Erratic Behavior

The sun of March announced that spring was approaching. Although the spring equinox was still a little over two weeks away, the heat and allergies had already arrived. Most of the jacaranda trees had already bloom. 

Pablito walked aimlessly in a park near the school. The sun burned his skin; he felt it, it hurt, but it was bearable. He felt the wind carrying dust and pollen. He felt that too. He sneezed. He looked down at the ground to see what he had stepped in.

"Disgusting," he thought, seeing his dirty shoe. The foul smell reached him and made him nauseous. But he kept on feeling.

What would happen if he stopped feeling? What would happen if he stopped feeling pain? The sound of a car braking hard echoed, followed by the yelp of a dog that was nearly hit. Pablito smiled and kept walking.

He heard the sound of cars on the highway. Pablito watched as the vehicles came and went. The pedestrian bridge was near him, just a few meters away—designed so that accidents wouldn't happen.

He still felt the sun on his skin. Sweat ran down his head, his face, and his neck. He felt the dizziness and nausea of dehydration. His back slouched. What would it feel like to stop thinking? Would anyone even miss him? It was a shame; he had been looking forward to that trip planned for the Holy Week vacation. He had already bought three rolls of film to take photos. He had already planned what he wanted to visit.

He walked and found an exit. The asphalt of the highway felt different: it felt like mud, as if he were walking on wet sand. Yes... that’s how it felt: like walking along the seashore. The cold, salty water soaking his feet and ankles, his toes touching the wet sand that sank under his footsteps.

He stopped in the middle of the highway, three meters from a curve. There were no clouds, not even a bird crossed the sky. The sun burned his skin, and he saw his arms turning red. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He heard the horn, the tires skidding on the asphalt, leaving a mark. He felt the impact; he felt himself being pushed and falling. Did he feel pain? Did he feel his body break? Did he hear the screams of the driver? Did he see the terrified faces of those who approached?

Someone called a Red Cross ambulance. A woman rummaged through the backpack looking for a contact, a sign to help identify the boy. The woman took out Pablito's wallet and, after tucking the money into her own pocket, saw the boy's school ID.

"Tell me one thing, Emily," Naomy said. The two friends were chatting on the phone.

It was around 9:00 PM. Emily had just finished bathing when she heard the phone ringing. She answered it before Nina could.

"What's up, Naomy?" Emily asked while observing.

Her small hand mirror reflected her face, still damp from the bath, and her vanity mirror did the same.

"What were you doing with Aisha when you left school?"

"She wanted me to teach her a beauty spell," Emily replied, having given up on finding that strange woman in the mirror. "It's incredible. Out of nowhere, people have been asking me for help with homework, and like Aisha, they've asked me to explain rituals and spells."

Naomy went silent, processing what her friend had said. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Are you sure you didn't dream it?"

"Why would I lie?" Emily asked, offended. “Are you jealous?"

"Jealous? Are you serious?" Naomy sounded insulted. "You're a dumbass if you think they're doing it out of genuine interest. They definitely have a reason, and it's not to make friends with you."

"Well, explain it to me then," Emily said, now angry. She raised her voice a bit, fueled by the feeling. "What could the reason be?"

Naomy didn't answer. Emily insisted on the subject, insisting that she had finally been accepted and that her favorite topics were bringing her closer to having more friends. The call ended with the friends in an argument.

"Poor, unhappy girl," Emily heard a female voice. Finally, Candice had appeared in her mirror. "Soon you will realize your mistake."

Candice didn't look like the woman she saw the first time. Her face was gaunt, her cheekbones prominent, and her skin looked gray, lifeless, and dry. Her eyes were far too large. Her arms and legs were too long. It looked as if she would break at any moment.

"I showed you a future; I gave you options," Candice reproached Emily while pointing a finger at her. Her voice sounded distorted, deep, and loud. "But you have already made your choice."

“What the...?" Emily whispered, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Candice’s image shifted back to the first one she had seen that day. She smiled while closing her eyes. Before Emily could say anything, the sound of a door opening and closing was heard. She heard her mother greeting her grandmother and, out of excitement, went to greet her mother.

"Mom!" Emily said excitedly. "You’re home early."

"Yeah... yeah..." Sandra whispered, ignoring her daughter as she walked to the kitchen to make coffee. "Why are you still awake?"

Emily fell silent. It was barely 9:30 PM. It wasn't a big deal. Besides, she had been bathing. She wasn't doing anything wrong.

"Mom..." Emily tried to say. "I just got out of the bath; I was talking to Naomy about an assignment."

"At this hour? Do you really expect me to believe your lie?" her mother asked while putting coffee into the filter. "Go to your room and go to sleep already. Tomorrow is a school day."

When Emily arrived at school the next day, she noticed something strange. The atmosphere felt odd, heavy. Everyone was speaking in low voices, as if they didn't want even God to find out.

Naomy greeted her friend. The morning's news had erased the previous night's fight. Naomy looked scared, and this made Emily scared too.

"What's happening?" Emily asked with a look of confusion.

"That's exactly what I asked myself," Naomy replied. "You know Daniel is Pablito's neighbor, right?"

Emily nodded. The more her friend spoke, the more confused she became.

"I ran into him on the way here today," Naomy explained. "He told me Pablito never came home."

"But his parents always pick him up," Emily corrected, explaining the obvious.

"That's the thing. Pablito's parents waited at the entrance and never saw Pablito leave the school. According to what Daniel told me, they were looking for him all afternoon. And that was when... when..."

The bell rang. Classes were about to start soon. Emily, frightened, went to her classroom. Her friend's face had turned white as she continued talking. It would have been a good horror story if it weren't for the fact that in the classroom, everyone was talking about the same thing.

Moreover, the obvious was evident: Pablito was missing from class. For the first time, Emily wished they would shut up and drop the subject of Pablito once and for all. She wished they would keep ignoring him, as if he didn't exist.

The teacher was late getting to the classroom. The topic of conversation remained in Pablito. One of Emily's classmates mentioned that he "happened" to be nearby when the Red Cross ambulance arrived. He recounted what he had seen in vivid detail.

"Did you see him bounce like a basketball?" Héctor asked, dying of laughter upon hearing the story.

"I would have liked to," the person said with a certain glint in his eyes that suggested he was telling the truth. "But I'm not just waiting around to see what accidents happen on the highway."

"How grotesque", Emily thought. To distract herself, she pulled out her small hand mirror. She wanted to see if her bangs were in order. What she saw was not her reflection. There, in her little mirror, was Candice. She was wearing her dirty, torn dress. Her hair was a mess, and her face expressed terror—but also something Emily had forgotten.