<\/p>\n
On the second afternoon, after we finished with the pendula exercise, I came back quietly to my hosts\u2019 house, before the challenge of the afternoon: the school. At the agreed time, I was picked up. I arrived at a huge amphitheater full to bursting. Behind me, an electronic board and a pen. I had asked how it worked before the start of class. I would be able to draw with colors.<\/p>\n
The school director opened the meeting. She pointed to those who like to speak, who had put their hands up with a light pen, to let them ask their questions. Everybody could hear the conversation clearly.
\nI began to introduce myself. There were mutterings as I gave my name. Then I told them that on Earth I was not a boy, but a girl. And there was an \u201coh\u201d of surprise. I could see the first hands go up.
\n– Do you have a lover on Earth?
\nLaughs and giggles in the room. A \u201ccome on, kids\u201d from the Director. And me:
\n– Yes. Well, no. Er, it\u2019s complicated.
\n– How many moons do you have?
\n– What?
\nThe Director whispered to me, \u201cHe wants to know your age.\u201d
\n– Oh. I don\u2019t know. We don\u2019t have the same moon.
\nAnother \u201coh\u201d of surprise.
\n– Can you draw us a horse?
\n–\u00a0 I can, but I am going to draw one as it is on Earth.
\nAnd I began to draw. There were whispers at my back while I was bustling about.
\n– Here it is.
\nAdmiration, \u201coh\u201ds in the room.
\n– And what do you look like?
\nAnd then it was another selfie. And a big silence. A hand came up.
\n– Mist\u2026 Miss, are you ill?
\n– No, of course not. Where I come from, the skin is not marked like yours. People can be pale like me, or darker than you.
\n\u201cOh\u201ds of surprise in the room.
\n– Are you going to stay here?
\n– No, I have to go home in a few days, and give this body back.
\n– What do you eat on Earth?
\n– Food is very different from here. We don\u2019t have the same animals, or the same fruits or vegetables. It would be too difficult to talk about tastes, but I can draw you a chicken\u2013many people eat chickens\u2013a tomato\u2013 it\u2019s a vegetable I like very much\u2013and my favourite fruit, a peach.
\nI started to draw a chicken pecking on the ground, a peach tree in bloom, with a big peach for illustrative\u00a0 purposes on the side, and a tomato all alone. At least, the tomato is less inspiring.
\nI could hear mutterings behind me. When I finished, I turned around and told them what was what.
\n– Did you go to the Great Waterfall?
\n– Er, no. I haven\u2019t had much time to go around. But there are falls on Earth too. Do you want me to draw you one?
\nIt was a frank \u201cyes\u201d spreading amongst the benches.\u00a0 I was about to start the biggest drawing I could on this board. I turned back and said to the children, It\u2019ll take time, so I\u2019d like to suggest something: how about you sing a song for me while I draw?
\nThey began a song, a song without words, just ohs and ahs with groups of voices answering each other, mixing and parting. A joyful and moving melody. I felt a great sense of well-being and I drew frantically. My hand had never been that fast. The song stopped suddenly. And I stopped drawing.
\nI moved back, a little dazed, without understanding what I had in front of me.
\nThe room was whispering. I felt bewildered.
\n– This\u2026 is not a fall, I finally said.
\n– Oh no, this is the gold ring rise, told me the Director.
\n– But I didn\u2019t even see it\u2026 before today.
\n– The song was from the gold ring ceremony. The children sing this song just before each rise, she specified.
\n– It was a very beautiful song. Thank you children, I mumbled.
\n– Kids, we have to let our guest have some rest now.
\nProtest in the audience.
\n– And the fall. We didn\u2019t have the fall.
\n– I\u2019ll do a painting. For the school. I promise.
\nAnd those were the last words I spoke in public that day.<\/p>\n
In the evening, at my hosts\u2019 house, they were looking at me with questioning eyes.
\n– My drawing was inspired by the song. It was like I was bewitched. I felt such a fervour. It was like my arm was being guided.
\n– By the song?
\n– Yes.
\n– You\u2019re definitely full of surprises, Beth from Earth, said my host.
\n– I really don\u2019t understand what is happening to me.
\nFragrant Flower from Isadora Plain put her hand on my shoulder and said mischievously, Don\u2019t you have a new hairdo to suggest? Not for me. For Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe.
\n– With such long hair, we can put it in a bun, I smiled.
\n– Oh, I don\u2019t know what that is, but nobody is going to undo my plait.
\n– You\u2019re a coward, said his wife.
\n– I am wise, he answered.
\n– It doesn\u2019t matter. I have a painting to do anyway. See you later, I\u2019ll go to my bedroom to draw.
\n– See you later, they answered in chorus.<\/p>\n
This morning I am surprised to see the Major arrive at my hosts\u2019 house.
\n– The program has changed, he announces. No indoor sport today. We go outdoors.
\nOutside, I can see two mounts ready to ride.
\n– Where are we going?
\n– To the Great Waterfall.
\nAnd then he dashes away at full gallop. After a few minutes he slows down. I catch up and now we are riding side by side.
