What do a river, a tree and a group of young people on vacation have in common? Undoubtedly, everything points to one of the most special experiences that I have been able to share with my friends during an important part of my life, building moments that today treasure fond memories that I will never forget.
Vacation was just beginning and already my friends and I were clear about one of the first things we were going to do: go to the river. It turns out that, less than an hour's drive away, there was a river that we used to go to every season and even some weekends. From my point of view it was a small paradise, with a river of crystal clear water and a space surrounded by many trees where many people went to enjoy a nice day with the family and in contact with nature.
Because of the popularity of the place, we had to go very early in order to reserve a place where we could share as a group. On one occasion we arrived a little late, and after an arduous search we found a place that was strangely lonely. The space was like a giant circular pool and above it there was a large tree that seemed to embrace the place with its branches, as if hiding it from the others. At first, we were a little amazed and a little afraid, until we decided to stay in that place.
It was a real treasure of nature, nice and quiet to spend a very special time. The water was always at a refreshing temperature, and the huge shadow that extended over that part of the river provided a different air full of peace and very unique comfort. We even gave the place a name which was "the spring", and so we took possession of this wonderful space. From that day on, that place became our ideal place to stay, being the home that was waiting for us in every vacation season.
A couple of wonderful visits and experiences happened at the spring, until one day something strange happened. Arriving early in the morning, we found a rather disconcerting scene: one of the branches of the tree resting on the river was completely bare, and had cut marks around the trunk. Apparently, a group of people had been there before and viciously mistreated the tree. We never understood the reason until one of my friends commented that they had probably done it to throw themselves from the branch down into the river.
Personally I felt as if my house had been ransacked, but there was no point in looking for the unwitting culprits. After cleaning up a bit of debris from the leaves and cut branches, we started swimming and playing volleyball in the river. Everything was going well, until one of the girls started shouting:
-Help! Help! Help!
We reacted quickly because she was drowning. I remember that it was me and one of the other girls who pulled her out, but it was as quick as it was surprising for one reason: the place where she was drowning was not deep, and even though I was not so tall, the water was a little higher than my chest. Even stranger was when my friend said that she felt as if she had fallen into a hole, and after a long time we were able to calm her down from such a fright.
After a little while everything calmed down, although the girl decided to sit on the shore and watch the game. I don't think it was more than an hour when I suddenly heard my friend say:
-¡Richard! ¡Please, hold my hand!-
It was my friend who was now choking. Unlike my friend, this surprised me because the one who was drowning was the one who could swim the most out of all of us. In fact, he was the one who taught me, so I didn't understand what was happening.
-How did that happen to you, Rolando? Did you get a cramp?- I asked.
-I felt something pulling me down- he said.
And with that answer, we understood that the best thing to do was to get out of there.
-Maybe this place is haunted- said another of the girls in tears.
So we gathered our things, and because of the emotional shock we decided to return home. On the way almost no one spoke, while I tried to find some logic to what had happened. Obviously I didn't believe in a haunted place, rather what we felt that morning was as if the river and the tree drove us out of that place.
Even so, we didn't stop going to the river on vacation, only now we stayed in another place. Sometimes we walked very close to the spring, but we didn't dare to go there again. It took another year before a beautiful girl came up with the most reckless idea for that reality.
One weekend we decided to go to the river, two of my friends and I, each one with his girlfriend. Obviously Rolando was there, who did not forget what had happened, but the others did not know it. Then, just as we passed in front of "the spring", my girlfriend jumped with excitement:
-It's here, it's here!
And with nothing to say or ask, she immediately took off her clothes, and since she was wearing her bathing suit underneath, she wasted no time and jumped into the river. That was a moment of tension in my heart. We were outside and my girlfriend was bathing happily as she invited us to jump in. I really didn't know what to do, but I didn't want to look like a coward either, especially when the other girls jumped in. Both my friend Rolando and I finally gave in, as if expecting the worst to happen at any moment.
Fortunately it was just the opposite, and that day was totally great, enjoying it in such a way that in the end my friend and I ended up thinking the same thing. "The spring " was now restored to the appearance that characterized it the first day we found it. The tree had healed its branches and there were no longer any traces of mistreatment, and the water regained the freshness that led us to give it its name. It was as if that place had made peace with us, even though we were never the ones who had caused the mistreatment in the past.
Today it has been more than ten years that I have been away from the city where I grew up, the place where "the spring" is still located. That reckless girlfriend is no longer by my side, but the memory of that place I recall in many of my conversations that today help me to imagine the freshness of a river and the shelter of a tree that once seemed to bother each other, and then opened its waters and branches to us as a sign of a very special reconciliation.
THE END
