Guadalupe Muro - Air Carnation

To whom it may concern,

with love.

Epiphytic organisms usually derive only physical support and not nutrition from their host, though they may sometimes damage the host.

WIKIPEDIA

Beautiful, Indeed!

Three years ago, in 2010 , Rita was invited to a rock climbers party for the first time. While she was dressing, she realized that she hadnt felt so nervous since she was a teenager. Climbers in Bariloche are known for being cliquish and ungregarious, but also for being very handsome. She was in town for summer break and her friend Luz, sister-in-law of the host, picked her up. She laughed when she saw Rita. Oh my God Rita! she cried. Look at that dress! Violet! Tonight you are really determined to transmute! Rita laughed too. Extending her arms, she said, I can feel the energy of your envy, so be sure to keep at least an aura away from me tonight!

In the seventies, many young hippies had moved from the city to Bariloche, so the town was colonized by massage therapists and Reiki teachers, vegans, acupuncturists, Ovni followers, yoga and tai-chi instructors, astrologists, Bach followers, homeopathic doctors Having been raised in that environment, Rita and Luz liked to make jokes in terms drawn from all those trendy New Age doctrines and practices.

Neither Luz nor Rita had ever climbed, so they moved through the rock climbers party like Siamese sisters attached at the shoulder. This two-headed monster was sitting on a log next to the fire when a man seated himself beside it. He introduced himself as Simn, and when Luz asked what he did to make a living, he said, Im a carpenter. She said Nice to meet you, Simn the carpenter. Im Luz, Sofis sister-in-law, and this is my friend Rita, the writer. Luz always introduced Rita that way, giving special emphasis to her occupation, with extra emphasis on the final r. Then she always laughed in complicity with Rita. Most of the time they were the only ones to understand the joke. Luz made it sound as if Rita were some Nickelodeon character like Dora the Explorer. But Simn seemed to get the joke, and he joined the girls in their laughter.

Simn and Rita spent the rest of the night talking, dancing and, later, lying side by side on the grass. When they were alone, Simn said to Rita, If you are a real writer, you have to tell me a story. Rita opened her purse to take out a cigarette. As she did so, without looking him, she began: He is the most beautiful man I know, the most beautiful man in town, the most beautiful man in the world. She paused to light her cigarette, and the sound of the match was a sharp interruption of the silence. The most beautiful man in the world lives on top of a mountain, with a black cat and a mare. She stopped. Go on, Simn said. He was already hooked. So she continued and didnt stop again.

When summer comes, the friends of the most beautiful man in the world climb the mountain to visit him. They bring salami, cheese, bread and wine. And if there is a full moon, the most beautiful man in the world and his friends have a party and dance til dawn. Then they sleep outdoors like lizards with their bellies against the sun-warmed rocks around the lagoon.

When autumn comes, the friends of the most beautiful man in the world say goodbye to him and walk down to town. Some of them go back to school, others go back to work and the most beautiful man in the world, the black cat and the mare, are left alone at the top of the mountain.

When he is alone, the most beautiful man in the world proceeds to write letters love letters to the most beautiful woman in the world. Once a month, the most beautiful man in the world puts together all the letters he has written, closes the house, feeds the black cat and rides the mare down to town.

In town he visits his friends, reads the newspapers, pays his bills, goes to the post office to mail his letters and receives a stack of letters for himself, one for each day of the month. Then the most beautiful man in the world says goodbye to his friends, loads the mare with bags of food, and walks home again to the top of the mountain.

When he reaches home, he feeds the cat, lights the fireplace and reads the first letter. Although he would love to, the most beautiful man in the world does not read all the letters at once. He limits himself to one per day.

The letters speak of life in the city, describing huge buildings and trains that run underground, and the people, many different people. They also speak of doves and park benches. Sometimes an entire movie is told in a letter. But mostly the letters speak of love. They say how much he is wanted and how much he is missed.

These letters make him so happy that he spends all afternoon writing poems, as if he were cooking empanadas. He writes dozens and dozens of poems. Then the most beautiful man in the world goes to the forest to cut wildflowers. He looks and looks and looks at them while trying to find the right words to respond to each letter. He answers a letter every day and puts his answers in a jar.

You will know that the most beautiful man in the world and the most beautiful woman in the world are not always together. Most of the time they are many miles apart. The most beautiful man in the world lives on top of his mountain; the most beautiful woman in the world lives in the centre of a maze. So they send each other letters. And sometimes the letters are lost.

In the post office, postmen open the love letters read them and laugh, embarrassed at what they are reading. But when nobody is looking, some hide letters in their pockets, and reread them on their ride home. Instead of laughing then, they sigh.

Eventually there comes a time when the most beautiful man in the world and the most beautiful woman in the world cease to feel joy in the letters they send and receive. The letters begin to make them feel a little sad and a little moody it is winter time.

When winter comes, the most beautiful woman in the world asks the most beautiful man in the world to come down off the mountain for a while, to visit her in the city. Then the most beautiful man in the world puts on his most comfortable shoes. He is lucky: his whole house can be stored in a backpack. He checks his savings account and... mmm, not enough for the trip, so he decides to sell his electric guitar! He doesnt care, he is so in love! The next day, he wakes up early in the morning and walks down the mountain. He takes the black cat and the mare to his mothers house she will take care of them in his absence and he buys a ticket to the centre of the maze!

She is waiting at the station, and when at last they embrace on the platform, she knows that she is the most beautiful woman in the world. She is not sure why, but feeling like the most beautiful woman in the world makes her want to cry.

In the afternoon, the most beautiful man in the world and the most beautiful woman in the world go for a walk. They like to get lost in the maze and buy second-hand books in the park and, on their way back home, they buy food and wine in the Chinese supermarket.

Do people on the subway realize that they are travelling with the most beautiful man and the most beautiful woman in the world?

In the evening, the most beautiful man in the world likes to cook camp food: rice with canned peas and mayonnaise. While making the meal, while dining, while doing the dishes, the lovers talk, and their love is like an endless conversation.

When its time to go to bed, the most beautiful man in the world opens up his sleeping bag. It is filled with feathers, white swan feathers. They take off their clothes, place an Indian scarf over the lamp and make love, looking deeply into each others eyes. Then the most beautiful man in the world sleeps and, beside him, the most beautiful woman in the world thinks: what does the most beautiful man in the world see in me? She likes to hug him and breathe rhythmically to the pulse of him, but soon she returns to her own rhythm, feeling like a diver rising to the surface of a deep, blue lake.