Sweet dream

   Anna was deeply devoted to her confectionery business. She did the most beautiful food that also happened to be delicious- Her store was small but people came from all over the city and nearby towns to eat some of her signature products such as the strawberry shortcake with extra flavor and the home-made candy bars that could have any flavor that people wanted. They could be personalized at the request of the client. The strangest flavor she had ever been asked was a mix between curry and lemon, which actually tasted pretty goof. Business was great and she handled everything by herself, having no need of a partner or someone else to take advantage of an idea she had while in high school. Back then, she already knew she wanted to cook the best desserts possible and she even tried new recipes with her family every Thursday night.

 Life was good to Anna. She was happy with her business and had recently moved to a small but nice apartment in order to be more independent from her family. She was also considering an offer that would make her candy bat available at a major supermarket chain, which would make her products even more well known and the amount of money she would make was going to be huge. But she wasn’t really sure if to accept the proposal or not. She was afraid of, with time, losing control of her business and finally selling to a large company that didn’t have any love for the art or respect for her creations. It was something she thought every single night before going to bed and it made her a bit crazy. She wanted an answer fast, to know what to do.

 She asked the advice of every member of her family and some of her friends and most of them agreed that of her small store could handle the amount of work, they should definitely sign the contract with the supermarket chain. After all, it wouldn’t be an industrial sized agreement and her products would only be sold there. It wasn’t like she was going to lose entire control of everything. So in her next meeting with the guy from the supermarket chain, she accepted and signed the contract. According to it, her store had to provide a thousand hand-made candy bars of several flavors. As they were normally personalized, they just asked her to make her top five flavors, whichever they were. She accepted and started hiring extra hands.

 They had to work on weekends and the amount of ingredients that had to be bought was simply huge. Only her employees, the three that had been with her since the beginning, would be in charge of the store as such, cooking what people had learned to expect from it. Once a month there was a new product, proposed either by Anna or by some member of her staff. In the other hand, six people worked on weekends to produce candy bars for the supermarket. She had only two weeks before having to surrender her products so everything had to be very calculated and controlled.

 The flavors chosen were orange yogurt, spicy lemon, raspberries in dark chocolate, pineapple and mango and, finally, their classic passion fruit flavor. Those were the ones people had learned to love in her store since its opening only two years earlier and she was proud her clients proved to be such innovative people. They were always really open about the new sweets and were always very kind when submitting their opinions. Anna had created, with help from a friend, a web page where clients could see all of her products and also comment about every single one of them. She would normally use one night per week to read the new comment and use whatever she may find useful from them. Normally, she just laughed or felt proud but sometimes people had interesting ideas and she credited them for the ones that became successful products.

 However, things began to decline after the second months of her contract with the supermarket chain. It all started when her weekend workers started to demand a higher salary. They thought they were exploited by Anna at their current salary, working like mad from dusk till dawn every Saturday and Sunday and even some Mondays. They argued that her store made enough money to pay everyone fairly. Apparently, they resented the fact that her store staff made more money than them, which she had explained once as been simply because of seniority. The thing was they didn’t want to hear none of that. They just wanted more money or they would stop coming and that would be the perfect way to destroy Anna’s creation, and pride, for good.

 On the other hand, the supermarket chain had begun complaining about the quality of the candy bars that were sent to them the third week of contract. Apparently, they lacked the flavor and they accused Anna of sing less ingredients to make more bars which was ridiculous because her order was always the same. She didn’t even fake to be offended and stormed out of the office of one of the executives of the supermarket chain. Anna knew very well it hadn’t been her brightest moment but she couldn’t stand to be accused of doing something she would never do. Seeking a lawyer, she finally found a good one thanks to a friend. She had a meeting with him and asked about the possibilities of ending the contract with the supermarket chain.

 The lawyer, a very serious and older man, browsed through the contract and finally advised her not to end it as the repercussions to her would be simply too difficult to bare. She would have to pay a lot of money and her company would be bankrupt even before paying all of what she had to pay, if she decided to walk away from the contract. Again, Anna had trouble sleeping at night with so much to think about. She finally decided to raise the salary of her workers but not as much as they had hoped. It was clear to them by her words that no more raises would be granted before the end of the contract. Some workers left but she hired new ones and the quality of the chocolate began to improve.

 Anna also had a conversation with the supermarket chain, in which she announced her intentions of not renewing her contract with them but meeting their quotas and demands for the current contract. They really did not have anything to say because they couldn’t really pressure her into signing for one more year or even more time. The work relationship was tense there and they even threatened to sue if the quality of the candy bars was ever too low for their standards. But as she begun to closely watch the production of the candy for that damn contract, they had no base from which to keep annoying her. The candy bars where as tasty as always and her employees were finally happy or at least not aggressive. That was already an improvement.

