17-11-2021
The screen is black and the credits have just started. I usually wait until their end but, today, I can't. I have to go. I really enjoyed the film and I want to watch it again with someone else. There are thousands of points to analyze. But I have to go and breathe.
I stop at the traffic light and look to the left. Rosa comes to my mind. Should call her and catch up. I miss her. What about a quick visit?... It's just that I should finish that first. I need a deadline. No pressure, just keep going.
I realize that I can go across the road when I'm involved in a french tourist group. There's another coffee shop. No stop. It's very... not what I want. So then I remember a cozy place close to Sol. There is no time for excuses.
Go up Gran Vía. I remember them. Obviously, they are not there anymore but their shapes. A few hours before, there was a woman hugging a man. It was sad, a lot. He was distant and let her arms wrap him. I would have liked to see her face too.
A man with little white long hair is dancing. He has white headphones. He stops in front of an American film poster. He examines it while keeping his body in action. Close to him, there are two ladies discussing their ailments and the crazy amount of pills they have for breakfast. The one with purple hair points to the man. They both forget the conversation and smile at him. He turns around, winks an eye and keeps dancing up the road.
The Lion King poster is shining again on the theatre. It's soon yet for the usual long queues to go in but there is some audience already waiting. There is a group of four elderly with canes trying to take a selfie. They are having fun but I don´t think the picture will show their happiness, just some diffuse light. I don't think it matters.
I realize that my walk is so fast and I force myself to notice the buildings. I realize the place that is taking Madrid in my life and that now I want it to be that way.
There is an event at Callao, there must be a famous person and her name is kind of familiar but... I'm finally able to cross the elegant crowd and the first elves helping Santa Claus at a mall.
There is a man playing the bagpipe. It reminds me of Galician forests. Its greenness and its silence. I listen to the drums from the Festa do boi on my mind. For a few seconds, I'm also walking through the Allariz cobblestone streets. No. I have to come back to the Calle del Carmen. Carpe Diem. That's our message. I want Friday to come. No, that shouldn't be now neither. Carpe Diem.
It is not possible to find the end of the Doña Manolita's queue. I consider if I would be one day on that waiting time. I don't have time to answer as the smell of chestnuts roasted is intense. It can be related to autumn but for me, it's more connected with Christmas time, with the walkings on those streets when we were younger.
There are some people on the terraces, even of those of ice cream shops. And then it's Sol. The moon is shining over the top of roofs but the lighting billboards are catching the attention at the square, those that you have to tear your eyes away from. It's sad because the big silvery is almost full.
I cross the road, go up and turn left. It's like everyone has disappeared. I find the coffee shop. I went there a few months ago with Carmen and Sofía. I really like to discover places like this with nice people.
I order a coffee and a piece of cake (one day is one day and today's walking is long). I settle on a table in the middle of the business. It's small but very welcoming. I start writing but my eyes and concentration are more interested in everything around me. When the senses are awake is difficult to let them shout. It's not necessary.
The girl who is serving me: short, blue ponytail, worn-out trainers. The other one is in charge of coffees and it's taller. They are a good team. They speak sometimes, they look at each other complicit.
There is an American lady in front of me (I know where she is from after hearing the waiters), she is eating two salads and drinking glasses of water. Then they come two young: he with a suitcase and she with light on her eyes. There are two boys by my side; they have already finished their drinks but are still catching up. I like the light, it's quiet but enough. There is music. It's this.
I finish my coffee. There are still many stories to be written but I don't want to be late. I'm not wearing a watch anymore but I'm still too addicted to time limits. Time and memories. I collect my things and say goodbye to the friendly waiters. I'll be back. Very soon. I step out into Madrid streets...
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