10. THE NIGHT BUS
At dusk, Nina and Nano headed back to the bus terminal. Nina's father's flight had its arrival at the same time as the night bus's departure. They practically ran into their mother when she started her car, parked near the park, and headed toward the airport. Luck seemed to collude with the two teenagers.
Nina was trying hard to be cheerful, but she felt like a child locked in a dark room. Upon arriving at the terminal, she was afraid that the travelers were waiting to get on the same bus. Most were young emigrants from some remote African countries. On their faces was visible the suffering, frustration, and sadness for the longing of their families abandoned and left in extreme poverty, and which they desperately tried to solve, even though they were unworthily treated and exploited.
As if this sad image was not enough to demoralize her, there was the depressing farewell spectacle: parents hugging sleepy and frightened children, lovers exaggerating their affections before their separation, or young men torn from their families, who faced their first experiences of loneliness.
She also felt marginalized, violently separated from her family, learning to be an adult with no one to show them the way. Forced to give up the banal dreams of adolescence and exchange them for the nightmares of adults.
“Nano, forgive me, but I'm afraid to get on that bus.”
“Why? What are you afraid of?”
“I don't know, but I'm scared. All these people seem so unhappy. Everything is so sad ... so depressing ...”
“Yes, these poor people have no reason to feel happy, but you don't have to be afraid of them; they are just unhappy but not aggressive. Come on, get on Nina, we'll be safer on the bus. Your mother could appear.”
Nina settled into a seat next to Nano and watched without hiding her fears from the rest of the passengers occupying their seats. In the seats across the aisle, a young colored woman settled with a baby in her arms, whining and the mother rocking him, whispering a song that must have been from her local culture. To Nina, it seemed a beautiful song, and when listening to it, she forgot her fears and feel more animated. When the baby fell asleep, Nina asked the young mother where she had learned that song.
“I am from a village in Senegal,” replied the young mother in acceptable Spanish. “It's a traditional song, nobody knows who wrote it. We transmit it from mothers to daughters.”
“And what is the song about?”
“Do you want to know the lyrics?”
“Yes, please!”
“But you won't understand anything, it's Wolof!”
“Can you translate it?”
“I'll try!”
“I am Fatou, the pretty Fatou.
Fatou oh, oh Fatou,
Like all the children of the world
I am Fatou, the pretty Fatou.
Fatou oh, oh Fatou,
Like all the children of the world
I am Fatou, the pretty Fatou.
I am happy, and soon I will grow, I will grow.
like everyone else,
like the little elephants and the giraffes,
like everyone else
like the little elephants and the giraffes.”
“It is beautiful. Even I would fall asleep if they sang it to me.”
The young mother smiled at Nina's grace and whispered the same lullaby again because the baby did not seem to fall asleep.
“You know, Nano, I will compose a lullaby. As this young woman sings it to her baby, a lullaby as I would have liked my mother to sing it to me. But my mother doesn't know how to sing. She never rocked me with a lullaby.
I just remember falling asleep to the noise of the television.”
“Yes, Nina, we should learn many things from the people of the towns of Africa.”
“I feel better now. What magic does the song have that makes the soul happy and makes you see things with more optimism?”
“Singing is the language of the soul!”
Nina remained silent, listening to the young mother's lullaby, which transported her to her own childhood. She saw herself on her father's shoulders, which made her feel big and strong, or making castles in the sand with her mother's help, which fell apart when a wave of unexpected force hit the beach. Then the two of them ran to safety, her mother taking her by the arms and lifting her over the rushing wave. Nina hugged her and felt safe in her mother's arms.
“You know, the song of this young mom brings me happy memories of my childhood, my mother has not always been as you have known her,” she commented to Nano, “we all seemed so happy! And now, I am running away from the same person who rescued me from the powerful waves and held me in her arms, where I felt safe and happy! Why, Nano?”
“I do not have the answer, but human beings are unpredictable and fickle.”
“So my parents loved each other and seemed happy. Why did they break up? My mother was a happy and hilarious woman. She made my father laugh with her, thanks. When we walked in the park, they were always holding hands, and they kissed for whatever reason ... But everything changed when my father lost his job. Yes; that was the cause ... There is no other explanation.”
Nina interrupted her memories because the bus started, and she felt that enormous vehicles separated her even more from the repudiated mother. She felt an enormous feeling of emptiness again; to no longer belong anywhere and have no home to take refuge. She had only Nano left, took him by the spleen, and leaned on his shoulder.
“Nina, you are still afraid.”
“No, it is not fear; it is sadness. I feel like I leave behind my best childhood memories when this bus starts. I don't know where we are going or why we are here, but I feel a vast emptiness and desolation.”
“You think of your mother.”
“Yes, despite everything, I think I feel affection for her, and surely she will be suffering for my flight.”
“Do you want t
“No, it's just nostalgia. Maybe later, but now I think I should move on. I feel that happy days await us, and I have many ideas about new songs. I need to feel free. “
“Artists make suffering our best source of inspiration.”
“Yes, it is true; the most beautiful songs have been the saddest because art is the only thing that consoles sadness.”
The bus was already on a wide highway. Behind were the last lights of the city. The vehicle's noise quenched the young mother's insistent singing, who seemed more sleepy than her baby. Nina tried to contemplate the landscape where she was traveling, but only saw her face reflected in the glass. She had the impression of having aged several years. In the distance, the airport runway's powerful lights were visible, and an airplane, in which her father was traveling, was entering the runway. Tired and saturated with emotions, she fell asleep on Nano's shoulder.
