that I was very wrong.

What were those noises ? It seemed that they were getting closer. I looked everywhere, but I couldn’t see anything, only rocks and more rocks, and that scorching sun, which today did not want to leave. Suddenly everything changed. I remember how I fell with my back to the ground, it would be because my ankle caused me enormous pain at that time. Although I think it was the other way around, the fear that entered me made me fall and the ankle protested, and it was not for nothing, my whole body had fallen on top of it, and of course it couldn’t bear my weight and it broke.

The pain, so intense and sudden, that I felt in that ankle, made me at the same time take my hand to try to catch it. Looking towards that site, that reason freed me from that, I couldn’t see it, but I think it was the best, because in the situation I was in. If I had seen it, I don’t know how my heart would have responded.

Now remembering it, I think I’m exaggerated, but at that moment, I don’t think I would have assumed it. But what was it? I’m still asking myself. The truth is that the place was steep enough, so that nothing, or anyone, could be and at the moment not, but it was so. That scorching sun was shining and a second later something came between me and its light, and that shadow, whatever it was, was so big that all the sunlight covered those moments, and then it was gone, as quickly as had arrived. Of course, I was already on the floor and with the problem of my ankle, what happened or did not happen was not so much of my interest, the tremendous pain I felt was important to me, what would that be? How could it get there? and then, where would he have gone?

There are things in life that are very difficult to understand, and of course to tell another, nothing at all. If you cannot assimilate it yourself so that someone else believes it, it would be impossible.

— Peter, have you seen him? — I asked immediately.

— The what? — he said, looking surprised.

He was returning from looking for a place to spend the night, and he found me on the floor, with my ankle bleeding there and not only that, but also scared to death, yes, because I was even trembling. He thought that the ankle was to blame, and he asked me a lot of times how he had done it to me, that he had left me there, with the backpacks so that I could move better, but it was inexplicable that I could have fallen if I was resting on the floor.

— I wasn’t sitting! — I said softly —. Well yes, but when I heard that noise, I got up immediately, to try to see where it came from, and what it was.

— But what noise? What are you talking about? Could it be that you have fallen asleep, and have dreamed of something? Or perhaps the sun´s rays were strong and what you have heard is a product of insolation — he was asking me very seriously, staring at me, because he couldn’t explain what had happened to me.

— No, Peter, really! I was wide awake, in fact, I think I was not even sleepy. Yes, it is true that I was tired, but I remember thinking that I should have gone exploring, instead of letting you go. You will be so tired and not for a moment have you shown it, and not like me who has been coming for a while protesting for the little path we are taking, the difficulty of climbing and climbing.

— Come on! What are you saying? We are both tired. What is the difference if you or me try to find a place to spend the night?

— Well yes, but you see, I was thinking about it, so I tell you that I remember very well that I did not sleep, and also, although at first, as you say, I was sitting, then when I heard that, I got up. Tell me, how could I have fallen to the ground if I was sitting down? Impossible!

— Yes, of course, you’re right, but it is so strange for me, that you tell me that you heard something and I, who shouldn’t have been so far away, only a few meters away, haven’t heard anything. Well, let’s leave that and let’s see this ankle that looks very bad. I think we will have to be around here more than we had planned — he was saying to me quite worried, while trying to touch that to see what could be done.

— Well, let’s leave that and let’s see this ankle that looks very bad, I think we will have to be around here more than we had planned - he was saying to me quite worried, while trying to touch that to see what could be done.

— Well, it seems to me that if you have this strength, we should use it to return, we do not know what is ahead, and we do not know how far there is someone who can help us, and if we return at least we are sure of what is there, because we already know it — Peter was saying, very sensibly.

—Tomorrow we’ll see! — I answered almost convinced that the next day all that would have passed me by.

Of all the problems I had in all my life, that was the most problematic, of course there was a tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow and the next, it was like that for a while until my ankle wanted to be useful . The next day when I woke up full of pain, I found that it had swelled enormously, and it was impossible to put my boot on, I think the foot was so large that its size was twice.

How could I even think of moving? But I had to, we couldn’t be there, I wanted to get up, but the pain was stronger than me, and I had no choice but to stay there, lying, sitting and lying again. Several days passed, I do not know how many they were, we both lost track of time.

The scorching sun that was outside, almost kills us, but of course we never know how strong we are, until we subject the body to a test, the one that people call “extreme”, and well, everything that I am now remembering here, sitting quietly, it stayed behind. The ankle stopped hurting and we were finally able to return to civilization, happy to have been able to say it, although we were left with the frustration of not having reached the place we had planned.

Although we have never spoken about it again, I have not forgotten that noise and that great shadow. What would it be?

The mind sometimes plays tricks on us, and makes us believe that we see things that do not exist. I remember Peter once told me:

— There are times when re-remembering past things, lived situations, helps to overcome them.

I think that the fear of that moment I have it so deep inside me, that I see that, despite being here in a safe place, and that the time that has passed has already been long, it has not prevented my entire forehead from being covered in a cold sweat.

