𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 [english]

3.

The passing of the days took away what was left of the temporary ink. Sofia was much calmer seeing her skin completely clean. Maybe she should take wanting a tattoo off her bucket list.

Her days were lonely, but not boring. Rarely she spend a whole day in the boarding house where she lived. She rather spend her time doing something she really liked: researching insects.

Sometimes she went to the different squares and parks that were in her city. If she came across an insect, she would look at it in detail, take notes and try to draw it even if she wasn't very good at it.

Other times she would go to libraries to read about insects. She took out many books and magazines, especially to have something to do on the days that she had to go to the hospital to monitor the disease that was slowly killing her.

She didn't know if it was because of resignation or because of everything she had to live alone, but she was always happy.

There were times when an ugly feeling managed to oppress her chest and make her eyes water, but Sofía controlled so as not to let herself be carried away by that feeling. She knew she didn't have much time, so she didn't want to waste moments being consumed by sadness or anger. Every time a bad thought crossed her mind, she eliminated it with another positive one, or with one of resignation. I don't have much time, but how much time is enough?

That afternoon she prepared to go out once more. She took her small bag in which she placed first and foremost her magnifying glass, then her notebook and some colored pencils.

She headed towards a square that was not so far from her house. She had other places to go, but they were quite far away and she was a bit sore and didn't want to walk far, so she chose to visit those places later.

The journey from her house to the square only took her a few minutes.

Once she was there, she took out her magnifying glass and began to observe. She wasn't having much luck that day. She had already been there for almost half an hour, and had not been able to see any insect.

Suddenly, a strong body pain invaded her. I guess I should have stayed at home, she thought. She chose not to despair, and with her breathing a little agitated, she searched with her eyes for a bench to sit on. She was glad when she found one. She trudged over and sat down for a moment. She kept looking around to distract herself a bit, and thus not lose her good spirits.

Despite her attempt, her good spirits were slightly altered, since she saw Matthew walking near where she was. She remembered his teasing and that put her in a bad mood, but then she remembered that he had told her that he wanted to see her again. Bad mood and nervousness combined. She didn't know how to define her state of mind at that moment. She only prayed that he didn't notice her presence. She wanted to see him but at the same time not. She asked fate, with some annoyance, why it was insisting on bringing them together, although later, both she and Matthew would be totally grateful that it happened.

Just when he passed very close to the bench where Sofia was sitting, she thought he would pass by without noticing her. And yes, that had happened. The problem was that an incident occurred that forced Sofia to get close to him.

The boy's leisurely walk was interrupted. Out of nowhere he let out a loud scream of panic. He brought a hand to his chest. His heart was beating so fast, so hard, he felt it pounding in his chest. His eyes conveyed total despair.

That scene had managed to scare Sofia. It had all happened so suddenly... But she calmed down, and tried not to laugh when she realized what had scared the boy so much.

"Don't you dare step on it." Sofia threatened.

"I would never touch it." Matthew responded with some disgust.

Sofia giggled and extended her index finger towards the grasshopper that was next to Matthew's foot. The little bug had stayed put, like it was wondering what the hell was wrong with that boy.

"Oh how can you do that!" the disgusted boy exclaimed when he saw that Sofia was holding the bug in her hands.

Sofia rolled her eyes in amusement. "If I talk to you..." she answered ironically, getting the boy to cross his arms with an annoyed grimace on his face.

"You'll be fine here" she spoke to the grasshopper as he released it onto the grass. She had already seen it many times, so she didn't write it down in her notebook.

"Can you just calm down?" Sofia asked, looking at Matthew, who was sitting on the bench with a face that he had just seen a tragedy.

“That thing almost went up my leg" he said indignantly.

"But he's gone, calm down." She consoled while looking at him thinking that all this was already an exaggeration.

"Thank you" He blurted out taking her by the shoulders.

She couldn't do more than pat his shoulder, trying not to blurt out any teasing or comment that would upset him more. Despite wanting to make fun of it, she clearly noticed that he had a huge phobia, so she felt it was not right to play with it, or at least not at that moment.

From the way he had taken her, Sofia could see more clearly the tattoos that covered his arms. Once again she thought how intimidating he looked, in addition that he was around 30, and it amused her that he was so afraid of bugs.

Then she remembered the offer he had made her.

"Can I still choose one?" she asked.

At first he looked a bit confused. Then he understood what she meant and responded with a nod.

"I want to know about this one." Sofia said, after thinking about it for a few seconds. "It looks like a child's drawing" she added, noting that this was what had mainly caused her curiosity about that combination of various shapes painted with bright colors.

"It is." He replied with a nostalgic smile. "Its story is not very long. I only drew this once when I was in kindergarden. I liked it so much that I started drawing it everywhere. Then I drew it on my arm, right where I have it tattooed. I remember my teacher scolded me and told me to wash it." he laughed. "Anyway, that's how I started designing tattoos. I kept drawing it. And when it came time to actually get tattooed, I wanted it to be the first one. I think that because of it I wanted to be a tattoo artist." He finished with a smile.

Sofia smiled too. The little story had caused her a lot of tenderness.

"Did you do all of them?" she asked, and then she realized that she wanted to keep seeing him. She was already interested in spending time with him, even though she didn't want to admit it back then.

“Most of them." He answered proudly.

They shared more smiles and then Matthew offered to walk Sofia home.

Once she was there she thought about the events that had happened in the afternoon. Talking with Matthew had restored her good spirits, she even forgot the pain she felt.

She had spent her entire life alone, and she thought it was time to change that.