 However, she never expected one of her trusted workers in the store to go away. Her name was Linda and she had been by Anna for many years, as they knew each other from high school. Linda announced her intentions to leave but not for any salary reasons or because she had grown to dislike the whole thing. It was more like the opposite: she had learned to love making sweets so much that she had decided to became a professional. She wanted to study a full four-year career in order to learn everything there was to know and become the best candy maker ever. Linda had always been pretty ambitious but Anna had failed to see that because of her own ambitions. When Linda announced her departure, she asked her for forgiveness and hugged her tight. Anna also told her she had a place in the store any time she wanted to come back, even if she became world renowned.

 Anna celebrated with everyone on her staff, both from the weekends and from the store, the end of the contract with the supermarket chain. There were rumors they had copied the recipes and now they were going to produce the candy themselves or that maybe rival stores would provide them with the candy that Anna had refused to give them ever more. One or the other, Anna was glad all of that ordeal had ended because she had realized that her dream was a place where she could do her own thing and experiment and be close to her clients. That contract had crushed the soul of her idea and now she needed it back in order to make it beautiful and bright again.

 The following month, she released a whole new set of products, all with exotic fruits and ingredients that would surprise everyone. She had been doing research for weeks and cooking at home to finally come up with some sort of prize to her devoted store clients who hadn’t left her in the year she had been busy doing candy bar for a corporation. The flavors and the candy were loved by everyone and she even had to ask three of her weekend workers to stay and help in the store. Her family grew that way and she realized that her life was better than ever because now she knew what she really wanted to do and what really made her happy. Her heart was always sweet and, now, more than ever.

A París

   La fila daba varias vueltas y yo solo miraba a un lado y al otro, pues no tenía idea de donde debía pararme o que era lo que debía de hacer. No había buena señalización en el lugar y me tomó un buen rato darme cuenta que quienes estaban haciendo fila allí querían tomar trenes de larga distancia a diferentes ciudades en Francia y en otros países cercanos. Entonces, como pude, encontré internet gratis para mi teléfono y pude concluir que debía caminar un poco hacia la estación del tren del aeropuerto que me llevaría hasta la terminal T3. Allí, después de enredarme un poco pues no sabía hasta que estación iba, tomé un tren que me llevaría a la ciudad. El vagón en el que entré era viejo y parecía sacado de una película. Incluso había madera adentro. Me acomodé junto a la ventana y el tren arrancó.

 Saliendo del túnel, vi lo primero de París que recuerdo: campos y edificios industriales y luego barrios que parecían haber quedado congelados en el peor momento de la posguerra. Parecía también salidos de películas pero de aquellas que buscan mostrar solo lo malo y no precisamente el lado romántico de la ciudad. De pronto era porque el invierno había empezado hacía poco, pero la verdad no estaba nada impresionado con lo que veía. El tren entró a un túnel de nuevo y eventualmente tuve que hacer cambio en la estación Gare du Nord. La impresión entonces fue decayendo aún más, pues siempre había escuchado de los grandes transportes franceses y era difícil respetarlos con el olor tan fuerte que emanaba de todos lados.

 El siguiente tren fue rápido pero me bajé en la estación equivocada y tuve que esperar largo rato para que pasara un tren en dirección contraria. Entender los códigos de estos trenes me tomó un tiempo y la verdad todavía no sé si los terminé comprendiendo. En todo caso llegué sano y salvo con mi pequeña maleta al hotel que había elegido hacía unos meses. El barrio era uno de clase trabajadora en el norte de París y el hotel no tenía ningún atractivo excepto su precio. Esa tarde decidí no salir sino hasta la tarde pues quería descansar un poco. Dormí largo y tendido y me levanté antes de oscurecer. El barrio ciertamente era poco acogedor pero el metro estaba cerca y en unos minutos me acercó al río Sena.

 El caudal estaba furioso, probablemente había estado lloviendo. El agua rugía al lado de los coches que pasaban rápidamente por un lado y otro. El viento frío me acariciaba la cara y lo único que yo hacía era tomar una y otra foto para registrar mi llegada a una de las ciudades más emblemáticas del mundo. En el colegio, que era francés, había oído todas las historias habidas y por haber y siempre sentí la urgencia de conocer París de una vez y saber si todo lo que se decía era cierto. No sé si era por el vuelo o por haber dormido después de llegar, pero todo parecía como sumergido en una nube. Todo se sentía algo irreal pero a la vez no había duda de que sí estaba allí.