\n– It is at the end of this lane.
\nAt the end of the lane.
\n– Here we are. This is it.
\nThe falls are in front of us. It is a cascading\u00a0 waterfall. We are overlooking a huge pond that stretches out as far as the eye can see on one side. There is a footbridge over the void.
\n– Come, he says to me.
\nWe are both sitting at the end of the footbridge. No protection. I am shivering a bit. My heart is tightening. This place is so\u2026 Earthlike. I feel homesick.
\n– Do you know how to swim? he asks me.
\n– Yes.
\n– Shall we jump?
\n– What?
\n– We are sitting on a diving board. Let\u2019s jump.
\nThen, he pushes out his arms, falls into the void, turns down, and enters the water arms- and head-first. He disappears for a few moments and resurfaces. I hear him shouting \u201cCome on!\u201d
\n– You\u2019re totally insane! I answer getting up and leaning over the void to see him.
\n– Sit down, and try to see mentally what I did. It\u2019s just a dive. You can do it, I am sure. You know how to swim!
\n– Yes, but that\u2019s not the point.
\n– And what is the point?
\n– If we are both down there, how do we go back home? Our horses are here.
\n– Look behind you.
\n– What the\u2026?\u00a0 They\u2019re away.
\n– I\u2019ve called them away.
\n– What?
\n– The psychic bond. They\u2019re on the way to pick us up. Jump. I\u2019m tired of screaming!
\nI sit down on the edge and I refresh my memory of the Major\u2019s fall. Then, I hear him shouting:
\n– Now!
\nAnd I throw myself into the void, doing exactly the same figure as he had before.
\n– I knew it. I knew you\u2019d succeed. A level 10 pendula just can\u2019t fail on such a simple exercise.
\n– I don\u2019t know what\u2019s holding me back from slapping you!
\n– I am your Major!
\n– I\u2019m not one of your soldiers.
\n– As long as you\u2019re in this body, you\u2019re under my responsibility.
\n– Oh. I thought I was under the responsibility of Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe.
\n– Not when you\u2019re with me. We\u2019ll have to swim now. We have to reach the end of the pond in this direction. What are you doing?
\n– I\u2019m swimming.
\n– People swim like that on Earth?
\n– Yes. It\u2019s called a crawl.
\n– And you stay above the surface?
\n– Er, yes. In any case, I do.
\n– But it\u2019s much more beautiful underwater.
\n– Underwater, I can\u2019t see that much and I can\u2019t stay a long time without breathing.
\n– In this body, you\u2019re one of us. You\u2019ve got exactly the same abilities, even more, according to what I\u2019ve seen in the Pendula Room. So you\u2019re going to listen to me carefully. We can stay underwater for a long time before coming up to the surface for a breath, and then dive again. When our eyes come into contact with water, a protective membrane covers them and we maintain very good sight. You have to fill up your lungs before diving, and above all, you have to concentrate on slowing down your heartbeats. Swim in a fluid motion and quietly. Is this completely clear?
\n– Fill up the lungs, slow down the heart beats, swim in a fluid motion and quietly.
\n– You got it. Let\u2019s try\u2026 Don\u2019t panic. Come back to me with your crawl. You have to relax.
\n– I wish you were me!
\n– Just concentrate. Try to picture yourself underwater. That\u2019s it. Slow down your heart beats. Take a breath and let yourself glide softly down. Don\u2019t forget to keep your eyes opened.<\/p>\n
I glide down under the surface.
\nI see the Major passing in front of me. I look at his movements and I follow him. Swimming, while going up to breathe only from time to time, is fantastic.
\nThe Major didn\u2019t lie; I discover under the surface of this pond an incredibly beautiful world, inhabited with weird, colored fish. During our underwater travel he shows me a sort of luminescent silver sphere. He goes to scratch it with his fingers, and the light intensifies. He asks me to do it too with another one swimming near my hand. I love it.
\nHe tells me later that it was a moonfish. There are some with a red light but they are rarer. Kids love moonfish and don\u2019t miss an opportunity to tickle them when they swim.
\nAs we arrive near the end of the pond, the bottom is closer and covered with sorts of blue and green algae.
\nWe finally reach the bank. When I get out of the water, I am surprised to feel my overalls dry after just a few steps.
\n– State of the art military clothes, he says to me proudly.
\nI don\u2019t have a chance to complain about my wet clothes, as I\u2019d intended to.
\n– We still have to walk for a while before we reach a clearing where the horses will pick us up.
\nWe walk silently.
\n– Here we are.
\nThe horses can be seen far off. They are arriving at a quiet pace. We go to meet them and get into the saddle.
\nI break the silence.
\n– Thank you.
\n– What for ?
\n– You have taught me how to swim like a Dalygarian.
\nThe Major smiles and dashes away at full gallop.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On the second afternoon, after we finished with the pendula exercise, I came back quietly to my hosts\u2019 house, before the challenge of the afternoon: the school. At the agreed time, I was picked up. I arrived at a huge… Continuer la lecture