𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 [english]

5.

"And what does this mean?" Sofia questioned.

Once again she had met Matthew.

She had improved considerably. She felt much better, and took advantage of every moment of well-being.

She had been very lucky regarding the observation of insects. More notes filled her notebook, as well as beautiful drawings that Sofia hadn't done by herself.

She had a hard time convincing Matthew to help her make the drawings, but she was able to get him to relent. She'd even gotten him to admit that he found some of them disgustingly pretty, just like he'd said.

Spending time with Sofia had also been very good for Matthew. They went out, chatted, shared tastes, or just sat down to listen to music.

Matthew had found a very sweet girl, who was also mysterious. Sometimes he saw her very happy, like that day, and other times he noticed a certain… Actually, he didn't know what it was. Sadness, nostalgia... He wasn't sure. He always wanted to ask her if something was wrong, but then he saw her happy and decided against it. He didn't want to ruin the moment, or the friendship he had managed to form with her.

"I have this with my sisters." He answered the question Sofia had asked before. "We are three. I'm the oldest and the only boy, that's why I have 1/3, the others obviously have 2/3 and 3/3. They don't like tattoos too much. But, since we were always very close, when I proposed this idea, they accepted without hesitation. Although theirs are much smaller, and somewhat hidden, in areas that are normally covered. One has it on her ribs, and the other has it near her clavicle... I haven't seen them in person for a long time, only by video call." He commented a little sad.

"Do you miss them a lot?" she asked, placing a hand on Matthew's shoulder.

He nodded. "I've been doing it since I started traveling… We grew up together, I can't help but miss them." He giggled. "I remember a time when-" Matthew stopped suddenly. "I'm sorry... I talk a lot, maybe I can bore you." He said scratching his neck feeling a little embarrassed.

"No, no… Not at all Matthew, you don't bore me. Please, keep telling me…" Sofía insisted.

While listening to Matthew's stories of sibling pranks, Sofia imagined him as a child playing with his sisters.

Once, when she was little, she wished she had siblings so she wouldn't be so alone and had someone to play with. Then she thought it was okay like that. She began to think that way by analyzing her situation. Growing up in an orphanage, if she had any siblings they could have been separated, and that would have been horrible. It was better that way. Alone, as she had always been... At least, until a while ago.

Another good thing she found in solitude was that she wouldn't miss anyone, and no one would miss her, but that had changed.

Matthew continued to tell his stories and Sofía rested her head on his shoulder to continue listening attentively.

She returned her full attention to Matthew's voice, instead of remembering those not-so-good things she had been through. After all, she was fine. More at that moment, next to Matthew, hearing his voice, which managed to relax her.

She had looked up the meaning of his name on the internet. "Gift of God...", he really is.

When she went to get a tattoo, she didn't imagine the situation she would find herself in later. She didn't get her long-awaited tattoo, but she did get something much better; a friend.