There she was, a woman of unparalleled beauty, speaking words I wanted to hear with a sweet tone, her fixed, flirtatious gaze making me feel just the way I wanted. The combination of these traits and her gentle facial expressions make life’s optimistic proposals feel achievable.

Her name is Daniela. She invited my close friend, Andrés, and me to spend the night on a mountain near the town. We would sit around a bonfire with her and two of her friends. As I listened, a mental image of that promising night formed. I could feel the warmth of the fire, hear laughter in endless conversations, and my sight dazzled by fire, moon, and flashes of immortalizing cameras.

After her proposal, her big brown eyes focused on me, imposing a slight smile on my face. I couldn’t hide my happiness and deep commitment to making it happen. I would finally grasp that chalice holding something I’ve always lacked, just out of reach. In the best case, I could only brush it with my fingertips before facing divine punishment for attempting to take it.

Isabel, an equally close friend, has an uncertain relationship with Andrés, understood by only those who grasp its complexity. Initially, we visited Isabel, but Daniela’s presence shifted our priorities entirely.

The promise of happiness didn’t last long. Isabel’s pensive yet mischievous smile and her sweet voice, a symphony that captivates my ears, dissipate all mental images of that potential future. “They have to leave,” she told Daniela. “Better for them to go quickly when traffic is not an issue.”

I tried hard, arguing with Isabel, fighting for that future, a moment only seconds away from realization. Although destiny had already ruled, I wanted more now that everything felt so… Andrés, placing his hand on my shoulder, made me realize that fighting was futile; it’s time to leave.

As we got into the car, Daniela said challengingly, “You know where we’ll be if you want to come.” Maybe she truly wanted us there, knowing this invitation, this specific plan, was exactly what we’d been waiting for all our lives.

Those words repeat in my mind as I silently observe the road. Andrés, uncomfortable with the silence, makes head gestures, unsure of what to say or do. He knows, as well as I do, that opportunities like this come too seldom, too few to reject. Breaking the silence is impossible; both of us are deeply defeated.

A teacher once told me that to speak well, one must write well. Words spoken a certain way can mean more than intended. In this case, Daniela’s words transformed a perfect weekend into a lost opportunity, something more that could have been but wasn’t. They weren’t promises of love or sex; it was something much more profound—an opportunity to grasp that divine chalice and taste its contents, that distant, missing something in my soul, that prevents me from being truly happy.

I cannot blame anyone—neither Daniela for giving me hope, nor Isabel for taking it away, nor Andrés for resigning himself. I have boundless faith in life’s goodness and embrace the thought that if I didn’t get to taste that divine chalice on that specific day, perhaps one day I’ll find a way to return to that moment when it was within my reach. I’ll immerse myself in the river of time, swimming against its current until one day, finally…

Category: story