“???～”

  The day was very quiet. I was in a bus stop humming a song and waiting for Aisha. We agreed to meet here, so my only job was to wait for her, and I was doing it very well.

  “In moments like this, it would be good to have a modern phone...”

  Humming was the only thing that I could do. I tried to play some default games on my phone, but the buttons were a too complicated for me. Fortunately, the waiting ended soon.

  “...”

  “There she is.”

  I raised my arm to get her attention and she quickly noticed and approached me.

  “Hello…”

  “Hello Aisha, still using overalls?”

  “Is that wrong?”

  “No, you look good. I just waited to see you with something different.”

  “Well…I painted my nails.”

  “You did it? By yourself?”

  “Yes.”

  “...Lemme see.”

  Not trusting in her, I grabbed her hand and stared at her nails.

  “...This is totally wrong.”

  “I tried my best…”

  “At least you chose a good color.”

  “Thanks…”

  “Well, let’s go to our adventure.”

  We waited for a bus during six minutes, and when it arrived, we got in, and of course seated together. Aisha was looking at our targets on her phone so I tilted my head to see.

  “Aisha, what places are we gonna see today?”

  “The nearest one is a museum, then we can visit the zoo, not too far we can find a scenario for concerts. And finally we have an art gallery.”

  “She even wrote some of the gift shops.”

  “I can pay the entrance to the zoo and the scenario, the other places have free entrance.”

  “It feels unfair.”

  “Camila sent me ten dollars so I can pay for you, so I just have to pay for me.”

  “She didn't come with us but spent money…”

  Ignoring how bad I felt about it, our plan was at least decent. Observing other artists' work and enjoying nature are the best ways to get inspired. At least that's what I learned from TV.

  Right now, I want to know what things were the most interesting for her.

  “Some of these places got your attention?”

  “Maybe the scenario, that’s something new for me.”

  “Same for me.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I like concerts but my luck with them is awful.”

  Having problems with money, location or even with my own health was something common. It's a little sad, but my only concerts were watching TV or some videos on the internet.

  “Lusia, we arrived.”

  “...”

  “Lusia?”

  “Sorry, having bad memories.”

  We left the bus, facing our first target. Based on Aisha’s reaction, this wasn’t her first time in a museum. It also wasn’t my first time, so at least we had the same experience.

  “You came here before?”

  “During a school trip, but I wasn’t paying attention at that time…”

  “Then technically this is your first time.”

  “I guess…”

  "Get ready to take some photos."

  “Okay.”

  After entering the museum, we headed to the nearest exhibit, which was the fossil section. There, we saw a skeleton.

  “Wow, it's really big.”

  “The fossil section is the nearest to the entrance…That probably attracts some visitors...”

  “A good placement decision!”

  “Anyways, what dinosaur is this?”

  “Lemme see…it's a saichania.”

  “I see an ankylosaurus…”

  “Here says this is a saichania.”

  “Is there some difference?”

  “Dunno…Maybe the color?”

  “Of the bones?”

  Our discussion wasn't going anywhere, so we decided to look at other fossils instead.

  “Look! A tyrannosaur footprint!”

  “It's big…”

  “I think everything in that era was big.”

  “...Even plants?”

  “I guess.”

  “...A giant Katze…”

  That somehow caught Aisha's interest, but I felt it wasn't the kind of interest we were looking for, so we moved on to another section.

  “Ceramic…?”

  “It's supposed to be really ancient.”

  “Hmm…”

  Aisha looked at some sculptures until her gaze fell upon a strange face. It appeared to be a tribal mask.

  “...”

  “You got some ideas?”

  “No.”

  “Then…you just like that one?”

  “...”

  “Maybe the gift shop has a similar one.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “No, but we can see.”

  After ten minutes, we left the museum with some bags that contained keychains with tiny masks and a little toy spinosaurus.

  “I didn’t get ideas…”

  “It's just the first place.”

  “Right, the next place is the zoo…”

  “Cool, do you have a favorite animal?”

  “...Yeah.”

  “The cactus doesn’t count.”

  “...”

  “That places have some cool animals, you will love at least one.”

  “If you say so…”

  We walked six blocks until we reached a place with an entry decorated with animal statues, photos and some weird plants (or maybe sculptures, they were too realistic.)

