The boulevard of the dead and other stories

Manual for catching clouds and butterflies

The clouds were  a mass composed of water or ice particles, which were suspended in the atmosphere, being classified as hydrometeors. Furthermore, they could not exist without the condensation of water vapor in the sky. While butterflies were classified as flying insects, also called Lepidoptera, which were recognized by their metamorphosis process and the multiple species that existed around the world. Daniel and Marco knew this.

But they also knew that, although at first glance they might seem very different from each other, there was something that made them very similar: They were both very difficult to catch.

For several years, Marco had lived with the desire to catch a cloud and keep it: Every time he went to the window, or left his house and saw them hanging there in the sky, he told himself that it was only a matter of time before he would come up with a plan to contain one of them.

 Besides, he knew that, the first thing he would do once he caught it would be to transport it to his house, and leave it next to his bed, in order to take it with him everywhere he went, to show it to his friends. However, he had not yet achieved his goal.

On the other hand, Daniel, unlike his younger brother, had not aspired to fulfill his goal for a long period of time, but his ambition had arisen four weeks ago, at the exact moment when he overheard his parents talking about the possibility of moving to a different house, taking him away from what he wanted and knew. Thanks to this, Daniel had dedicated himself to researching everything he could about butterflies, in order to understand them, and, therefore, be able to come up with a plan to catch one. But, so far, he could not think of a way to start.

And as the days went by, and the feeling that time was running out grew, they both decided to start making different lists and plans to achieve their goal, trying to make sure that none of the people, including his brother, would notice what they were doing, let alone what they wanted to achieve. Thanks to that, it became very common for Marco to see his older brother surrounded by large encyclopedias, even if he was only looking at a specific part of the book, or even if he was always writing something in a notebook, which he always tried to keep in sight, and which he closed every time someone tried to look at what he had written.

For his part, Daniel knew that his brother always preferred to be near a window before sitting somewhere else, however, he did not know the reason why now he dedicated himself to look carefully through it, drawing something from time to time, to later erase it in disgust. And he even got used to getting up in the middle of the night because of the light that flooded his room, simply to notice how his brother took his place by the window, to look out. 

Moreover, to neither of them this behavior had become strange, but, to their parents and people who knew him it had, so whenever his mother tried to find out why Daniel always perused with great interest those encyclopedias he had never bothered to touch, Marco was quick to shrug and assure her that he couldn't imagine the reason. And, when neighbors asked Daniel why Marco preferred to sit and watch rather than play, he would simply assure them that he was too tired.

However, although neither had dared to ask the other what they were doing, they couldn't help but be very curious, so they gradually preferred to stay as close as possible to each other, to find out what they were up to, if the opportunity arose.

Although, when Marco's "inevitable" question came, Daniel didn't know how to answer it.

That specific day, they were in their room, each in the place they had become accustomed to: Marco by the window, scribbling endless things on the sheets, and Daniel sitting on the bed against the wall, leaning on piles of books and worn dictionaries. And, as they waited for the rain to stop before going outside to play, Marco slowly turned in his chair, still looking at the list he held in his hands, and then looked at his older brother, deciding if it was time to ask for help or if he could wait a little longer.And, when his older brother looked up from the book, Marco decided that the time had come to try to find a possible solution to what was delaying his progress with the plan.