Loving women in the end times. Adriana.

You don’t often get a visitor claiming to be a ‘jungle spirit.’

Adriana could barely move her body, but blowing her nose was such a built-in routine, done up to a hundred times a day, that her hands managed to find her nose even then. Adriana has a nose that invites Eskimo kisses, but Adriana doesn’t know that.

On this day Adriana’s allergies were bad, a nuisance , though nothing compared to the nuisance standing in front of her, looking at her, mirroring her facial expressions, it seemed.

The worsening of her allergies had a clear cut explanation. It had something to do with the humidity. It was annoying to have to teach like that, even if it was online and from her bedroom.

Adriana lives in Bogota, Colombia, though she’s from Venezuela. In Venezuela she is poor, but happier. In Colombia she can make some money, if she works hard, but she’s unhappy. A substantial amount of what she makes, she sends to her family members who stayed in Venezuela, in a small coastal town. The idea is to be unhappy for a while, and suffer from the humidity, endure other discomforts, and save up, for a better life, some place sunny near the coast. Maybe in Europe. Maybe back in Venezuela. She can’t be in Venezuela, because to teach online she needs reliable internet, a steady stream of electricity and it’s always nice when the tap water is there when you want it.

She misses the beach more every day. Here in Bogota people from the coast, the Colombian coast, have a bad reputation. When she was looking for a place to rent, she often spotted signs stating ‘no coastal people and no Venezuelans.’

There are lots of Colombians from the coast in her area. She hears and sees lots of drunken fights. It’s common to see drunken men hitting their women on the street. They’re all very loud.

She doesn’t feel safe walking around in her neighbourhood, but so far nothing bad has ever happened to her and she hopes it stays that way.

This may be the moment for her share of Bogota bitterness.

‘I will call the police’, she says.

‘Please don’t. They won’t see me and they will curse you and maybe fine you for wasting their time. Or worse, take you to a psychiatrist.’

‘That would be some very active police officers.’

She’s surprised by her own joke and realizes she is not afraid. She’s acting afraid, because that’s the thing to do in a situation like this.

‘I see you work a lot’, says the halfskinny guy sitting on her desk.

‘How did you get in?’

‘Through the door in your mind.’

‘I didn’t take any substances.’

‘I appear to people who take substances, but this is a freebie, let’s say.’

‘What are you doing here?’

‘Am here to help you.’

‘How?’

‘It’s complicated to explain and I don’t have that much time. Am still in this world to protect my family and they need me.’

‘Why have you come to me then? Are we related?’

‘No. It’s complicated. Someone who means you well did some good to other people and this is my way of repaying that. It really doesn’t matter. Take it like one of those ‘pay it forward things’.

‘Pay it forward?’

‘Nevermind. Important is this: you may think that by denying yourself you help the people you care about, but that is a false idea. Well-intentioned and all that, but false. Your family will be helped much more if you allow happiness into your life. You’re basically on the way to develop some sort of auto-immune disease. Your allergies may be the first sign.’

‘These allergies have to do with me being in Bogota.’

‘Yes, a place you are only in because it allows you to help your loved ones. Curious how your allergies worsened here.’

‘It’s the humidity.’

‘You are a very beautiful young woman. Your hair is exceptionally straight. Your lips are so full, they look like delicious ripe fruit and your eyes, I’d jump in and die again in those eyes.’

‘You died by drowning?’

‘Not exactly. It’s just my weird way of complimenting you. I get nervous around beautiful women. Even my wife made me nervous after 30 years of marriage when she looked at me a certain way. Even dying didn’t fix that.’

‘This is supposed to help me?’

‘No, but praising a woman’s beauty without trying to get into her pants is like watering precious plants, no?’

‘Am I asleep?’

‘Oh, dear, why do you people always ask the same questions? It gets tedious.’

‘Did someone slip something into my drink last night?’

‘Please stop. There are about 15 more questions like that and the answer to all of them is no. So to any question that may pop up, just accept no for an answer. It’s faster that way.’

‘If you’re time pressed, then please, go then, just go. Am gonna pretend this is also the humidity playing tricks with me.’

‘You’re right. About being time-pressed. Don’t try to understand what am about to say. Just accept it. As long as you don’t start prioritizing what you want, your gorgeous hair, truly lovely hair, is going to fall out. I can unfortunately cast only evil spells. But I cast them to do good. It’s a bit tricky, but don’t worry about it. As soon as you start prioritizing yourself I will undo the spell and you’ll have your shiny hair back instantly.’

‘Why can you only cast evil spells? You don’t strike me as an evil entity.’

‘Long story. Your hair will start falling out as of tomorrow morning. I really have to go now. The cure is simple. Please accept this as a gift. And don’t worry yourself sick over how this happened. It could turn your hair grey. Ha!’

There was no more half-naked skinny guy then. No poof of smoke. No flair for the dramatic. No special scent. Not even of sulphur or incense or some forest aroma.

Adriana wrote the one friend she could tell this to without ending up being ghosted for inventing tall tales.

The friend didn’t see her message, so there was no immediate response.

She decided to take a shower and wash her hair extra carefully.

Afterwards she felt better. She had a long day of teaching ahead of her. Private classes with Americans, a few British people, a few Europeans. Long day ahead. Adriana

She decided her mind was just playing tricks with her.

Homesickness and humidity and a bit of loneliness. In fact, a tender hug from time to time would surely prevent such apparitions.

In the morning she woke up with strands of her pitch black hair stuck to her pillow.

Her best friend still hadn’t seen her message.

Adriana called, but there was no answer.

In 33 minutes she had to start teaching again. She checked in the mirror if it was very visible she had lost some hair. She decided you couldn’t really spot it. Especially not on camera. With the students focused on filling out exercises they wouldn’t have a chance to notice. She could do her make-up extra well to distract them even further. Put on one of her colorful dresses.

Having long straight hair is a major source of pride in Venezuela. Losing some of her hair pained her more than having a 20 kg dumbbell fall on her big toe or burning her tongue on hot soup or falling on her knees on the hard concrete while rope skipping. Much more.

‘I should prioritize myself? How am I not prioritizing myself? Frankly, I take excellent care of myself. It’s the damn humidity.’

(to be continued)