See no evil - The awakening

See no evil?

I was about 5 or 6 at the time. My brother and I used to go to a small ice cream shop in town. On the main road there was a huge sculpture of an ice cream cone, which was just too big for this small shop, but it did the trick. If you'd pass by it, you'd want ice cream.

–The smallest one you've got, lemon and strawberry. –my brother always said, and as he was the oldest of us both, I just asked for the exact same thing.

And so we went, with our small little ice creams making some jokes at each other. A little push on the shoulder here and there. The small town life from the small town of Escobar in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

At the time we spent our weekends at our country house, which was just a few minutes out of town, an old dirt road took you from the main road to our farm. We little minions walked it with our rain boots with dirt up to our knees almost everyday we were there.

That was the day that my brother always remembers me being a liar, a great one, till Today, he still remembers that day, and I do too, but for different reasons.

A late summer afternoon, the sun was almost down, the sky had this intense orange light which tainted everything it touched. Us two with our ice creams were walking towards the dirt road that took us home when we saw a black car. A fancy black car which just didn't belong in that small town. So we just had to check it out. As we passed by, we slowed down and turned our heads left towards the front window of the car and we saw what at the time neither of us fully understood. A man, an old man for us and the way he seemed back then, who had his mouth on a woman's neck. My brother laughed and said we shouldn't look any more but I just couldn't stop looking. And it was as if the man knew I was there because he pushed his mouth away and looked right into my eyes. I grabbed my brother's arm as tight as I could and just froze, my nails were cutting his skin and he was trying to make me stop but I just couldn't hear what he was saying or even tried to let him go, I just froze.

I must have blinked and the man was standing in front of both of us, he cleaned a drop of blood that was traveling from his mouth to his chin with one finger and licked it.

–What are you two young fellas doing here all by yourself?

I wanted to move, I wanted to go, but I couldn't do that or answer.

–We are just getting some ice cream. – my brother answered, he sounded scared but he didn't move either, his voice was almost serene, but I knew him, he was scared.

–Did any of you see me Today? – the man asked in a way where there was no real answer to that question.

–No, we see nobody. – Tom answered again, but now the fear had gone.

–Have a great day little people. – He smiled and walked back to the car.

As soon as he left, Tom started joking about the ice cream, and the day as if nothing had happened. I was sure he was messing with me but as it turned out, he wasn't. As soon as I got home, I told my mother what had happened but Tom said I was lying, that we didn't see anyone, we didn't talk to anyone. Years passed and I sometimes asked him again, but the answer was always the same. –We saw nobody that day Cas, stop lying to everyone.