TIFITY

Walk in your rainbow paradise

"Hello, my name is Tensaya and I'm the genie guardian of Tifity. How can I help you, ladies?". Evangeline couldn't believe that there was a tiny talking being levitating right in front of her. She couldn't believe we had travelled somewhere else stepping in a deep hole that was on the other side of a random door. She couldn't process the fact that we had been floating forward in a kind of colourful tunnel right before landing in such a place. My friend seemed to be astonished, so I just asked if she was okay. "What the hell did just happen? What was that tunnel? And what is that tiny floating thing?" she asked with a lack of air and a fast-beating heart. She was so surprised by the black hole and the little genie that she forgot to look round her.

I just stared at my family friend's eyes waiting for her to realize where we were. It took her one more minute or so to mouth a "wow" after seeing all those green hills, clouds and rainbows. "How... how can this be possible? I must be hallucinating", she said. "You are not Evangeline, this is Tifity, and it's finally real". I had been thinking about how I would explain everything to her since the very moment she came back, especially how I managed to make a black hole appear out of nowhere. But my mind was blank due to her asking too many questions at a time. I decided that the best idea was showing her how things worked there, so I asked Tensaya to lend me the notebook and the fountain pen.

"What would you like Tifity to have?", I asked. "What's up with that question? Alexis I'm trying to sort out where I am or if this is a kind of strange dream...", she answered. "Just answer the question please", I insisted. "Okay okay. Um... can it be the craziest thing?". "Of course Ev, go ahead and tell me". I had started to get impatient when she finally asked for what she wanted. It was then when I began to write it down. The expression on her face once I had finished writing the sentence, was indescribable. A whole amusement park appeared right in front of us. There were many roller coasters, a carousel, water rides... I was speechless even after creating a whole new parallel universe. "How the heck did you do that?" she asked with an incredulous expression. 

I felt just as if I had the whole world in my hands while explaining everything to her. She didn't believe me in the beginning, but she ended up doing so the second she got on one of the rides and it started moving up and down. "See? I never lied to you" I claimed proudly. "So you're telling me we can have everything we want here apart from getting to be whoever we'd like to be?", she asked. After telling her what happened with anything written or drawn in the magical notebook, and introducing ourselves to Tensaya in a proper way, we began to talk about how incredibly amazing the whole situation was. We finally had a safe place to escape to. A place where we could dream freely and forget about the real world for as long as we wanted. 

*****

We took a long walk through the wonie trees and oreo plants forest, talking about life, our struggles and how we meant the world to each other (yes, we were that cheesy). I was so lucky to have met such an amazing person due to a train ride delay, I thought. I trusted Evangeline with my whole existence, soul, heart and everything else, so I thought of telling her about the situation at home and the thoughts I had constantly been having for the last two years. I thought of it as a risky step, because she could get scared of me and leave me forever. I could not imagine my life without her in it anymore, nor did I want to do so, honestly. The idea of losing her made me sick, as that was something I couldn't let happen at all. I was afraid of her thinking I was mad for doing what I had done. I was afraid of her thinking I was a bad influence or something, so I kept thinking about it while she was asking me a question after another. I won't lie, I was so lost in my thoughts that I wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying. I guess she realized because she shook me as if I was some sort of plushie.

"Hey, Al. Are you here with me or has your brain gone to some other planet?", she asked. I was dragged back to the conversation instantly. I apologized to her for not listening and promised I'd listen from then on. She explained she was just thanking me for making Tifity come alive. That she could have never imagined it that beautiful with all the trees, animal-shaped clouds, background music and stars. She said I was the best for working so hard for her to be happy and not be utterly hopeless. She went on saying that I had created an amazing place and that she was ready to walk in our rainbow paradise. Her words made my heart flutter. I still doubt I was worthy of the amount of love I was receiving from her, probably because I didn't really know what being loved by someone else than my mum was like. It felt different as if it made me feel less empty for some seconds, minutes or even hours. I had to interrupt her to say I was the one who had to be thankful for having her in my life.

I ruined the moment by saying I had something serious to tell her. "Please, I beg you not to hate me for what I'm about to confess in a matter of seconds". Evangeline looked so confused as if she had no clue about what I was about to tell her. She indeed didn't know anything about it, or that's what I thought. I tried to use words to explain what I was pretending to tell, but none came out of my mouth. I felt paralyzed, so I thought of another way of showing her it. I unbuttoned my blouse while she was looking at me puzzled. "Oh my god, Alexis, what happened for you to have all those scars and bruises all over your upper body?" she asked the second I took it off. I decided not to beat about the bush and proceeded to just say: my father...

The moment I realized I had just revealed one of my biggest secrets, I broke down as I never had before. I could not help crying out of desperation and exhaustion. I was so tired of the life I was living and I had this urge to tell somebody how I was feeling. I didn't think much about the consequences it could have and just told Evangeline. It's not that I didn't trust her, I truly did, but I was afraid. I was scared of her leaving me, of her being so afraid of my father and brother that she wouldn't come around home anymore. I was afraid she would not know what to say or how to react. And although it seemed she didn't, she indeed did. 

She asked me for the notebook and the fountain pen. I was kind of thrilled about what she was going to do with that at such moment. By the time I realized I had stopped crying due to her surprising reaction. Then she began to draw something, I couldn't see what it was in the beginning. After a couple of minutes, a first aid box appeared next to us. "Please sit down Alexis". I knew exactly what she was about to do. While she was treating my wounds with her fragilely careful hands, I just couldn't say a word. I was so speechless by how she acted after I confessed what had happened to me those last years. She was the first one to speak after finishing with the healing, although I should have been.

"I'm so sorry you have to deal with all of this Al, its so unfair that you have to", she said. I noticed the pitiful tone on her voice, and I could tell she was so worried about my family members beating me up. Yes, I know it's a serious thing, but I wasn't looking for compassion. I just wanted to share a problem I had with the person I trusted the most. "Listen, Evangeline, I didn't mean to hurt you at all, nor did I mean to make you carry more weight than you do. I just had to let it out of my chest before I exploded and I thought you were the best person to confess it to". She was suffering so much as well, but the first thing she did then was hug me as tightly as she could. Once again I felt safe in her embrace, and nothing else mattered to me. I realized that Tifity wasn't my safe place. Evangeline was. 

(credits of the picture: @/cnikarts on Instagram)