 Caminé hasta la isla de Saint Louis y luego pasé a la isla de la Cité, donde se alza la catedral de Notre Dame. Siempre pensé que sería más grande pero es que por detrás la sensación es diferente. Las mil caras y gárgolas que salen por todos lados son únicas y ver a la gente subir las torres es bastante entretenido. Creo que en ese entonces el sitio estaba de cumpleaños pues había una plataforma enorme frente al edificio desde donde se podían tomar fotos. Tomé varias, también pensando en mi familia, que vería las fotos tan pronto las pudiese enviar. Entré a la catedral e imaginé como sería vivir en esos tiempo y agradecí haber nacido en estos. Cuando salí, una mujer de algún país de los Balcanes me pidió dinero en su idioma, que no sé cual era. Yo le di una moneda de un euro y ella se fue feliz. Después pensé que le había dado demasiado.

 Según recuerdo, ese día no hice mucho más sino caminar por esas emblemáticas calles. Al rato sentí ganas de comer algo y creo que me alimenté, y esto fue durante todo el viaje, de algo comprado en una de esas máquina del metro. Era más barato que uno de esos café que podía lucir muy bonito pero tenía precios diseñados para los turistas. Volví al hotel y allí traté de pensar en mi estrategia para los siguientes días. Había tomado mapas del lobby y tenía mejor idea de cómo llegar más rápido a los sitios. Creo que esa noche hablé con mi familia o al menos les escribí algo y me fui a dormir. Para ser un hotel económico, la cama era estupenda y dormí como un bebé hasta que la alarma que había puesto me despertó al día siguiente. La idea era no perder tiempo.

 Me vestí rápido, desayuné de nuevo en la estación del metro y en minutos salía de la boca del metro ubicado en una pequeña placita a un lado del Museo del Louvre. Estaba lloviznando y, con otros turistas, hubo que moverse rápido para evitar mojarse demasiado. Cruzando la calle y un pasaje peatonal, se llega a la majestuosa pirámide que recuerda tantas películas más. Es una entrada genial a un edificio bastante único, no solo por lo que tiene dentro sino por su forma. Me sorprendí a mi mismo al saber que por mi estatus de estudiante no debía pagar nada. Pasé por los controles y comencé mi aventura por el Louvre que duraría todo ese día. Así es, vi todas las exhibiciones y todas las salas, sin excepción. Lo malo fue que volví a comer hasta las seis de la tarde pero lo bueno era mucho más.

 Ver tanta historia, tantos elementos representativos de la humanidad como la conocemos, ciertamente es algo que llena el alma y da un sentimiento enorme de pertenencia. De pronto por eso es que tanta gente se enamora de París, porque allí hay tanto de todas partes y de lo que todos conocemos, que es difícil no quererla de una manera o de otra. Los días siguientes visité muchos museos más y seguí dándome cuenta que sin lugar a dudas era un sitio único para la humanidad. No he visitado todo el mundo pero creo que es de los pocos lugares en los que uno se siente más ciudadano del mundo que turista.

  Visité el Museo de Orsay, también el del Quai de Branly, el de la Armada (con la tumba de Napoleón) y otros que no recuerdo ahora pero que seguramente me sacaron una o varias sonrisas. Tomé fotos de todo, porque uno nunca sabe cuando volverá y comí mejor algunos días que otros. Una noche, y nunca se me va a olvidar, mi hambre fue bendecida por un pequeño restaurante japonés que servía arroz con curry. La sopa de ramen estaba deliciosa pero el acompañamiento de arroz la hacía verdaderamente única. Estaba todo picante y temí por las consecuencias en mi estómago, pero tenía tanta hambre y estaba tan rico, que no importó. Otro días comprobaría la superioridad de los baguettes franceses y de sus quesos, fuesen comprados en supermercados o en una tienda en el Palacio de Versailles.

 Ah sí… Se me olvidaba contarles mi día en Versailles, un pueblo no muy lejos de París para el que también me levanté temprano. El palacio, sí o sí, es impactante para cualquiera que lo recorra. Ver los objetos y recorrer los mismos cuartos que tanta gente poderosa recorrió siglos atrás, lo hace a uno sentirse especial de una forma extraña. El frío ese día era aún más fuerte que otros días pero igual recorrí alegremente los jardines que son enormes y tienen varias estatuas y formas. Algunos estaban cerrados pero la mayoría se prestaban para la contemplación en silencio y para las fotografías más artísticas. El recorrido hacia los Trianon, el grande y el pequeño, es una caminata de las románticas. Casi pude sentir la mano de alguien que no tenía a mi lado.

