l ania and Kami were already at the station, waiting for the next train that would take them back to the boundary at the forest between their village and the society beyond.
Yania picked up a newspaper that someone had left on the bench.
Right there on the first page, she read in large letters: Freak who Kidnapped Daughter of Minister Declared Insane by Court and Admitted Compulsorily.
Her heart almost jumped out of her chest. She began quickly reading the whole article. She had no doubt that the article was about herself and Daisy.
“Kami, quickly, read this,” she asked her friend, trembling.
Kami was also shocked. “They are talking about you and Daisy,” she said, reading the article. It stated that the abduction had been proven through the discovery of a note left by the girl at the home of the owner of a shop that sold paranormal objects and books. A search had been ordered, on the suspicion of the girl’s parents.
“The monsters accused Daisy of kidnapping me and have put her in an asylum. I have to help her!” Yania jumped out of her chair.
“What are you thinking of doing?”
“I don’t know. I just know I need to help her!” Yania said as she pulled the newspaper from Kami’s hands and tore it to bits. “How can they tell such huge lies as if they were absolute truths?” She put the pieces in the trash. “My father must have noticed the stamp of the shop 65
66
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
that was in my books and suspected that I could be there,” she sighed.
“I got out in time, but Daisy was so fond of me that she probably kept the simple note I wrote to her before I left. I should have told her to destroy it,” she said, blaming herself.
“No, Yania! It wasn’t your fault! Neither yours nor Daisy’s! It was normal that she wanted to keep your note because that would be her last remembrance of you.”
“I must go look for her!”
“Calm down! We have to first go back to the village and meet with everyone to see what can be done.”
Yania started walking toward the ticket office. “No, Kami! There’s no time to lose!”
“Wait, Yania! Don’t do it! It’s very dangerous! We have to go back home first!” Kami cried.
It was useless. Yania went straight to the ticket office and bought a train ticket to the capital city. It was four hours away, and she had hardly any money left, but she didn’t care. She was willing to starve and sleep on the street if need be. She had to help Daisy.
Kami ran after her. “Yania, listen! You are not prepared for a mission like this. Besides, the police are still looking for you, and your photos have been published everywhere. Going to the capital city is one of the worst things we can do, as you will easily be recognized.”
But Yania was unwavering in her decision.
“Kami, you don’t have to come with me. I’ll go alone.” She hurried toward the train that was departing in minutes to the city.
Kami stood watching her friend get farther away. She felt in her heart that Yania was also sad for not having received her support and for her not being able to perceive the urgent nature of the situation. A feeling of guilt came over her.
Yania entered the train, sat down, and avoided looking out the window. The doors closed, and the train began moving. She felt very sad and angry at the same time. The sadness that made her heart ache came from her imagination of the terrible things that Daisy was suffering, augmented by the lack of unconditional support she had expected from Kami. This bitter grief was accompanied by a tremendous feeling of disgust at the monstrosities that were destroying the earth and that seemed to have no end. She sighed and desperately wanted to cry.
T H E L O V E S P I R I T S
67
Despair engulfed her soul. She loved Kami and all of the others at the village, but she also loved Daisy, and Daisy needed her now more than ever.
She closed her eyes, trying hard to hold back the tears that were coming.
Suddenly, she felt a kiss planted very tenderly on her face.
“Yania, did you think I was going to leave you?” It was Kami, who had sat by her side!
“Kami! Thank you! Thank you for being my true friend!” The two tightly embraced. Then they began crying, but crying for happiness now that they would be together always.
During the trip, the two came up with ideas as to what they could do to get Daisy out of that horrible place. Yania and Kami did not trust in the institutions of society. They knew these institutions were corrupt, false, and malicious. Kami had learned this, also, because many from the village had previously lived in society and had shared their experiences of the horrible things that had happened there. Yania had experienced firsthand the hypocrisy and Machiavellianism of institutions, including the police, but it was always difficult to understand how someone was able to obey orders or immoral laws in exchange for money.
They both also knew that there were good people in many of those institutions. Although many police were bad, some were good and were using their jobs to try to help good people, be they rich or poor.
