CHAPTER 43
Allecra took me practically everywhere; even for an absurd reason as eating ice cream in Copenhagen, or visiting the famed chocolate factory in Switzerland. But one thing became clear to me, she never took us to the places she had found her former potentials.
It had been hovering in the back of my mind. Was she afraid we would run into her ex-lovers? Or maybe those places would awaken some poignant memories of them. I couldn't tell for sure, but I had had coincidence tapped me on the shoulder before, I meant how else you explain my encounter with Eva? Of all the fifty states in America, she decided to land right in the middle of my aunt's garden party. What a small world. And although I didn't hold any grudge against Allecra's exs, I still didn't want to be reminded of their past romance either.
Besides, there was this tiny insecure part of me that she might chance upon a new Earthling match. The scenario made my inside twist into uncomfortable knots. I knew Allecra loved me with every fiber of her being, but sometimes the thought of someone else could make her happier than I could trouble me.
However, there was another new question. I just started thinking seriously about it, especially after all the talking about her people and her siblings. I had tried probing Allecra lightly, but she would close the pearl of truth like a clam. I tried to respect her privacy by giving her space and some peace of mind, but it became increasingly vexatious for me being out of the loop too long.
Good grief! Is it possible for me to achieve a perfect understanding of my interstellar girlfriend?
I brooded about all this while I was standing on the balcony of our hotel suite in Salzburg, Austria. It was breezy outside with the view of the Alps. The city was divided by a river with medieval and baroque buildings and mountain vistas. The wind pleasantly ruffled my hair, chilling through my comfy shirt. I rubbed my bare legs together to dissipate the cold as my torso leaned over the chest-high marble railing. Suddenly I noticed something strange, a strange tenderness. I indiscreetly peered down my own shirt. My breasts seemed a little rounder and a tad bigger than usual. Maybe I shouldn't let Allecra indulge herself with them so much, I thought with a hint of blush on my cheeks.
The sun continued to light up the sky like a giant candle over the city. A few moments passed while gazing at the sunrise, I heard the balcony door slid opened. My head turned around to find Allecra scuffled out of the room, stretching herself languorously. Her hand tousled that messy blonde mane in sleepiness. I chuckled at her adorable entrance. Allecra wore only a baggy white t-shirt and panties. I still couldn't get used to how shockingly hot she could be even early in the morning.
"Why are you up so early, Nina?" she said. "You should be sleeping in my arms. Don't you know I have a need to squeeze and hug cute things when I wake up?"
I laughed, but Allecra came forward and threw her arms around my shoulders, dropping half of her body weight on me in the process. I whined a little, trying to hold us both upright.
"Geez, be careful, we can fall to our death!"
She snickered and straightened herself back a little.
"Don't worry, I won't let you go even if we fall," she said and kissed my forehead softly.
"And what's good?" I chastised back. My fingers itched to run through her unruly bed hair, and I let them.
Allecra gently turned me around and slide her hands around my waist. I leaned my back into her chest snugly. The warmth of her body was surprisingly comforting in the chilly morning.
"So where shall we go next?" She asked.
"Oh, I haven't thought about it yet," I said. "How long have we been here?"
"Two or three days, I suppose," she said. "Time jumbles up when you travel like that."
"You're right," I said.
"So any particular place you want to see?"
I thought for a moment then told her out of randomness that I would like to walk along some beautiful rows of trees that formed a tunnel.
"Why tree tunnels of all things?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. "I just think it would be like walking through a magical kingdom or something."
"You are that kind of girl, aren't you, Nina?"
I frowned and tilted my head to look at her.
"What kind of girl?"
"The kind who is full of rainbows and flying unicorns fantasies."
"Well, that's the perk of dating a homo sapiens, emphasize on the word 'homo'."
"Oh please, kill me."
I slapped her hand. It made Allecra giggle softly over my shoulder.
"I think I know such a place that fits your description," she said at last. "It's a very small town in Spain called Sena De Luna."
"Sena De Luna?" I said, "What an adorable name!"
"Yeah, the village has a very famous tree tunnel and also mountains, farmlands, ponds and creeks and stuff, a great place for peace and quiet," she told me. "I used to stay there in autumn and then spent my winter in Sierra Nevada, where I spent every weekend watching the duck family."
"The duck family?"
Allecra laughed and nodded.
"I know it's a weird expression." She said. "There's a pretty big pond, where I discovered the duck family. Sometimes I fed them bread I brought with me. They were pleasant people to see. I spent hours sitting under an oak tree or a chestnut tree all by myself, watching them. The ducks had these flat orange feet that were really cute like they were wearing little kids' rain boots. But in winter, the pond froze up, and they would come flapping through the air and land on the ice. Their webbed feet are not made for walking on ice, so they lost balance and went sliding across the surface of a frozen pond. Sometimes, they even fell on their butts! And I watched them skidding and tumbling all over the place. It made me laugh. The duck family was like a live comedy!"
I couldn't help giggling along as I listened and imagined the duck family in my head.
"They must have hated the winter so much then."
