As he descended the slope, Francesc began to think more clearly. It was him and the dark, like blind lovers trying to see each other, feeling their bodies like lost animals. His heartbeats were all that he could hear, like a fast horse in the trot, as if his heart wanted to jump out of his chest at any moment.
For the first time in a long time, he concentrated on appreciating the simple and indisputable truth of silence, so huge and clear in that long night. There, among rocks and vegetation, silence gave itself to him, wrapping him with a silent embrace. He opened his ears of all those other mysterious sounds whose existence he had never been aware of.
Those were hidden in the depths of his being, trapped between beats of his heart, or just hidden behind the guttural sound produced by their saliva swallowing sounds. Most of the sounds were almost inaudible, easily drowned out by the sound of his stomach in the long hours of fasting, or the creaking of his teeth at times of strenuous physical exertion.
The noises inhabited the deepest, darkest corners of his body, and now he finally realised them. It was only at that moment, concentrated on those weak waves and vibrations that caressed his ears, that he was finally able to hear her; she had the most beautiful voice he had ever heard before.
“I’d rather not tell you my name,” said the voice, from out of nowhere. “I’m afraid that everything will just start to disappear the moment I do so. I’ve seen it happen many times before”
Francesc did not understand then the reason for this caution. He never really did. Years later, however, on his deathbed, Francesc would confess that he had devoted his body and soul to the owner of the mysterious voice that very same day. Never again he would think of anyone else. He promised himself he would love her forever, in silence. And so he did. He devoted the rest of his days to serve a woman he would never see.
It was there, among rocks and vegetation, that this beautiful girl also gave herself to him, in silence, wrapping him in a silent embrace.