For my nephew Fernando, who loves dinosaurs and is a true specialist.
The good thing about literature is that it is enough for you to describe a fact, no matter how incredible it is, so that it becomes part of the reader's life and, unlike what happens in the cinema, For example, without spending a lot of money. So, no matter how impossible it may seem, that May afternoon, a dinosaur appeared walking by surprise among the city buildings. Now, even if you resist believing it, In your head you can already see how that prehistoric mastodon stuck out its long neck between the balconies of the neighborhood where you live. Do you already see it? Maybe not yet. You still need more data.
There were some doubts. Someone said it was an aelosaurus. Another speculated that it could be a specimen of the Alamosaurus family.. Then, A third arrived who defended that it was a brachiosaurus, but a five-year-old boy who was out for a walk with his parents said, very sure of himself, what, for certain physiological details, the era of un brontosaurus, and how children spend half their lives paying attention to these things, everyone concluded that he must be right. The animal walked slowly, dodging the few cars that were driving along the avenue at that time of the afternoon. As soon as they saw him appear, the people who were walking were left speechless, neck at a ninety-degree angle and eyes pointing toward the sky, to observe it better. Others went out to their windows or balconies, amazed at such an unexpected spectacle. “¡Mira!”, exclaimed that one while pointing his finger at the beast to another guy who, then, I went out to see him, attracted by the shouting that had arisen in the street. Others quickly went up to the terraces of the farms where they ended up crowding, leaning over the edge of the walls that separated them from the void, impudently trying to touch his head if, for whatever it was, the animal was approaching them.
At first, People considered the possibility that it was not a real dinosaur. “Surely it's advertising for a movie.”, said one, getting smart. “Dinosaurs do not exist”, dared to assert another. But there it was, right under your nose, and if he doesn't get away at the last moment, the animal that said it didn't exist almost crushed it with its enormous paws. everything was real. The grayish skin tone was real. The sound of their footsteps was real. The tremor caused when walking, it was also real. Even the smell of feces it gave off was absolutely real. "Someone call the army!”, said one, more worried that the bug could turn his car to a pulp, that was parked on the street, next to the sidewalk, than for any other reason. After a few steps, the dinosaur stopped in front of a park that was sealed off, he lowered his thick and long neck, and he began to eat the leaves of the trees without disliking any species or genus..
The army did not appear (at least, not immediately). Those who did appear were those of the local police who, since they didn't know what to do, They dedicated themselves to cordoning off the area and controlling the curious. Then, the Civil Guard appeared, nor did he know how to solve that, He began to help the first to hide. Later, The media arrived and spread the news to the entire country.. While, the animal continued eating calmly. The crowd soon became a mass that came from all corners of that city that had suddenly awakened from its lethargy and was amazed.. Maybe somewhat harassed by the situation, The animal raised its head from the trees and looked at all those people who came to see it.. It seemed like he was paralyzed.. someone said: "I'm sure he's thirsty."!"Everyone agreed and soon a human chain was organized that, overland, aire o internet, He started looking for a plastic pool to fill it with water and offer it to the bug.. Never before has an entire community moved in unison and harmony in favor of a single and same cause.. In a moment, they had forgotten about the virus, of your daily frustrations, of the uncertainties of the future, of the wounds of the past and had begun to collaborate with each other. Where was all that before the magnificent vision of an animal that they believed to be extinct and that they were admiring in all its majesty?? They couldn't say it was a beautiful animal. Her beauty came from memory, suddenly brought to the present, of an Earth without men.
When they finally presented him with the pool, the dinosaur didn't pay much attention to him. The expectation was maximum. As they saw that the animal did not react, Some began to shout and make gestures with their hands to get his attention.. To these first, Then many others joined. But that didn't quite work. The dinosaur, disoriented in an element that, obviously, It wasn't his, He didn't seem to know what he should do.. The people started, So, to feel a little frustrated. “Why don't you drink??”, one asked. “He doesn't seem very smart.”, said another, making a disapproving face. "But, What if you are not thirsty??”, pointed out another, drawing the attention of others to the fact that perhaps everything could be supported by an assumption without a clear foundation. But, when a large group of people (and this, Of course, it was) has made the decision to interpret an event in a way, It's very difficult to change your mind., especially if it was already an entire city.
So, for no known reason, The animal tilted its head and directed its nose against the pool. on the street, there was a silence that, more than silence, It was pure emptiness.. What is the silence of an entire society that is silent?? Slowly, The dinosaur flexed its long neck and, forming an arc, He put his huge head towards the pool.. At last, opened his mouth, he stuck out his tongue and drank. The street erupted in a hysterical scream that was pure joy. The question that would remain unanswered would be, what would have happened if i hadn't drunk? we will never know.
After emptying the pool, The animal raised its neck again and stood there, watching people, without moving. “And now what?”?”, they said to each other. They were waiting, but nothing happened. Night fell and still nothing happened at all.. About ten, at dinner time, many retired to their homes where they planned to follow the events on television. Others remained on guard, taking turns among themselves in a vigil that had something of a religious wake, whose purpose was none other than to continue contemplating that improbable anomaly. All night long, The animal did nothing but continue feeding on the trees in the park. But, what a splendid vision it offered! And it wasn't just his imposing figure that caused that admiration.. In a world where the immediate reigned, somehow, whoever looked at it felt connected again, without knowing exactly how, to a line that linked him to eternity. someone said, “I could watch this my whole life.”.
However, as dawn approached, the figure of the dinosaur began to blend in with the buildings that surrounded it. It's not that it was disappearing, it was that, with every blink of the people who were still awake, that mass was blending in with the surroundings. Someone, sensing what was going to happen, cry. When the sun rose over the skyline of the city, dazzling them, No one knew if what was in front of them was a dinosaur or something else.. When people started going to work (those who still had one and could exercise it) no one remembered what had happened.
Is it possible that an entire city had a single collective dream? We won't know that either.. GERARDO LEON