"I think they didn't hate it all that much," Allecra said. "The duck family looked like they were living happily together. I'd never seen them fighting, so they must have gotten along well. And even if winter comes, they would just grumble to themselves, 'Oi, ice again!" But then they move on and forget all about it and just do their best to live their happy little duck lives."
Listening to Allecra talk about ducks like that, I understood why I fell in love with her and kept falling for her every single day. I got this warm, contented feeling melting inside my body, and it dawned on me that we had to be together like this.
I leaned in to peck at the corner of her lips.
"I can't wait to meet the duck family with you," I said. Allecra smiled and kissed me back.
"Alright, but first we need to do a little shopping," she said. "The town is a bit remote by the way."
After that, we were walking down the streets of the old city, which was extremely picturesque and full of stone houses that looked like they were originally from the twelfth century.
"This city reminds me of Moscow," I said. "Only a lot smaller."
"Speaking of which, I wonder why you haven't suggested we go to Russia yet," Allecra said. "Maybe we should go there afterward?"
"There's nothing interesting to see there."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Allecra exclaimed. "I know you were born and raised there, but I haven't seen it yet. How strange? Why haven't I been to Russia for all these years? I could have met you sooner!"
"If we met there, hell would break loose with my step-mom," I told Allecra. "Dominika is bad as my aunt is good. And don't you know homosexuality is banned in Russia? Also, most Russians are homophobic. We probably can't even hold hands in public without being scorned or verbally harassed."
"What?!" Allecra cried in disgust. "That is ridiculous! If that happens, I will teach them some lesson about respect."
"Now I really don't think it's a good idea to go there."
"But don't you miss your father, Nina?"
I was quiet for a moment. The last time I ta
lked with my dad, I could feel the man I used to know resurface. It had been a long time since Dominika happened.
"It's alright." I shrugged nonchalantly. "Besides how can I explain why in the world we're standing at his front door anyway?"
"I can," Allecra said casually. "You know how I did it with your aunt?"
I shot her daggers.
"How about we go to Japan instead?" I said. "You keep extolling the country, then why don't we go there?"
"Japan?" Her expression seemed to change a little.
"Yeah, I saw a picture of the Cherry blossom tunnel there. The branches burst into millions of delicate pink flowers. It's so beautiful. I want to see it."
"It's already passed spring now," Allecra simply said.
"Well, how about going to Africa instead? We can go on a Safari and see the animal kingdom," I suggested. "Or we can go to Cambodia and visit a thousand temples there! I have always wanted to see the land, and we haven't gone to see the Pyramid too, but maybe we should drop by in France first. Why haven't we visited Paris yet? It's a city of romance for crying out loud! Then we can go to Fiji afterward. What do you think, Allecra?"
Allecra merely adjusted her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose. I couldn't read her face as she only looked straight ahead. She didn't respond for a moment, but when she looked at me, her face was as smooth as a lifeless mannequin on the window shop we just walked past. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Her blank stare had frozen my brain. I started to regret bringing up the idea.
"Nina," she said, but there was grimness in her tone. "You can pick anywhere you want, but not those said countries, okay?"
"Why?" I said.
"These are places I couldn't go back to, and you should've known why."
"Of course," I said softly. We continued to walk in silence. It wasn't the kind of silence I liked. It was like we were fighting but also not. I hated this silent fight.
Allecra reached her hand out to brush a strand of hair from my face. I realized she didn't like being this way with me either.
"Maybe someday, Nina," she said at last. "But not now."
I nodded back.
We reached a cobbled square where the market appeared.
Allecra led us to a store. Inside, we strolled through the aisles and picked out some canned foods and other necessities we might need. But when I dropped two packs of tampons into the cart, Allecra frowned, as if it was the most unusual thing she'd ever seen.
"You need these?" she asked.
"What else do you think I need them for?" I said with a slight blush. I almost forgot she was unfamiliar with this kind of stuff. Her otherworldly perfect system worked so well that she didn't have to suffer like a human girl. But I needed to be prepared before my period was on its way.
Oddly, Allecra seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. Then she looked deep into my eyes. Hers were strangely lit and transparent like turquoise crystal, unblinking and thinking. For a flitting second, I somehow peered into their depths, but there was nothing I could see.
"Alright, let's go," she simply said after a while. I thought nothing of it after that.
~*~
The breeze blew over the branches of trees, its dampness sharp against my skin. We continued along the road, where the forest ended, and we came out to an open green farmland spread in all directions. A single thread of white smoke rose in the distance.
Allecra and I wandered into the Spanish town of Sena De Luna. It was a beautiful quiet town indeed. I could see stone houses with red-tiled roofs clustered around the green scenery. Some houses had laundry drying in the sun. Others had pots of plants and flowers on every windowsill. I saw a yellow cat sunbathing on one of the stone walls. Then there was a red and yellow feathered parrot, who screamed, 'Holaaaa!' from a birdhouse under an olive tree in someone's yard. At first, I thought it was a person. I couldn't resist stopping and having a little chat with the cute parrot, but apparently, the bird spoke only Spanish.
"He said 'Hello’." Allecra translated for me.
"Yes, I know that one," I said, rolling my eyes at her.
"Besameeee!" The parrot spoke again, and this time, I was lost.