“Poor Nina,” Nano thought, “she is running from what she longs for the most!”
Nina was trying hard to be cheerful, but she felt like a child locked in a dark room. Upon arriving at the terminal, she was afraid that the travelers were waiting to get on the same bus. Most were young emigrants from some remote African countries. On their faces was visible the suffering, frustration, and sadness for the longing of their families abandoned and left in extreme poverty, and which they desperately tried to solve, even though they were unworthily treated and exploited.
As if this sad image was not enough to demoralize her, there was the depressing farewell spectacle: parents hugging sleepy and frightened children, lovers exaggerating their affections before their separation, or young men torn from their families, who faced their first experiences of loneliness.
She also felt marginalized, violently separated from her family, learning to be an adult with no one to show them the way. Forced to give up the banal dreams of adolescence and exchange them for the nightmares of adults.
“Nano, forgive me, but I'm afraid to get on that bus.”
“Why? What are you afraid of?”
“I don't know, but I'm scared. All these people seem so unhappy. Everything is so sad ... so depressing ...”
“Yes, these poor people have no reason to feel happy, but you don't have to be afraid of them; they are just unhappy but not aggressive. Come on, get on Nina, we'll be safer on the bus. Your mother could appear.”
Nina settled into a seat next to Nano and watched without hiding her fears from the rest of the passengers occupying their seats. In the seats across the aisle, a young colored woman settled with a baby in her arms, whining and the mother rocking him, whispering a song that must have been from her local culture. To Nina, it seemed a beautiful song, and when listening to it, she forgot her fears and feel more animated. When the baby fell asleep, Nina asked the young mother where she had learned that song.
“I am from a village in Senegal,” replied the young mother in acceptable Spanish. “It's a traditional song, nobody knows who wrote it. We transmit it from mothers to daughters.”
“And what is the song about?”
“Do you want to know the lyrics?”
“Yes, please!”
“But you won't understand anything, it's Wolof!”
“Can you translate it?”
“I'll try!”
“I am Fatou, the pretty Fatou.
Fatou oh, oh Fatou,
Like all the children of the world
I am Fatou, the pretty Fatou.
Fatou oh, oh Fatou,
Like all the children of the world
I am Fatou, the pretty Fatou.
I am happy, and soon I will grow, I will grow.
like everyone else,
like the little elephants and the giraffes,
like everyone else
like the little elephants and the giraffes.”
“It is beautiful. Even I would fall asleep if they sang it to me.”
The young mother smiled at Nina's grace and whispered the same lullaby again because the baby did not seem to fall asleep.
“You know, Nano, I will compose a lullaby. As this young woman sings it to her baby, a lullaby as I would have liked my mother to sing it to me. But my mother doesn't know how to sing. She never rocked me with a lullaby.
I just remember falling asleep to the noise of the television.”
“Yes, Nina, we should learn many things from the people of the towns of Africa.”
“I feel better now. What magic does the song have that makes the soul happy and makes you see things with more optimism?”
“Singing is the language of the soul!”
Nina remained silent, listening to the young mother's lullaby, which transported her to her own childhood. She saw herself on her father's shoulders, which made her feel big and strong, or making castles in the sand with her mother's help, which fell apart when a wave of unexpected force hit the beach. Then the two of them ran to safety, her mother taking her by the arms and lifting her over the rushing wave. Nina hugged her and felt safe in her mother's arms.
“You know, the song of this young mom brings me happy memories of my childhood, my mother has not always been as you have known her,” she commented to Nano, “we all seemed so happy! And now, I am running away from the same person who rescued me from the powerful waves and held me in her arms, where I felt safe and happy! Why, Nano?”
“I do not have the answer, but human beings are unpredictable and fickle.”
“So my parents loved each other and seemed happy. Why did they break up? My mother was a happy and hilarious woman. She made my father laugh with her, thanks. When we walked in the park, they were always holding hands, and they kissed for whatever reason ... But everything changed when my father lost his job. Yes; that was the cause ... There is no other explanation.”
Nina interrupted her memories because the bus started, and she felt that enormous vehicles separated her even more from the repudiated mother. She felt an enormous feeling of emptiness again; to no longer belong anywhere and have no home to take refuge. She had only Nano left, took him by the spleen, and leaned on his shoulder.
“Nina, you are still afraid.”
“No, it is not fear; it is sadness. I feel like I leave behind my best childhood memories when this bus starts. I don't know where we are going or why we are here, but I feel a vast emptiness and desolation.”
“You think of your mother.”
“Yes, despite everything, I think I feel affection for her, and surely she will be suffering for my flight.”
“Do you want t
“No, it's just nostalgia. Maybe later, but now I think I should move on. I feel that happy days await us, and I have many ideas about new songs. I need to feel free. “
“Artists make suffering our best source of inspiration.”
“Yes, it is true; the most beautiful songs have been the saddest because art is the only thing that consoles sadness.”
The bus was already on a wide highway. Behind were the last lights of the city. The vehicle's noise quenched the young mother's insistent singing, who seemed more sleepy than her baby. Nina tried to contemplate the landscape where she was traveling, but only saw her face reflected in the glass. She had the impression of having aged several years. In the distance, the airport runway's powerful lights were visible, and an airplane, in which her father was traveling, was entering the runway. Tired and saturated with emotions, she fell asleep on Nano's shoulder.
“Poor Nina,” Nano thought, “she is running from what she longs for the most!”
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