Valencia is a place built in a strange way. In the most rural areas there are species of small domes or wooded urbanizations that you have to access by giving an unnecessary curve to continue on your way.That fall day I was leaving school at the age of twelve, my leg was a bit sick from an injury that I really don't want to remember. The law dictated that children could not go out alone, because, being a rural area, sometimes people disappeared, and this was considered relatively normal. However, I didn't have transportation, no one was going to pick me up, I asked a man for a ride, he was taking a classmate girl who was three degrees below, little Paula.The man, as he could, got away from that, the truth did not impress or worry me so much, because honestly it had been a long time since I was walking alone down the slope crossing the "small" grove that was almost close to the school, he left, and I Also, obviously he was going faster by going by car, so I quickly lost sight of him.Then going down a small stretch of rocky mountain walk down to the curve that leads to the entrance of the grove. It was not a really wide curve, but it did give a considerable view to a wide and perhaps a little gloomy landscape. Although they could be my imaginations. I saw the pink flowers thinking about him how sometimes those groves gave an almost stolen air to the landscapes of East Asia, it was then that I crossed the car in which Paula was going through the entrance of the grove.the grove actually consists of a path, which leads to a landscape, whose perimeter is completely delimited by a dense population of trees and to get out of it you had to turn everything around and take the exit path, right next to the de entrance, but separated by the grove, I had never before stopped to think how tall these trees were. They were very very tall standing several meters from one, it would be difficult for them to see the end of it, people used to say that its branches touch heaven and its roots touch hell.
I saw Paula's car out of the corner of my eye, with some contempt, to be honest, I didn't question why that car was standing there, or why Paula was alone, I just kept walking. The road is somewhat long and twisted. You can tell that it was not a path created by man just because of how impractical it was. Once I entered it, only a few rays of sun escaped between the leaves of those giants, and also in those parts it is normal that there is a certain amount of mist at that time, otherwise the road was quite clear, as always, it was wide to the sides among other things, it would be difficult to be close to something without seeing it from afar, that is why I was a bit surprised that I had not even run into Pula's father, "maybe he went down to urinate before entering the grove" I thought, well known that urinating in it is strictly prohibited.
Finally I began to take the last steps that led to the clearing, where the path forked, and there in the distance I could see something sitting with immense tranquility on a log arranged almost as if it were a seat, in the entire background of the clearing, I assumed it was Pula's father, although it didn't really make sense to me.
I couldn't take my eyes off that figure that lay motionless as I approached, the way I took the path would not allow me to really get close to it, but undoubtedly we were going to be at a point where it would see me just as I would see it . Somehow that thought gave me chills, even though it was probably Paula's father, yes, it must be, there couldn't be anyone else around.The cold was noticeable through the layers of clothing I was wearing, but not enough to shiver, just enough not to sweat, I passed serene and stoic by the place when I reached the entrance of the clearing, and I stopped suddenly.
I could correctly observe the figure that perched on that trunk, it was a very white woman, in a very large tunic of purple pastel colors, she looked beautiful, but somehow unnatural. To my misfortune, not only did I see her but she saw me, when I turn my head slightly I noticed something that I had not noticed in the light, and through the trees, from her head adorned with immense black hair two very long horns emerged .
I was petrified, the woman looked at me, and I looked at her, she smiled, almost, barely, I remember her eyes with marked Asian features, barely open, in the distance, and I remember that she stood up, I turned pale when I noticed something that I could not having noticed before that point from the perspective, she was very far from me, but once she got up, and once she began to approach me I could realize that she had a disproportionate height, pale and as a soul that the devil carries I began to run back down the road, perhaps chased by that woman, I don't know, the truth is, I didn't give myself the moment to look back, although I didn't feel anyone running after me.On the way back I saw many fellow students who had to take the same route, who when seeing me pale and running at full speed did not ask questions and ran too, when we heard in the distance as if one of those titanic trees was uprooted from the earth. A sound that I will never forget.When I got to the entrance, I saw Paula, and I saw that she was pale, I helped her out and carried her, and we all ran back to school, to take another path, perhaps longer, but you have to be careful with the clearings , because sometimes things inhabit them, things that do not want to be disturbed. Paula's dad never showed up.