"Kiss me," Allecra said.
"Allecra, we're not doing that in the public," I said, blushing in shyness.
"No Nina, that's what the parrot said."
"Oh."
"Come on, let's find the tunnel," Allecra said and turned to walk again. I didn't know why I felt a little jab in my heart. Normally she would tease me or try to flirt with me at every chance she got, but it seemed she wasn't feeling it today.
Once we arrived at the tree tunnel, I was practically turning my head around like a crane, gawking delightfully at the dense foliage and colorful flowers that almost blocked the sun above us. The trees formed a tunnel that snaked out like a pathway of an ancient enchanted forest. The ground was covered with fallen flowers and leaves in bright pink and purple hue. The sounds of birds chirping resonated in the sky. Allecra and I walked hand in hand through the tunnel in relaxing quiescence.
"It's so magical here. I feel like we're in Wonderland!" I said in amazement then looked at Allecra. But she wasn't listening. Her face was blank like a mask, and her mind seemed to be led astray by some private pondering.
Strangely ever since we left Salzburg, I sometimes spotted her with that same faraway look when she thought I wasn't looking, but when I asked, she would brush it aside with a bright smile and a sweet response that made me believe everything was alright.
"Allecra?" I called her name to get her attention. "What are you thinking about?"
"Yeah?" she turned to me.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sure," she said and beamed sweetly back, but the twinkle of her voice didn't seem to match her eyes. Yet I nodded; besides it was hard not to be distracted by the beauty of her smile and everything around me. I made us walk through the tunnel twice just to savor the feeling.
We went to find the pond. But when we got there, there were no ducks to be found. I was secretly crestfallen since we had stumbled our way through the overgrowth towards the place.
"I believe they will appear soon," Allecra said like she had a special way of reading my mind.
To my surprise, we found a small wooden hut, probably built for travelers. It was amazingly cozy and actually beautiful by the view of the pond. And I felt as if we'd suddenly come across a five-star hotel.
When we got inside the hut, Allecra opened up her backpack, which had a copious amount of foods for the two of us. I helped to lie out the blankets then I went out picking flowers to put in our new home like we were going to stay there for years. Allecra watched me for a moment and then she came to help me pick them. We sat down again, and I started making a flower crown for her.
When I looked up, Allecra was all the time gazing at me, and though I didn't think much about it at the time, I noticed her eyes were stirring deeply than usual. She just smiled back and turned to pick the petals that fell on my lap to sniff.
As the afternoon drew in, we unpacked our lunch of bread, pickled olives and some cheese. We ate our simple lunch contently and then had some cherries for dessert. After that, there was nothing else to do except enjoying each other's company until the world started crashing with thunder. And it wasn't long before the rain starting pour down from the sky. The raindrops were gentle and soothing on the sun-drenched earth. The trees swayed in the wind, but amazingly our little hut turned out to be watertight. We only had to huddle together to avoid getting soaked. Allecra wrapped us like a burrito with the picnic blanket when it got colder.
I leaned into her body and rested my head on the crook of her neck. She held me in her arms comfortably, telling me how much she loved me without saying anything out loud. If there ever was a more perfect day than this in the history of time, it wasn't one I'd heard about. I could just spend eternity under this hut with her.
"Nina, look!" Allecra whispered into my ear, pointing to the pond. I followed he
r hand, and there I saw a flock of ducks swimming in a formation across the water. There were a mother duck and her ducklings, about six or seven of them in total. They were so fluffy and yellow. It was like seeing balls of cotton floating around the pond.
"Oh my gosh, they're so cute!" I said gleefully. Allecra laughed at my animated face.
"There used to be many of them around here before," she said.
"Where are the rest now?"
"Well, some might've moved away, some gone to college or visited their in-laws."
I chuckled and gave her a good-natured shoulder-nudge. We watched the duck family paddling about, bathing and drinking in the rain joyously.
I looked back at Allecra again. The film of moisture from the rain clung to her skin. I reached out to wipe her face, relishing in the softness of her skin.
"I wish we could stay here," I said, "and live happily ever after like the duck family."
"Right, maybe we should live here!" Allecra said, suddenly sounding excited at the idea. "You have no idea how much it's tempting me."
"You didn't just say that, Allecra."
"No seriously, let's do that now!" she said, her brilliant eyes were looking at me expectantly. "I can get the nicest house for us to live in, and you can have a big kitchen and a beautiful garden and a library. We don't have to go back to anything or worry about anyone."
Her eyes were sparkling with so much hope that I realized she was actually meant what she said.
"Well, even I would love to be with you so badly here, I can't just leave everything and everyone behind," I told her. "There are so many things I'm not yet ready for. We both are still too young for this."
"What else do you care, Nina?" She said. "I'm here with you now. We can live like two happy soulmates in between dreams and reality, and no one will bother us."
"Allecra," I said, studying her face with concerns. "Where did this come from?"
She was silent for a moment then looked away from my searching eyes. I was sitting right next to her, but in that instant, I felt like we were thousands of miles away from each other. My hand came up to stroke her cheek gently in my palm and turned her face back to me. She gave an exasperated sigh. I rested my forehead against hers and locked our gaze.
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