The Encounter

questions that she wanted to ask.

  She tried to remember things about her aunt Emma. When she was younger, Emma would come to see them, but then one day, many years ago, the visits stopped. She would only call them from time to time and, even though Emma always asked about her, Luna knew that her mother usually said that she wasn't at home. It hardly ever worked, her aunt would insist on talking to her, as if she was certain that her mother was lying.

  She had a sweet and quiet, almost whispering voice. When they spoke, Luna would completely forget that she was talking to somebody that was almost a stranger to her, somebody whose face she couldn't even remember and she would tell her about her dreams, her deepest worries, her fears... She could have spent hours talking to her on the phone, beset by the ever present pity she felt of not knowing when she would be able to contact her again, when she would be able to hear the voice that calmed her and made all of her worries disappear. Especially because Luna didn't have a say when it came to contacting her aunt. It was impossible to call aunt Emma. She didn't have a phone, landline or mobile. Unless that was another one of her mother's lies, one that her aunt didn't contradict her on.

  Apart from the sound of her voice, she couldn't remember much more about her. Her memory was blurred by time and she hadn't been able to find even a photograph of her aunt at home. She remembered pale skin, long brown hair, long black sheer dresses and the glitter of silver on all of her fingers. She was almost like a dark fairy godmother in her memory, a mysterious and distant woman whose features had gotten lost in the mist. She sighed, knowing that in reality she would not be like the woman she remembered and that the idyllic image of woman of shadows would break as soon as she was standing in front of a woman of flesh and bone, of about forty something years of age, who probably dressed in jeans or a suit and whose features, outlined by a few wrinkles, would be extremely similar to those of her father.

  She opened her backpack and looked at her mobile. It seemed weird not seeing missed calls from her mother telling her how to behave or asking her to come back home. It seemed that, after a moment of weakness at the station, her father had managed to calm her down and convince her that nothing bad was going to happen. She thought about ringing Cristina to tell her how nervous she was, but they had already spoke about the trip for hours over the past few days and right now, nothing new had happened that she could talk to her about. She would have liked for Cristina to have been with her for the summer, but she didn't know her aunt Emma well enough to ask her to invite a friend along as well. Maybe later on, when they knew each other better, she could ask her if Cristina could visit them for a while.

  She imagined what Cristina would be doing at that moment. She was most probably sat in front of the computer, busy with one of the strange online games she was obsessed with, with the blind in her room almost fully closed to keep out the heat from the street. Luna smiled as she remembered the arguments they had when she was trying to convince Cristina to go to the swimming pool, so they could get a bit of a suntan, and the horrified expression on her face as she imagined herself surrounded by bimbos with dyed blonde hair and muscled show-offs who would look at her to see how she looked in a swim suit. It was almost impossible to get Cristina to leave her house and even more so in summer. Her pale skin and her black clothes stood out too much. Her mother had been right when she had said that she had chosen the strangest girl in school to be her friend, but there was no one like Cristina when it came to listening to people or always being there when she needed her. She wished that she could be with her now. The idea of the trip was exciting, but she would have liked to have shared those times with her instead of feeling alone and nervous sitting in that hot and stifling wagon that made her clothes stick to her skin. She tried not to think about it and get comfortable, letting her eyes wander over the landscape once more.

  A few hours later, the view of the landscape on the other side of the window had changed completely. It had got dark and the golden fields had been replaced with tall mountains that spread out, covering the horizon. Huge dark meadows could be seen on both sides of the track and, from time to time, they would pass small villages with stone houses. The train headed towards the mountains, going through long tunnels and not exiting until several minutes after. Luna felt her nerves getting bigger. She was now in the North, so she couldn't be that far now. The towns began to appear more frequently. A robotic female voice announced through the speakers that they would reach their destination in five minutes. Luna took her baggage down from the rails and stood in the aisle.

  When the train pulled into the station, she pressed her face against the glass, trying to find her aunt’s silhouette in the crowd of people on the platform. Unknown faces passed by her on the other side of the window, but she couldn't see her aunt. Surely, as she had feared, the woman waiting for her didn't look anything like the woman she remembered and so she couldn't find her. The train pulled to a stop and the doors opened. Luna got off of the train with a heavy suitcase in each hand and her backpack on her back. She stood in the middle of the platform, looking at people hugging their friends and family, their smiles, kisses, cries of joy... She tried to find a woman standing on her own and looking for someone like she was doing. It was possible that her aunt didn't recognize her either and that was the reason why nobody had walked over to her.

  The people began to walk towards the station's exit. Fewer and fewer people remained on the platform. Luna put her suitcases on the floor and looked around once more, asking herself what was going on. Maybe her aunt was just running a bit late. All she had to do was calm down and wait a while. A terrifying thought flashed through her mind. What if her aunt had gotten the day mixed up and she had no way of contacting her. What would she do? Call her parents and say that she was going home?

  She picked up her suitcases again, that seemed to weigh more each time and walked over to a bench to sit down and wait. The station was emptying fast. They would most probably want to close it soon, so she was also left without the possibility of waiting there for much longer. She looked up at the timetable. The next train to Madrid didn't leave until seven the following morning. The idea of having to spend the night alone walking through an unknown city sent shivers down her spine. It was impossible that her aunt had forgotten about her, she had seemed as excited as Luna at the idea of spending the summer together.

  She looked around the station again. There was nobody left, except for two guards talking to each other and who were most probably going to ask her to leave in a few minutes time. Just then she heard rushed footsteps entering the station. She stood up and looked towards where the noise was coming from, but sat down again seconds later feeling disappointed. The person running into the station was an old man, with a red t-shirt that was pulled too tight over his large stomach. The man reached the beginning of the platforms and looked around as if he were looking for someone. When he saw Luna, he began to run towards her. He stopped in front of the bench and tried to talk, but he was so exhausted that he signaled with his hand, asking her to wait for him to catch his breath. She looked at him, trying to decide whether to get up and leave or laugh at the sight of the man. His fat cheeks perfectly matched the color of his t-shirt and large drops of sweat could be seen running down his bald head.

  Half a minute later, the man seemed to finally catch his breath and, with a still panting voice spoke to her:

  — You're Luna, right?

  She looked at him feeling puzzled, asking herself who the man was. Maybe he was aunt Emma's husband, although she had never heard that her aunt had gotten married. She finally nodded at the man, without knowing what else to say. The man smiled, picked up the two suitcases with a bit of effort and turned towards the exit. Luna didn't know what to do for a second and started to hurriedly walk behind the man, with the aim of finding out what was going on, or at least get her suitcases back.

  — Excuse me— she said once she was beside him—. Can you tell me who you are?

  — Juan Marquez??
? he answered without losing pace—. I'm a taxi driver. Your aunt asked me to come and pick you up.

  — Is she waiting in the taxi?— Luna asked hopefully.

  — No, I have to take you to her house— the man walked out of the station and headed towards a double parked taxi. He put the suitcases in the trunk and sat behind the wheel—. Come on, it's getting late.

  Luna stood still in the middle of the sidewalk, not really knowing what to do. She didn't like the idea of getting into a car with that stranger and she felt very disappointed by the way in which her aunt was acting. Why hadn't she come to pick her up? Did she care so little about her that she couldn't come to meet her at the station after having not seen her for over ten years? And, if she did care so little about her, why had she invited Luna to spend the summer with her? She opened the car door and sat in the back seat. She didn't have any other choice. All of her money was in one of the suitcases that the driver had just put in the trunk.

  — I'm sorry I'm late— the man said as he started the car—. The trip I had to do before this one took me longer than expected. I got here