 Lloré como un tonto cuando me di cuenta que estaba solo y no tenía a mi familia ni a nadie al lado. Lloré junto a la granja que Maria Antonieta se construyó y me pregunté si ella alguna vez lloró en ese mismo lugar. Ese día fue simplemente mágico. La estación de tren para volver estaba a reventar y no recuerdo que comí ese día. Solo sé que dormí tranquilamente. Otro día visité el Sacré Coeur y una prostituta en la calle Blanche me arrastró a su lugar de trabajo pensando que yo tendría dinero. Fue una escena graciosa que nadie conoce de mi visita a París. Como pude, tuve que decir que no sin recurrir a desilusionar con la frase “Es que las chicas no son lo mío”. Aunque a veces me pregunto que hubiese pasado si lo hubiese dicho.

 En París me quedé tres semanas. De pronto mucho o de pronto muy poco pero todos los días excepto el 1 de enero, salí a caminar. Fuese por las calles de Ivry, por el Sena o por Bercy, fuera para recorrer el infame Bois de Boulogne, el divertido parque de Disney o los lujosos barrios del distrito dieciséis, siempre disfrutaba salir a caminar y simplemente sentir que no era un turista sino que, de alguna manera pertenecía a París y, en secreto, París me pertenecía a mi. En los más alto de la Torre Eiffel, me sentí como en un globo aerostático, sobre las nubes y más allá de todo, sin importar la cantidad de gente que tenía alrededor.

 Fueron un poco más de tres semanas de gastar los zapatos caminando por aquí y por allá, de tratar de descubrir que era lo que tenía esa ciudad para que todo el mundo, sin exageración, se hubiese enamorado de ella. Y la razón, simple y llana, es que tiene una partecita de todos nosotros. Sea cual sea el aspecto que llame de nuestro ser, París lo tiene en algún lado. Si es el hambre por descubrir, el placer, la diversión, el romance, la aventura, el volver a ser niño o simplemente ese gusto por abrir los ojos y asombrarnos con todo. París está ahí y necesita que todos la visitemos al menos una vez para que podamos respirar mejor y recordar que nos enamora de este mundo.

Dark enemy

   When the doors finally closed, everyone who had gathered in front of them just looked to the ground. They slowly went back to their duties in the palace or to their new houses in the lower levels, where they had been accepted just some hours ago. Another door that had closed was the one of the throne room, as the emperor had demanded to be left alone as he had “a strategy” to think about. The truth was, and everyone knew this, that the enemy was coming fast and that it couldn’t be stopped. It had been announced that they would destroy everything and everyone on their path and that’s why many had found shelter in the palace. The idea was that, as strong as the enemy was, they behaved like a group of buffalos. They charged until they hit something and then they moved on.

 The funny thing there was that no one really knew anything about the enemy except what people coming from other towns said. They were called “survivors” as they always arrived on the verge of collapse and they all had the same story about how awful and terrible the enemy was. However, despite been able to describe how their own tows burned and how people had been killed, they couldn’t tell anyone about the general aspects of the enemy. It was strange, but it was as if they had seen a shadow destroy all of those towns. No physical traits of any kind had been revealed, only the way they operated and that had been scary enough for everyone to take shelter in a building that was normally reserved for the rich and noble. That said a lot about their fear.

 The palace was a structure built in ten concentric rings, the highest been the one where the emperor lived and the lower ones where his staff lived. There were also some sublevels, normally catacombs used as prisons and to get access to a subterranean river. All of that space was now been used by the families that lived in the town and that had been allowed to come in by order of the empress. She was the one that was doing the most. Her name was Serena and she even went down to the sublevels and helped people build a house in the many rooms and spaces that had been only populated by rats for several hundreds of years. Her husband, however, was too scared or apprehensive to do nothing.

 No one knew if he had seen the enemy first hand or if he just felt this was the end of his reign. He had been emperor for fifty years; since he was a very young boy and this was the first time someone defied his power. And the truth was, he was very scared about it. Specially because there wasn’t a single man in the entire kingdom that could tell him anything useful about the enemy. No any general characteristics, not a weakness, not even the way they killed. It was true he was planning and working on the problem but it was also the truth that there was nothing he could really do about it.