Perhaps all of t what was the product of my imagination, so why is it so difficult for me to assimilate it as such? Because there are times when I wake up with the bed wet with sweat that a shadow produces, it is as if I were going into the house. I have never been fearful in my life, but as time goes by I cannot leave behind that feeling of being watched by that.

Determined to clear my head, I got out of bed where I was sitting and went out into the garden. The splendid day has immediately made my mood change. The mallets of flowers with their beauty have reminded me that in life there are many beautiful things that are worth enjoying.

One day I was passing by a flower shop. It was strange, I had never directed my steps in that part of the city, I went into those unknown alleys, and the truth is that I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty I found. I have always liked the open spaces, the great endless meadows, with their blue skies, but now, I don’t know why, I was admiring small streets, with their little houses on both sides, and I liked it. Turning around a corner, there I found a little square, where on one of its sides there was a flower shop.

I have always admired nature, but what we could call wild, the flowers scattered throughout the field, which grow spontaneously, but I had never approached a florist´s. It was the first time and I really liked that mix of colors and smells. The amount of flowers were different, and I could not help myself but I took several of them.

Not in a cut bouquet as that kind lady proposed to me, because, as I answered her offer, she didn’t want something that after a few days it would be spoiled, so she found me some plant pots and I let her be the one to indicate which ones as she understood better than me.

I only asked her not to be delicate plants, or that they needed a lot of care, that they be strong since I would plant them in my garden and there was seasons when I would be absent, and I could not take care of them.

With these indications, she gave me five plant pots, each with a different plant.

I already liked the number, five has always been my lucky number, and I said so to that kind person who was helping me.

— They will be lucky to be with you. I know you will take good care of them — said the young lady, smiling.

Several years have passed since then and my garden is beautiful, those five little plant pots, each one of a kind, which I transplanted following the indications of that kind florist, have become large mallets in his environment, some covering its piece of wall, another spreading on the ground and thus each one has taken something from the garden and in that part it has developed.

Seeing what nature can do when we leave it space and time, I think that is what we should do ourselves with our life, give ourselves time and we will see that we can do what we dreamed, we will also need our space, without interference of anything, or anyone, because it is the environment that sometimes imprisons us so much, that it does not even let us think.

We must be clear about what the environment is. We can be in the middle of an empty beach, but if we are hooked on technology, we will not even see the sea, we have to delimit that environment so that it does not drown us. Yes, it is true that there are needs that we must cover daily, but we must never allow ourselves to be overwhelmed. Who are the others? A television set bombing us at all hours, a phone that never stops ringing, a job with so many overtime that we can´t even breathe.

Let’s analyze what it is that we have, and what it is that we want and seek at that moment in our lives. That we be independent of everything and everyone and we are doing what we really like, even if others do not understand it, because there are times when we seek approval of our actions and that leaves us without freedom, depending on the opinions of others.

Reflections that I make myself looking at the tranquility of my garden, but that, despite this, I cannot erase from my mind the odd incident of my past.

I remember when we returned to the town, after spending those fateful days, without food and under the rays of that scorching sun, the welcome was inexplicable, people seemed to be hiding from us, but we had done nothing to them. What would happen to them? We were trying to find it out when…

— Leave! It’s for our own sake — said the little boy, approaching suddenly.

We didn’t really think much about it and although Peter did not agree at first, I think that, thinking about my still convalescing ankle, he decided without further ado to rent that beat-up car that took us far away.

I think the decision was correct, especially when we were already in the distance and saw how that great storm fell in the town, which we both said:

— Luckily, we got rid of it!

It looked like he had been waiting for us to leave so that he starts.

— Let’s hurry up! Before he starts — said Peter.

When we were putting the backpacks in the back seat, I asked him, puzzled, what he said, what he meant.

— Look through the rearview mirror! — he answered me —. I’ve seen those dark clouds approaching — and he pointed at them with his hand.

I, who of course was already determined to leave, told him:

— Well, cheer up, start, we don’t do anything here.

And with speed, well the truth is that it was not much, because the car we had obtained could not last, but it was enough to find us far away when that storm began.

Fortunately, it did not go on, because our car was one of the convertibles, but it did not have a hood. It would have it in its good times but judging by the remains of it, it must have been removed for a long time. The few pieces that were still visible there were all rusted.

— If water starts to fall, we certainly have no choice but to take a shower — said Peter —. And so we got rid of the days that we have been without giving it to us.

Of course, that one thing is a controlled shower with a control in which you give more or less power to the jet that falls on you, and another very different one is what it gives you that downpour that falls from the cloud, in a few moments it seems that the door has been left open suddenly and everything that was there escapes.

Suddenly I noticed how I was getting wet, and it was as if I came back from a dream, I had just seen how the storm ended in that town as we drove away, as fast as we could, and now suddenly, water.

I looked everywhere, and laughed out loud. I couldn’t believe it, the sprinkler had started. Yes, I had it regulated so that it would work for an hour, so even if I was not here, I knew that the whole garden would remain well-kept, and would not dry out due to lack of water, but what I had not realized in these moments is that it was his time, and on time he began to fulfill his obligation, drop water to refresh everything.

