I woke up from the nap and for a
brief hopeful moment I thought I had finally got out of that crazy
dream. It was sufficient to reach my back with my hand to meet the
raw surface of the cliff
I was resting on and within the
sensation of the irregular surface scratching my fingertips the
awareness that that dream was not one
of those akin to be
escaped by the sound of an alarm clock. I closed my eyes again to
clean my view. Possibly my
mind too.Then I looked
down where I saw the head of Mimi slightly moving. She was
half-asleep and kept kissing the air in
front of her face, it
looked like she was
gasping like a fish. I woke her gently. She raised her head
and opened her eyes while smiling relaxed.
“He-ey! How did you
sleep?”
“Fine, you know what they say: nothing makes a better
choice for a nap than the side of a mountain!” I joked.
She smiled
again with her eyes closed again.
Then she yawned as hard as she
could and added: “Oh jeez! I am so hungry. Like, I feel my stomach
is eating itself.” Her stomach was growling since a while now.
“I
know Mee, but we lost the bag with the sandwiches.” I excused
myself.
“Meh, it would have not been that much now, wouldn’t it.”
“I
don’t know Mee, you mother makes them very heavy.”
“Mmmf, I
wish I could have a turkey sandwich now, like sooo much!” She
lamented pretending to cry a little. “What do skyscrapers eat?”
She continued.
“Ehm … employee and directors’ boards?” I
answered.
“Mmm, yummy! I wish I could have a sandwich packed with
business people!” She joked with me.
“Do you … do you think we
can eat the trees now?” She asked after a pause in which she kept curling a tuft in front of her face.
“What? The trees? Roots and branches?”
“I mean, they are not that hard anymore, maybe we can chew on them?
Don’t you? There’s only trees around here. Plenty of them.”
“Yeah, I don’t think it would be a good idea. Our stomachs are
not designed to digest wood.”
She snorted out of frustration.
“Yuck! Plenty of trees I can’t eat and water I can’t drink.”
I also was considering our condition. We were like shipwrecked adrift
with no more water and food. Well, things
were still pretty fine at the moment, but I wondered how long could
we resist the hunger and the thirst and luckily a feeble memory hit
me in that moment.
“Wait. There is water we can actually drink!”
I exclaimed.
“What?” Mimi asked surprised.
“You wanted to take
me to visit that river, how do you call it?”
“Oh yeah! The Silver
Tail!”
“Yeah, That stuff! Isn’t it just behind the mountain
side on the other side of the city?” I asked hopeful.
“Oh yeah!
It is just beyond there.”
She pointed at the mountain that designed
a corner on the other side of the city. She stood first. I followed
her helping me getting up by putting my hand on the first surface I
could find. It was a little football field. It could not stand very
long under my weight and it sank into the sea. I excused myself
again. But at this point the list of damages we had caused was
already too long to keep note of it. Mimi had already taken her
course when I stopped her touching
her
left
arm to recall her attention.
To my surprise and Mimi’s as well
there it was
the only thing which at
that
point we both were desperate to find anymore. People. People aware of
our presence, but brave or inconsiderate enough to remain
close enough to be
spotted. I worried a
little more now for the little football field I sank before. What if
there were people there too. The fact that the curious crowd was
trembling but almost still I tried to deduce nobody had gone further
than them.
“Is it what I think it is?” Mimi asked with a worried
and marveled tone.
“I think it is what it is.” I answered
completely unaware of how stupid it must have sounded.
They were a
thick group, twenty or more, but nobody seemed to be in charge. They
were just casual spectators. I could distinguish at least an old
couple and a group of guys, our age maybe, pushing and hitting each
other pointing at Mimi. I kind of disliked it, but also kind of liked
it. Of course, I considered it a little inappropriate to point at my
naked girlfriend in front of me. But on the other hand, she was not
only my girlfriend anymore. She was taller than a mountain, a real
world wonder. It made me feel kind of proud for her. She interrupted
this meditation of mine asking:
“Should we make them understand we
noticed them?”
“I don’t know. How?”
“Well ...” she
paused. Then she looked directly at the crowd, smiled ear to ear and
waved with both hands. People were surprised to be recognized, for
the most part. But after some moments of doubt most of them waved
back.
