2 - THE VISION

 

2 - THE VISION

From the window of Maria's room, it was possible to see the whole range of the mountains, in the distance. It is true that the mountains were far beyond the farm, beyond the rice paddies, beyond the fields where the cattle were gently grazing. The night had already come to cover the earth with its mantle and the sparkling lights of the stars shone in the sky. She was leaning against the window, admiring the sky full of stars and the full moon, but so full that it looked like the sun shining at night. Despite the lateness of the hour... there was no clock in the house, but it was certainly past ten at night... she could see the whole length of the street as if it were day, so clear was the night. Maria would admire the sky, dreaming of her, she didn't even know what... she was simply absorbed, trapped in a daydream where everything was beautiful... even more beautiful than the field where she lived. Yes, the place was simply splendid... the ipe trees were in bloom and the most beautiful ones were the purple ipe trees. Which even matched the time she was living. After all, it was Lent, and the predominant color for practically everything at that time was purple. The village church had already covered all the saints with purple robes, and the only image that had not been covered was the crucifix that ornamented the altar. From the rest, all the saints were hidden by the delicate mantle, embroidered by Dona Dita, one of the church's deaconesses... okay, it wasn't an official title, but the work she carried out in the chapel was...

Maria noticed something different on the horizon... suddenly, without warning, a light began to snake through the mountains. In the distance that light went from one point to another, from east to west, from west to east. It went in a straight line, then zigzagged, following the shape of the mountain range, then suddenly it went up and then quickly descended... Maria called her parents to show them the strange appearance in the sky. Her brothers also came. When she saw what was going on in the distance, Zacarias, Maria's father crossed himself, and told the girl to close the window. She was a little surprised, but complied. After all, her father understood the mysteries of that land, and it was better to obey, because if he said that it was better to close the window, well ... she wouldn't argue. Closing the window was easier. Mainly because it was a full moon. It was late at night. And it was Lent...

Everyone retired, each one lay down on his mat, covered himself and went to keep the righteous awake, because in a few hours they would have to get up to go back to work in the fields. It was the rice harvest season and they had a lot of work ahead of them. Zacarias was the farm's milkman, his job was to manage the cattle. But his children and wife were working in the fields, in the rice paddies. It is true that this year the harvest will start a little earlier, as it normally starts in March. But they weren't going to complain, after all, having work, food was guaranteed on the table.

When they were already at the dock to start the day's work, Maria mentioned to her friend Graça about the light she had seen snaking through the mountains. Her friend crossed herself, as her father had done last night. Maria asked the reason for the act, and her friend replied that what she had seen was a tatá ox. And that it was a good thing that the animal was far away, because if it were close to Maria's house, she certainly wouldn't be there telling about her sighting. Maria made a face of disbelief... a tatá ox? She'd heard about it, but she'd never thought to see one. After all, who could imagine that one of these animals would be prowling around those parts? And who would be crazy enough to defy divine laws and be punished like this in life? After all, a tatá ox was a couple of compadres... and who, among the people of the community... the married ones... would have the courage to commit a sin of that magnitude? Yes, because the sin committed was not just an adultery... it was an adultery of two people who had a very strong mystical bond. After all, one of them baptized the other's son... and that, Maria knew... was a sin without God's forgiveness...

It's 7:50 am on this beautiful and wonderful Friday, even if it's cloudy and looks like rain. May this be the most beautiful of all the Fridays we've ever experienced in our lives...

May God enlighten us and keep and guide our steps in the journey we take in this plane, while we are not called to the other side. Stay with God and see you tomorrow, if God so permits...