<<<<<>>>>>

Revising some papers that I had stored in a drawer, I have found some photos of my graduation, and looking at them, those years of student have come to my memory, without compromises.

Seeing there in that little corner where Don Carlos had put himself, when we invited him, those memories immediately came to mind, that Master Class which he gave us on the last day of the course, when he invited us to present the work done to the various groups. How many debates were formed!

As we were told at that time by the Rector, who was, as he must be the most serious of the entire University, never in any course has a theme created such controversy.

All the teachers had signed up for that session, which due to the attendance had to be held in the Auditorium. Despite that situation, many of those who wanted to listen to it, they had no choice but to do it from the hallways.

The course was coming to an end and that work could no longer be delayed. We had participated with great enthusiasm. Working on that had made us take everything with more desire, and some teachers had noticed this, who had told us that it seemed that doing the work of the History teacher had cleared our heads. We had opted for all the classmates to make study teams for the other subjects and the system worked well. The level of the class went up, because when there was one student who dealt with a topic that choked him, as it is usually said, he always had a partner helping him through it.

I think that was the course in which the grades obtained by some students were higher in the entire history of the University, as the Rector told us. We had all deserved to be on the Honor Roll, that had perplexed more than one, who did not trust that system very much, and said that what we did was a waste of time, in an absurd job.

But honoring the truth, it is that perhaps it was that theme that motivated us, and the friendship we made with each other, those who formed those working groups that we have maintained forever, and I, honestly believe, that had it not been for Don Carlos, none of this would have happened to us “Thank you, teacher.”

How important are some people in our lives, who possibly without intending to help us move forward and with their influence determine our future.

I remember a conversation with a very young priest that one day I found in the corridors of the university. He approached me to ask me about the office of one of the teachers, but I do not know what arose between us, that life surely had prepared us for that meeting.

I told him where the place was because he had asked me and then I went to my class, which was about to start.

Several times I remembered the person of the meeting. I had seen in his gaze a peace that had caught my attention, but well, I let it pass, without giving it much importance.

The class ended as usual, on time, but when I was walking down the hall distracted, someone coming out of an office bumped into me. Well, I didn’t realize that door was opening and we both hit each other.

Looking at him to apologize for my mistake, I saw that he was the same person who had asked me that question before class.

— Excuse me, sorry — I heard, at the same time that I also told him, and we both laughed at the coincidence.

Little by little we were talking as if it were two old friends. Walking around the Campus, he told me that he was the nephew of a teacher, the same one he had asked me about. He did not teach me any subject, but I had heard things from him, and having the opportunity to speak to someone who must have known him very well, I could not resist the temptation, and I think that even without wanting to, I made him some questions. Well, I don’t know how it was, but I remember that before I knew it, I was asking that young priest something about his uncle. He was very serious and said to me quietly:

— That belongs to the private life of a person. If it interests you so much, why don’t you ask him personally? Since I think that only the one who is interested is the one who should answer you on that matter.

I was surprised at his answer, and I thought that diplomatically he had told me not to go where they don’t call me, but since I am a nosy person I did not stop, and I continued saying:

— From what you just told me, yes, because otherwise I would have flatly denied it.

— Friend, whoever follows it gets it, but if you really want to, do your best, which is to go to the source — he said, smiling.

I stood still. What was he talking about? That conversation that we had that distant day resulted in a great friendship, a collaboration in many matters that do not come to mind here, but without that person in my life I admit that many things would have been very different. He put the right point, as you might say, to the matter we were debating, and I recognize that this helped me advance on multiple occasions, that without his opinion things would have gone in other directions.

Eusebio, that was the name of the priest, how many hours we have both spent debating multiple issues. I think he was the one who taught me to listen and to be patient, which is not easy, or at least for me, since at that time I was not, because, as a young man, my impulses made me know that when I knew something about a theme I had to let it go, without realizing if the interlocutor was interested in that or not, and of course, the result is that I received some blows.

Yes, because you start talking about something, which seems to be very interesting, and you do not realize that it is only for you. The other does not care what you say, and of course you get disappointed when you see his lack of interest, but if you have patience you will get to see who really cares what you have to say, and you can let everything go, because what you say will interest him, and he will listen to you carefully.

My friend left after a few years, the place where he chose to spend his life was not easy, but as he told me, everyone has to do what they are destined for, and he had chosen to pass it among terminally ill patients, as he said that it was very important that when one goes passes away, which is what he called death, he said that it was only one step in which we took off the meat that covered the true BEING that we all carry inside, and he affirmed that when we die is important to be calm, and not be afraid, because the place where we go is better.

How could he be so sure of that? He never asked me why I could assure it so firmly, but I can say, because I knew him very well, that he at least believed it, and I had not the slightest doubt.

<<<<<>>>>>

Waiting for the sunrise to start the journey, I revised everything I had in my beloved backpack, the one that had accompanied me almost from the beginning. It is so comfortable to carry everything you need so close at hand, that since I saw her in that little shop at the airport once, when the plane that had to take us had not arrived because its departure from the other airport had to be delayed for a storm that was falling in those moments.