The Arrival

"So you can learn about my roots," Julian said with a fake smile to Akari, his wife.

It was a white lie. The truth was that, for twenty-five years, he had built a perfect life on rotten foundations, and now those foundations were beginning to smell unpleasant.

Haru, his ten-year-old son, documented everything with the new video camera, his narration enthusiastic and full of happiness. Hana, seven, pressed her nose against the window, marveling at the landscape the plane provided. They were the perfect family. A lie that Julián repeated to himself every day.

During the flight, the plane encountered terrifying turbulence. As the plane shook and the passengers screamed, Julian felt no fear. However, what he felt was something worse: a sense of justice. It was as if the universe was trying to reject him before he arrived. But it passed. The plane stabilized without further incident, and thanks to that, they were able to land.

The air of Chiapas hit them as they descended: humid, dense, laden with the scent of wet earth and vegetation so green it hurt their eyes. It was a primitive world compared to Tokyo.

" Dad, look, it's like a lost world! " whispered Haru, recording the lush vegetation from the window of the rental car.

Julián just nodded, gripping the steering wheel. His hands were sweating.

The stop at El Chiflón Waterfall was Akari's idea. A monstrous waterfall of white water and deafening roar. It was beautiful for the family, but Julián found it violent.

" We have to take a family photo here! " Akari insisted.

They asked a tourist to take their photo with Haru's camera. They posed. Julian forced the biggest smile he could muster. The water roared behind them.

Night fell like a heavy blanket as they drove toward the town. "La Reforma." A name that sounded like a mockery to Julián.

"Is it going to be much longer?" asked Hana, sleepily.

" We're almost at the hotel, honey. " said Akari, gently stroking Hana's cheek.

" No. This time we're not going to a hotel. It's a surprise I've been keeping secret. " said Julián, his voice deeper than he intended.

They arrived at a poorly lit cobblestone street and stopped in front of a two-story house. It had been freshly painted, but even the layers of cream-colored paint couldn't hide the neglect.

" Is this it, Dad? " asked Haru, lowering the camera.

"This is it, guys, this is where I was born and raised," Julian replied. He had paid a fortune to have it fixed up so that it would be livable for his family.

Akari and the children got out, excited about the authentic Mexican experience that awaited them. But Julián stood frozen next to the car, unable to move.

" Julian?,  Honey, aren't you coming ?" Akari called from the porch.

He couldn't hear her. He was looking at the second-floor window. The one that had been his room. The same window from which, twenty-five years ago, he had watched the local police talk to his father. 

An icy chill ran down his spine, colder than any winter in Japan.

He knew something was wrong, but he had to be the father everyone expected him to be, so he decided to go into the house with his whole family.

The hours passed. The house settled into an eerie silence, broken only by the chirping of insects from the jungle outside.

Akari and the children, exhausted from the journey, slept soundly in their assigned rooms. All except Julian. He remained awake, stiff in the oppressive humidity of his former home, staring at the textured ceiling for hours. He said nothing, and he did not sleep.

Sleep would not come. The house itself seemed to be watching him, suffocating him with memories he had spent decades burying.

He needed a distraction, anything to escape the deafening silence in his own head. He slipped out of bed and went into the dark living room. He saw Haru's video camera on the coffee table, the one he had given his son. He picked it up, hoping to find some sleep by watching the innocent joy of his son's recordings.

He reviewed the clips: the plane, the lush jungle, Hana laughing. All the photos looked completely normal.

Until he came to the photo they had taken at the waterfall.

For a moment, it was just a perfect family photo. But something in the corner, almost imperceptible, made his blood run cold. So he decided to zoom in.

Julián narrowed his eyes, his heart pounding against his ribs at the unknown. He could barely make out the shape: it was a woman. A woman, her head bowed in a pitiful position.

Her mind raced through many possibilities, desperately searching for a rational explanation. She was a local vagrant, or perhaps a trick of the light. Maybe even a strange animal standing in the shadows. She couldn't understand what that woman was doing there.

He opted for the simplest explanation: it was nothing. A mistake in the photograph.

He turned off the camera, discarding the image. He had forced himself not to give it any importance.

Julián returned to his bed next to his sleeping wife. A false and forced calm came over him and, finally, mercifully, he fell back asleep.

But his problems had only just begun.