JAGUAR FLOWER

CHAPTER 1

"TEMIQUI"

Outside the house, the night passed like any other, still, illuminated by the light of the stars and the full moon that drew the landscape, there, hidden in the lushness of a pirul, an owl, night watchman, witnessed the fact, but inside it was not so, the stillness was interrupted by the futile gravity of night sleep, it was the ninth time that Ines spent her nights wrapped in dreams! From the time she closed her eyes until she opened them, she found herself immersed in the same scenes as when she was thirteen years old. However, she could not tell if these were her memories or if they belonged to someone else, casting doubt on whether it was all the work of her own brain. Events continued along the usual course that Inés had grown accustomed to the last few days. She simply let herself go, settling into a place where she could enjoy the show.
Again, everything took place in his great-grandmother's house, which was part of the family heirloom. It had five rooms in which three people could sleep in each, a small kitchen, but with a table large enough to receive the whole family at mealtime. It had a large garden, designed for children to play and have fun. That home was built stone by stone, in a place where initially there was nothing but with the passage of time, it was surrounded by more buildings. Generation after generation, they lived in that place, being the favorite of Inés, where she spent her weekends and vacations, enjoying the company of her grandparents and great-grandmother, uncles, aunts, cousins; the family that loved her and that she adored.

Dull thuds echoed across the wide courtyard each time a heavy footstep hit the ground; Inés moved her arms, keeping a fixed point in front of her, as she shifted from side to side. Watching her young version move in such an awkward manner, kept provoking waves of embarrassment forcing her to avert her gaze. On the other hand, the fact also brought her a little bit of pride.

"Why is Inés marching ?" questioned a young boy to her great-grandmother, concern tinged his words disguised as rudeness... "Is she going to war? Is the country still in conflict? I haven't heard anything about that until now, have you wrapped me in some spell so I won't notice the outside, chamana?!...Well, that doesn't matter now, you mustn't send her to the battlefield! I'll go in her place!...She...She...."

Once again the pang of pain made him stop, his voice at a certain point began to tremble. He was again plunging into despair, helpless at the miserable condition his body was in at that moment. Inés just looked at him, repressing the urge to hug him. The first time Inés dreamed of that moment, she immediately threw herself to calm him down, meeting the surprise of not being able to touch him. Her hand went through him, he couldn't see her either. The same thing happened with her great-grandmother, who was sitting behind him at a small table while she ate peanuts. Every time this happened, Inés looked with annoyance at her thirteen-year-old self:

"Why didn't you realize it at the time, silly? " she reproached herself, since no one else there could hear her.

But who is this boy of almost the same age as Inés? Zinh was what she called him. She remembered very well the day she met him, her grandmother found him in the field near the house, unconscious, with surprising wounds made by a ferocious animal. When he woke up, he did not remember his origin or his family, Inés' grandmother later discovered that the boy had been abandoned. Both her great-grandmother and grandmother were kind and kind-hearted people, so they took care of Zinh. In time, Zinh also became part of the family, and no one was surprised when she and he became as close as if they were siblings.

Having recovered his breath, the boy was ready for a second round and opened his mouth again, but a person next to him stopped him:

"There is not any war, she will soon pass to third year of high school, she will be applying to be part of the escort in her school next week, she is just practicing" explained with a slow and calm voice Guadalupe, Inés' grandmother, who sat on the boy's left side telling him: "Don't yell at my mom, she is already old, so many years and you didn't learn to respect the older adults, little boy?"