 In the lower levels, many families tried to create the feeling of a home but it was practically impossible. Many of them were staying in rooms that felt too much like a prison and they soon realized that if the enemy didn’t walk through town but instead came to the palace, they would be trapped in the catacombs. The only way out was through the underground river but no one really knew how to navigate it and not everyone would be able to use the only boat that remained there. It was said that many of the emperor’s servants had escaped on other boats, leaving only one in the docks. Many children of these refugees loved to go and play in the docks as it was the only place that felt different and worth exploring, even if it was as dark and moist as the rest of the sublevels.

 Life in the upper levels, however, rapidly went back to normal. All the people working for the emperor resumed their work: they cooked big feasts for the few members of royalty, they made fabulous robes and they even brought in objects from the outside by specially trained hawks. They brought jewelry from very far cities and also delicacies that the king always liked. But the empress wasn’t too impressed by this. She was actually revolted by the fact they were eating a five-course meal as the people in the catacombs had only some bread to feed their children. She tried to protest before her majesty but his aides wouldn’t let her, as she would disturb him greatly. They didn’t want to bother him as he drank his beer.

 Serena decided to go for a walk around all the levels and wrote on a piece of paper everything that she saw that was wrong: too much water been wasted on plants in the gardens, a whole level dedicated to keeping his majesty’s clothes cleaned and perfect, the vaults of money and jewels been filled everyday despite the industry and commerce coming to halt, the closure of the market that had always worked in front of the main entrance, the fact that the his majesty’s guard was very numerous but there were only a few men guarding the first wall that would prevent the enemy from coming in and many other things. She actually ran out of paper as she walked along the edge of the wall, looking towards the town where only ghosts lived now.

 But she realized she was mistaken. There was smoke coming out from one of the houses chimney. She asked one of the few guards for how long that smoke had been there and they said that since the time the people of the town entered the palace. She concluded then that someone, maybe an entire family, had decided to stay behind and leave their lives as always. They didn’t care about the enemy, about wars or even about their emperor. They just wanted to keep living and Serena admired that. She asked her husband to let her go to the town, but his answer was obviously negative.

 But Serena wasn’t really one to wait around for others to approve. She had always been rebellious and she had always been curious about her marriage to the emperor. Despite having even younger sisters that were a lot less trouble, he had chosen her to be his wife. He said that it was because of her hair, which reminded him of wheat. But it had to be something else, or so she hoped. One night, she slipped out of her room and disguised herself as one of the refugees. Her handmaiden had gotten the clothes. Serena descended through secrets stairs and hallways that only a few knew about and finally reached the market in front of the entrance. There, she had to run through the square and reach a dark wall on the other end. There was a secret passage there too but the soldiers could see her if she made too much noise.

 She stopped first to calculate how to cross the square and then breath heavily in order to get herself pumped up. She then ran for her life like a mad person and reached the dark wall in seconds. It was strange that no one had seen her, as the moon was particularly bright, but she moved on. The tunnel she was walking on was very humid and full of moss. She fell a couple of times before reaching the end of the path. The tunnel ended in a small room, right in the middle of town. It was amazing no one knew about it. Serene walked out of it slowly and looked at the sky, looking for the smoke.

 The house she was looking for was just a couple of streets away. She walked slowly but not really trying not to make noise, as supposedly, there was no one in town. When she arrived at the house, she knocked. Maybe it had been a bold move but she really didn’t have time to play around. No one answered so she knocked again. Then, she let out a scream as someone pulled a curtain and looked out. Then the door opened and scared faces looked straight at her. There wasn’t one family living there, but two: three adults and five children. They recognized her and that was why they let her in. They were visibly nervous and she tried to reassure them but it was a lost cause. In the end, it was pretty reasonable to be scared and jumpy after been through so much.

 Serena was about to speak when the ground started to tremble. Everyone pulled back from the door and the walls and ran towards a hatch on the ground. Serena didn’t. She was too curious, too urged for the truth. She walked to the curtain and stood still, looking through the window, not even moving. The tremor grew stronger and then, what felt like hundreds of boars passed in front of the house. They were huge, with big horns and red eyes. They destroyed everything outside but they passed fast. She breathed again but it was too soon. Something else was coming down the street and she had to cover her mouth in order not to scream and reveal her position.

 In the palace, they finally realized something was wrong. But it was too late as the moon revealed what was happening there, in the town. And it also revealed that the palace wasn’t safe because, whatever was causing the ground to shake was coming their way. It was only a matter of minutes before the boars overran the market square. And even then, watching it all from his room, the emperor did nothing. Not even thinking about his wife.