The Unknown North

First of all, thanks to those of you who took the time to read my first blog! Your comments made me feel really good and encouraged to continue with the second posting on this blog. Now that Valentine’s Day is coming up, I would like to wish everyone the happiest day of all even if you’re not seeing someone. In fact, this day is to celebrate love and friendship. So we can also celebrate this day with our lovely friends…
In this blog, I want to share with you one of the most significant times in my life. It’s when I met my Valentine. You know, before that unexpected occasion, I was set to think I would never find someone who would take interest in me. I thought I was going to be one of those people who stay single forever. In my country we call them “cotorros,” and there is one in each family. So, I was determined I would be the cotorro in my family. It wasn’t till i met my Valentine when I understood the phrase, “there is a shoe for every foot.” Thus, I would like to share my experience, told in my very peculiar version:
I’d never been to the north side, always staying in the south. I guess I felt more secure with the known. The unknown seemed scary and obscure; sort of like a wolf’s maw. My friend, who used to be in the south moved to the north. He wasn’t afraid of the unknown. He liked it. He conquered it, and I admired him for that. He found happiness and love, the love of his live. His various attempts to convince me to go to the north finally worked. I decided to go to the unknown despite of my conscientious fear I would not succeed in finding someone in the north. After all, I had not been able to find “my shoe” in the south.
He took me to the north, where there was a whole new world: new people with piercing and dashing looks, with strong and high selfishness, full of themselves not noticing the surroundings or me... people gone through a metamorphosis, involved in two personae who juxtaposed and interacted in one strange-looking character whose world orbited around them: him… her… he/r.
And I, astounded, astonished, surprised, amused, confused…, felt lost, alone, and confided all my feelings of loneliness, surprise, and fears to my soul, who was my silent companion.
I sat next to my happy friend who seemed to be dwelling well around those of the north, the unknown. I sat trying to find a refuge, a secure place where I would dwell with my fear and my loneliness. I sat thinking that was the place in the unknown north where I would stay forgotten, left alone, rejected, neglected, yet safe.
I looked around contemplating those of the north. I thought about the shame of being unnoticed. I thought how those new to the unknown north, like my friend, were able to find a place for themselves: how they ever found love in the unknown.
Then I started wondering if there was some in the north who would notice me there, who were looking for their foot and spot me sitting alone, afraid. I tried to look happy; pretending I was “fine” in the unknown, but my fear and surprise kept reappearing through my eyes.
My friend was gone and his seat empty. Soon a stranger approached. He looked happy and friendly; however, he was from the north. He asked me how I was. He was smiling at me, surprised to see me there. He seemed different from the other people of the north. I could see in his eyes he was ready to bring me into the unknown north. He stared at me, looked into my eyes. I was afraid he would see my fear and my surprise. Instead, he told me I had the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen.
I felt relieved, content…alive. He was my savior, my companion for the night. He was the known in the unknown. Who would’ve known he was later going to be the love of my life…