“Yay! - Mimi celebrated – I feel like a pop star on
vacation now! Come on, say hello to our first fans.”
I didn’t
share her enthusiasm, but I didn’t want to stand there like a
statue of salt with my hands on my side. I waved too. The people
seemed to be more encouraged by my participation in the salutations’
exchange and started waving with more conviction. They also whistled
and cheered. It was very strange. I probably became red for
embarrassment. I’m not
anti-social, it’s just that I don’t like to be at the center of
attention in general. Something extremely in conflict with my current
condition of being taller bigger than a city center.
Mimi, instead, had already left every hesitancy. She was not only
waving but also posing. She was making heart shapes with her finger
and breaking it with kisses directed to the admirers. I could clearly
distinguish the boys on the front row pretending to be hit and faint.
I felt an incredible urge to shake my head in disappointment, but
Mimi looked just too
gleeful for these attentions that not even I could ruin her
happiness.
“Can we get closer to them? Please. They love us!”
“Eh
… what? Why are you asking me? I think we should go seek that
river. Aren’t you thirsty anymore?”
She shrugged her shoulders
and turned back to her audience. “Come on! They’re so goddamn
cute! I want to get just a little closer. Please! Come on! It will
take just a moment.” She made the big eyes. I really felt
uncomfortable with all that. But there was no resistance possible, so
I nodded.
“Yay! - she celebrated – I just want to take a look at
this teeny tiny troop.” She said the last words while crouching on
the ground.
The
ground being,
since a while, the water
of the sea
near the coastline,
which was flat and calm.
Of course the commotion
following Mimi’s change of position determined several waves to hit
the shore and even surmounting the wall separating the beach from the
street sprinkling almost everyone of the small group of onlookers.
After she was on all four, she put her forearms down, elbow in the
see but hands around the little parking lot where the crowd had
formed. Her butt
was proudly up in the air but luckily for me alone to enjoy. Finally
she approached the crowd with her head as much as she could. It must
have been something astonishing from their point of view. Her head
cast an enormous shadow on the whole parking lot and the nearby area.
It must have been like an eclipse in broad light. Some people backed
a little, but most of them stood there waiting for the next move of
the giantess. Mimi’s eyes were glowing. Her body was completely
tight.
Finally the group of boys pushed one of them in a yellow swimsuit out of the line in front of her. Her breath coming from her nostrils was enough to generate a strong current that rhythmically rocked everybody’s clothes back and forth. She put her chin on the hands resting on the beach. Her nose was almost touching the concrete in the parking lot. The boy was extremely hesitant. I didn’t want to try any further move. His friends were enthusiastically encouraging him to step forward. Some other people were maybe trying to call him back. The enormous pupils of Mimi were following every single movement of the boy and the crowd to the point of crossing each other. After ten steps, excruciating to wait for, he was close enough for a contact. He stretched his arm toward the far point of Mimi’s nose while looking in the opposite direction. She closed her eyes as hard as she could shivering in anticipation. And finally he touched her. Mimi made an extremely acute noise to contain her exultation. It was at the same time the most annoying and adorable thing one could watch that afternoon. He kept his hand on her nose a little. When she opened her eyes again he retreated slowly without breaking eye contact.
Mimi raised her head back, and helped
herself with her arms to gain a sitting position on her heels. The
ground shook probably, but the only way for me to perceive that was
the reaction of the crowd in which more than one person struggled to
keep balance. She leaned
back forward and whispered in her softest voice.
“Thank you
everybody. You are the cutest! Now we have to go find a drink! Eh
eh!” And winked at the guy in yellow swimsuit.
I offered her my
hand to stand up again. She put her foot forward to leverage. The
impact of the foot with the sea created a big wave that impacted
really hard the shoreline and sprayed all over the crowd. The hit was
also hard enough to make the soil tremble and more than a person
sought for a support in order to don’t fall. Mimi excused herself
for the accident, then she stood next to me. She kissed goodbye and
then kissed me on the cheek.
“OK! Now we go.” And she started
walking wiggling her behind probably in a failed attempt to wag an
imaginary tail.