Gosh, how I miss the sea... It has been too long since I last heard it, felt its salty smell, squeezed wet sand in my hands, looked at its floating horizon. I can't be too long away from the sea and it's been more than a month already... But I can almost feel it already. I left Valdivia a while ago, this road's relic has been moaning for too long, we must be arriving to the beach... It stopped. I get off the bus. There it is, the sea. Hmmmmm, what a wonderful smell. I stop by the cliff and hear nothing but the waves splashing against the many rocks that abound in the little bay, which today is grey. The wind blows strongly, bringing little water sprinkles that refresh my heart, he who is missing Portugal. I go down to the sand. A friend sees me from the distance, comes closer, little by little, curious about me, looking at me, questioning me, wondering who I am, this person that just invaded his deserted beach. But he doesn't mean me no harm, he does not even want to expel me from his beach, instead he stops by my side and gazes at the sea together with me. He also likes to watch and feel the sea water, feel the wet sand, be here listening to Neptune playing with the rocks. Suddenly a group a seagulls flies by and he leaves running like a rocket, jumping around, trying to catch them without success. I run with him, why not?, after all the beach is ours, deserted of people but with plenty of sea to enjoy. I stop, he continues. He comes back, once more he stops by my side looking at me. And this time it's me who decides to start running like crazy. He follows me, jumping after me this time, being more successful in catching me than the seagulls, as I only fly in the wings of the wind and the waves. I stop, it's time to go back. He stops as well, looking at me once more, as I do to him. We chat a little while, I turn back and start going up the ramp. He looks at me, gazes at the sea, the seagulls pass by once more and there he goes again... I keep going up. A friend, one more friend that I leave along the way, who will stay in my memory, as I will most certainly stay in his. And we'll both follow our paths, each one his own, happy for having met and richer for having lived this brief moment together. From up the cliff I look at the sea one last time and see him in the sand, ruling happily in his own kingdom, looking at me one last time as well, waving his tale. He was a dog, I was a man, it could have been the other way around, who cares... What matters is that we both watched the sea together, without expecting anything else from each other, just enjoying the beach, sharing this moment, simply living. And wouldn't it be beautiful if it was like this always? We have so much to learn from the animals...





Niebla beach - Valdivia, Chile, June 2009