This part does have a point, believe me, and it leads directly to the ending of this story, after a couple more updates, of course.
Part XI
While I sat there thinking about everything he had said, the Hermit approached me, looked straight into my eyes and began slapping my face with small, gentle slaps saying “Wake up! Wake up!” “Hey!” I protested, but he continued doing it, in addition to shaking my shoulders: “Wake up!” he said once more before he began to disappear into some sort of swirling smoke. The next moment, the face of the other hermit was there, the one that had saved me and cooked me breakfast, the one not from my dreams. “Wake up!” he was saying too and that’s when I realized that I had just had a dream with that other crazy hermit and his glowing swords.
“What? What’s happening?” I asked.
“A lot,” he said. “First of all, you seemed to be having bad dreams and you were tossing and turning and repeating the word “crazy, crazy” over and over. Second, I think it’s time for you to go back. You’ve been out for too long and your people will start getting really, really worried. Plus, there have been some of those air ships overhead nearby, no doubt looking for you. You need to go back.”
“Back? Why? I still need to understand what’s happening here. All the stuff you told me and where you come from and about Narnia being real and all.”
“You know, we really don’t have time to discuss everything and I am not sure you will understand everything I said and everything I could still tell you. But suffice it to say that I know you have your heart in the right place. You know Narnia and it’s history, you know Alsan and His nature, but most importantly, you know the name by which He is known here. I’m confident that you do know him a little better than you give yourself credit for. You are very fortunate for this.”
“I suppose so...” I said still quite not understanding and not very happy that he was telling me I had to go now. However, he did say I we still had time to discuss one more thing.
“About Narnia?” I asked hopefully.
“No,” he said. “Not about Narnia, about your girlfriend... Yani, is it? And about your friends, this Paco guy and that other bird person.”
“Birdie? Her name is Francine Torres. We’ve been friends for a very long time. El Paco is her brother. I was never that close to him but he’s my friend too. His name is Frank Torres.”
“Tell me about El Paco... Frank. You have strong feelings about him. In your sleep you said you hated him.”
“I don’t really hate him, I actually think he’s a great guy. it’s just that he annoys me because he’s always keeping me on my toes. He knows when I’m starting to lose my train of thought and stop paying attention to what’s going on and brings me back to the point. He does it in ways that annoy me because he always has all the fun. But in the end, I realize that he helps me stay focused, in his own annoying way, of course.”
“And Birdie. Why is she called Bird?”
“We’ve been friends since we were 10. She got the nickname from her dad, I think, because she was always trying to fly. She would tie things to her arms and jump off tall structures or trees and move her arms like a bird flapping its wings,” I said this while making flapping-wing motions with my arms. “She did this for a while and then started branching out into other dangerous activities, always aiming to fly, or at least to go faster than anyone. She’s done everything, skateboards, roller skates, mountain bikes, scooters… all those things kids grow up with. She hasn’t branched out into car racing or rockets only because her family never had too much money. I’m pretty sure she will accomplish some of her dreams someday.”
“You seem to know her very well.”
“Well, that’s because I was probably the only friend she’s had for the longest time. Sure, she knows other people and hangs out with others but no one really understands her. I’m not sure I understand her myself but I know what she’s trying to do. She had a hard time through Junior High because all the girls were into boys and girly stuff, except her. She would always wear shorts or ragged jeans and a faded t-shirt and always had a scooter or a skateboard with her. Junior High was tough then. It’s not like today where it’s more accepted that girls can do most of those things and still be cool. So back then, Birdie didn’t have any friends. Some girls probably wanted to be like her and no doubt would have done it, but they were terrified of what the rest would say. They couldn’t let themselves be seen talking to Birdie, the odd one out. It would have meant ridicule by everyone else. It was like that all through Junior High and most of High School.
“So you stuck up with her. Didn’t they, the other children give you a hard time too?”
“Well, no. Not to me. I am a guy so if people saw me with raggedy clothes and skateboard no one paid any mind to me. And Birdie was my friend and my neighbor so yes, I remained friends with her. It wasn’t so hard for me.”
“And you and Birdie never… you know… liked each other?”
“You mean romance?” I asked a little embarrassed. He nodded. “No,” I sighed. “We’ve been friends forever it seems, but we are very different. I don’t do any of the things she does. She has some interests that I don’t. And we never thought of each other as a couple. At least I know I didn’t. I liked her ways and she always made me laugh with her crazy stunts but I never even tried them. Birdie was my friend, and I was her friend. And that’s the way things worked out between us. I think if we had tried romance it would have failed. Our friendship would have been ruined and we would’ve hated each other for it. Now that we are older I can see it. We love and respect each other, and I would defend her with my life, but no, we are definitely not made to be a couple. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s kind of weird, really. It’s more like… we rely on each other for moral support and affirmation, but not romance. We have this unspoken understanding between us that this is the way it has to be, otherwise we will lose each other.”
“And this other girl, Yani. You said in your dreams the word girlfriend. Isn’t that what Birdie is?”
“Well, Birdie is my friend, and she’s a girl, but she’s not my girlfriend, as in girlfriend, girlfriend. You know what I mean?”
“No, really,” he said unconsciously scratching his head.
“Well, a girlfriend is someone you like, someone you’re dating in a romantic way. A friend that’s a girl is a girl friend, with no romance involved, you see. Yani is the first kind and Birdie would be the second kind.”
“So you mean Yani is your betrothed?”
“No. Not exactly,” I said a little embarrassed.”
“And why not? How can you have a romantic relationship with someone and not be ready to marry her? What’s the point of that?”
“Look,” I said, obviously embarrassed and trying to avoid explaining why I hadn’t asked Yani to marry me. “That may be how things are done where you come from, but here, people have to figure it out first, they date each other first to see if they are compatible, if they like what they see, they become a couple, a boyfriend and girlfriend, and they go from there. Maybe they’ll get engaged or betrothed (and I made the quotation marks with my fingers when I said the word), like you said.”
“How long have you known Yani.”
“About four years. She came to live here on our last year of high school. We met about a week after classes started.”
“And how long have you had this romantic relationship? All four years?”
“Goodness no! Not the whole four years. We’ve been a couple only on the past two years.”
“And why are you not engaged to be married? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong!” I said in a defensive tone and now completely uncomfortable discussing this subject. “I guess I just haven’t found the right time.”
