Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.
REBIRTH
The sand fields went on and on unto the eyes could gaze. Thousands of times, they had stared in wonder to the white-golden sands waiting for the night reflections. Hundreds of shooting stars crossed the sky in every direction and then fell on the sands without a sound and only explosions of light and colours. And after the rain of stars, each night they would sleep on the sands, listening to the voice of the sea, covered only by the warm veil of the Milky Way.
Until one night the stars didn’t rain over the sands. Their eyes felt lost and the night became colder and colder. They could hardly sleep and an overwhelming fatigue invaded their bodies. The man’s skin was changing colour and his hands were becoming weak. He craved his fingers on the sands like claws trying to find a steady ground on the air. But he couldn’t grab anything.
In absolute despair, the woman looked around, picked a shell, opened the man’s hand and put half of it inside. Somehow, the shell gave the man enough energy to stand up. He looked to the horizon beyond the sands and began to walk. The woman tried to follow his weak steps but she couldn’t. Her legs were paralyzed. She could only move her arms and cry. She opened her arms and cried “Please, don’t go!”
Either the man didn’t hear or he couldn’t stop. The distant horizon was like an invisible magnet pulling him to the distance. And while he was walking he was slowly turning into sand and dissolving into the sands under his feet. The woman kept crying and watching the man disappearing.
When finally she couldn’t see the man… only a shadow in her memory… she fell down and lost conscience. Time passed, nights without raining stars, dawns without hope. And during all that time she didn’t move. She kept holding the other half of the shell she had put in the man’s hand. She wasn’t even sure if she was dead or alive.
In the high tide, the sea would cover her but even then she wouldn’t move. Her body would float on the waters, motionless… until the low tide laid her exactly on the same spot where she stood before; always looking towards the sands, forgetting there was a sea behind.
One morning, when the tide was beginning to fill up, she heard a human voice coming from the sea, a very familiar voice that she never ceased to hear inside since the man was gone. She turned to the sea and for the first time she tried to get up and use her legs to walk. And she stood up without effort, as if pulled by an invisible hand, and walked towards the waves.
Her eyes were blurred for the experience of trying to see reality after so long looking just inside. Overwhelmed by pure amazement and joy, she saw a well known figure walking out from the waves.
The man walked towards her, smiled and whispered gently “I’m back! I’m back to where once I belonged!”
São Ludovino, 21/10/2013 – 1:37 a.m.