They came to an agreement. They decided to try to talk to the director of the psychiatric hospital. They counted all the money they had. When they got to the capital, they would go to a supermarket and buy some vegetable sandwiches and a box of soy milk to share, as well as a big blanket to comfort them in the cold, as they would have to spend the night hidden somewhere in a city park.
And so it went. It was three o’clock in the morning, and they were cuddled together, sleeping on a secluded patch of lawn among some trees. Suddenly, they are awakened by an empty beer can landing on top of them.
“Look, two girls snuggled and sleeping... gotta love that!”
It was a band of seven young delinquents, many of them drunk, standing in front of the girls, laughing and making fun of them.
Kami took the can and threw it back to them. “We don’t like the smell of alcohol,” she said indignantly as she and Yania got up.
“They must be little lesbians... hugging,” said another boy stupidly.
68
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
Kami spoke up again. “Mind your own business, you morons!”
“Yes, you bunch of jerks,” Yania added.
“Look, look, the two little birds are protesting,” said one, who seemed to be the leader.
“Let’s teach them a lesson!” proposed another boy, and the others murmured in agreement.
“A couple of slaps and we are done here,” ordered the ringleader.
The delinquents began to get closer to the girls, one of them even opening a switchblade.
Kami immediately and intensely wished that the intruders be pushed back. Suddenly, the seven began to feel a powerful unseen force pushing them all in the opposite direction. It was such a great force that one even fell flat on his back. They didn’t really understand what was going on, and even though they started backing up, they had not yet fled.
Yania wished that another invisible force give a nice hard slap to each of them. Suddenly, every boy experienced a strong whack to the face. At that point, they all panicked and ran out of the park, screaming as loudly as they could!
“Now who are the sissies?” Yania shouted at them. She began laughing together with Kami. They again lay down, huddling close, but this time, to prevent the devil from doing any more tricks, they wished that a group of squirrels, which they had seen before, signal them with loud noises should anyone approach again.
The sun came up. The two friends wasted no time finding out where the psychiatric hospital was located, to try to talk to the director personally. Yania wanted to prove that she had not been kidnapped and that Daisy was innocent.
When they arrived, Yania was soon recognized by a guard at the hospital, who then immediately accompanied them to the office of the director.
“Good morning,” Yania greeted him, a bit apprehensively. “I’m here to prove that I was not kidnapped by anyone and that it’s a lie that Daisy had any involvement. I ran away from home; that’s all.”
The director looked at Yania with an air of calm, as if he had everything under control.
“You know, kid, I can see that you are mentally disturbed. I’ve been a psychiatrist for thirty-three years, and I can tell a sane person from a sick person just by looking at them.”
T H E L O V E S P I R I T S
69
“Disturbed? I’ve never been so well in my whole life!” Yania exclaimed, outraged.
Kami jumped into the conversation. “I see that you do not notice any feelings or emotions going on inside of one’s soul.”
“You two are very sick. This little friend of yours,” he pointed to Kami, “has brainwashed you with crazy ideas, right?”
Yania objected, “I see that it is useless to talk to you.”
“Useless? Well, maybe. Many patients need more measures...pills, electric shocks, and lobotomies.... You abandoned your parents, school, everything! You failed to meet your main objective, which was to study.”
“Main objective? Since when is the main purpose of the life of a human being to study in your schools? The main purpose of a human being is to be happy and make others happy!” Yania grabbed Kami’s hand. “I see that you are the one who is mentally ill.”
The director remained calm. “Well... maybe that’s true. After all, what is mental illness? Are not we, certified psychiatrists, the ones who define it? Yes, perhaps you are right... we are all crazy.... Interesting....” Suddenly, he slammed his fist on the table. “But it’s the officials and their laws that tell us what to put in the psychiatry books! They give the orders! We obey!”
Yania and Kami retreated a few steps.
“Where is Daisy?” Kami said.
“Where you two will be within a few seconds!” He picked up the phone to call the guards.
“You’re a monster,” Yania said, making a face of disgust.
Four guards came in and grabbed the girls.
“They are very sick. Take them to the E Ward, where they will remain under lock and key until further notice.”
As the girls were taken out of the office, the director picked up the phone to call Mr. John Nobrega to tell him what had happened.
While the girls were being forced down the corridor, Kami had an idea. “Mr. Guard,” she said to the guard who held her by the arm, “I need to go to the bathroom. Really, really bad!”
“That is not allowed. You have to wait until you reach the intern-ment ward,” he responded like a robot.
“But, Mr. Guard,” she said, acting as though she couldn’t walk, “I won’t make it! If I don’t go to the restroom right now, I will pee right 70
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
here, and you will end up with your gorgeous uniform all wet and stained. What will your superiors say?”
The guard looked at his colleague. They could not let that happen.
The rules were very strict with regard to uniforms.
They communicated to the guards following with Yania that they would have to stop quickly at the nearest bathroom.
Kami went into the bathroom, leaving the four guards with Yania at the door. She opened the tap to the maximum and desired that the gushing stream of water become a thick iron chain that would wrap around the guards, chaining them immediately. She opened the door, and bang!
The water had turned into iron chains, wrapping up the guards, knocking them to the ground, and tying them one against the other from head to toe, so that they could not even scream.
“Quickly, Yania, let’s go!”
“But where is Daisy?” Yania asked as they ran.
“We’ll handle that in a minute!” Kami replied, looking for a hideout.
They quickly found an empty room and went inside and shut the door behind them. They leaned back against the wall, catching their breaths.
“Give me your hands,” Kami said, grabbing both of Yania’s hands. “I want you to concentrate and visualize Daisy, and think how much you like her and how much she likes you.”
“But do I have to communicate to you by telepathy?”
“No need. Just think!”
Yania closed her eyes and did what Kami asked. Kami also closed her eyes and concentrated. A few seconds went by. Kami felt the beauty of the relationship between the two, and the wonderful feelings of Love that flowed between them. Immediately, she sensed where Daisy was located.
“Okay, there she is! I know where they have her! Come on!” she said, opening the door carefully.
“How did you do that?” Yania asked in admiration.
“It wasn’t me; it was you! Come on, there’s no time to lose!”
The two of them ran, Kami leading the way. They came to a room that had a locked door.
“Daisy is here,” Kami said.
T H E L O V E S P I R I T S
71
“Let me open the door,” she continued, wishing that the door be unlocked.
They entered and saw a woman tied to the bed, with a bottle of serum connected to her arm.
“Daisy!” A look of anguish overcame Yania as she ran toward the woman.
“Daisy, it’s me!” Yania shook Daisy gently, as it seemed she was unconscious. Soon, she noticed that there were many bruises and wounds that were still bleeding on Daisy’s head and arms. She became extremely worried. “Daisy! Daisy! What have they done to you? Wake up!” she screamed.
Daisy slowly opened her eyes and fixed them on Yania.
“Daisy! It’s me!” Yania said, squeezing her hand.
“Sara,” Daisy replied with great difficulty. “It’s so good to see you....”
“What have these monsters done to you?” asked Yania, very upset.
“Sweetie... what they did to me isn’t important,” Daisy continued, still struggling with her words. “All that’s important is that you’re okay and that I love you....”
“I love you, too, so much!”
“I know... so one day, later... we will meet again,” Daisy sighed, closing her eyes and turning her head.
“Daisy... no! Daisy!” cried Yania with anguish, shaking her friend forcefully.
Kami, standing next to Yania, put her arm around her, comforting her and telling her that it was of no use. “She is gone, Yania.”
“No! Daisy!”
“Yania, she now lives in a better place....”
“Daisy!” shouted Yania, tears streaming down her face, embracing the lifeless body.
Kami knew that Daisy was in the galaxy of Paradise already, but she understood the immense pain Yania was feeling. After all, even with Daisy having gone to a better place, the terrible manner in which this good-bye had happened, full of suffering and before the time, disturbed her tremendously.
“Monsters! Monsters! They really are monsters!” Yania screamed, crying.
72
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