  “You visited a zoo before?”

  “Yes…”

  “During a school trip, that have sense.”

  “Does this zoo have different animals?”

  “Probably.”

  “Let’s check it.”

  After paying the entrance, we both received two little bracelets with the zoo’s logo and started to look at the places.

  “Spider monkey…?”

  “Yeah, I was surprised too.”

  “...It has eight eyes?”

  “Maybe.”

  We watched the monkey eating his food and chilling for a few minutes. It wasn’t so different from looking at a normal monkey or even a chimp, but we continued waiting to see something interestin, but we got bored after fifteen minutes, so we headed to the best animal.

  “Aisha, please let me borrow your phone.”

  “The panda isn’t moving.”

  “That's the point!”

  “...Okay.”

  I took several photos of the panda until I was happy with the angles. Aisha was a little confused about where the interesting part was, so I tried to explain it to her, but I only confused her more.

  “So the panda doesn’t do anything…”

  “Right.”

  “And his purpose in life is to be adorable…"

  “Right.”

  "And the species would probably become extinct without human intervention..."

  "Right."

  “...Yeah, I don’t get it.”

  “Maybe you understand it with the red ones.”

  “What is the difference?”

  “The color…and the size.”

  “If you say so…”

  Although we saw red pandas, flamingos, iguanas and a lion, neither of them actually got Aisha’s interest. She wasn’t bored, actually, she moved a lot. But clearly the animals weren’t the interesting part for her.

  After looking at some other animals, we sat on a bench.

  “Hmm…”

  “Some idea?”

  “Maybe a clay iguana…”

  “Does that represent something?”

  “The iguana was quiet, like a sculpture.”

  “I mean, I see the symbolism, but it would be better to have something with more meaning."

  “Right…”

  “It’s a shame. I thought the animals would give you inspiration.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “...Maybe we will have luck in the next one.”

  “I didn’t know you could be optimistic.”

  “If a madman shoots a hundred times at random, he'll eventually hit the target. My dad likes that saying...”

  "...Who is the madman in this context?"

  "Dunno..."

  “...Anyways. For the next place…We’re gonna see a concert, right?”

  “Camila explained this one to me. Some days there are concerts, but we can also see some other performances.”

  “I see.”

  “Sounds like a good one…”

  “It must be!”

  We spent thirty minutes at the zoo just to not waste our ticket, and then we went to the scenario. Camila chose very well because the place was very close to where we were at that moment.

  “It’s tiny…”

  “Probably the entrance was cheap for that reason.”

  “Who’s gonna play today?”

  “It's called…’Bas Banger’.”

  “Is it misspelled on purpose?"

  “I don’t know, is my first time watching this band too.”

  The crowd was moderate. I counted at least fifteen people. I have no idea if in this kind of place that is a lot, but at least that means that this isn’t gonna be so claustrophobic.

  CHIS

  When the lights were off we knew that the show was going to start. And we confirmed it when another light illuminated the stage letting us see four persons with instruments.

  "Oh, four people."

  "A bass, a guitar, a drum and a keyboad..."

  "In my books bands usualy have five memebers."

  "What kind of books?"

  "Mangas about bands."

  "I see..."

  After saying that, the concert began. The guitarist was in the center, so I waited for him to sing. That's why I was so surprised when the bassist started singing.

  “Wow, they’re good.”

  “I really thought the singer would be the middle one…”

  “I think the surprise is part of the show.”

  “I see…Oh, that’s why they’re called Bas Banger...”

  "Wow, you are very slow."

  The bassist had a strong voice, and the other members were not overshadowed thanks to their own skills. This only made me feel even sadder that I didn't experience this more often.

  My hands started clapping to the beat of the song and Aisha, a little intrigued, started to imitate me.

  I was so concentrated on the song that I didn’t pay attention to where Aisha was looking. But probably she was also looking at the stage.

  The quality was so good that I forgot the time, being totally focused on the song.

  The song was at least two minutes long, so it took me a while to realize it was over. But I noticed when the audience started applauding. I joined in the cheers, and surprisingly, Aisha clapped faster.

  After a few more songs, we left the place and tried to talk about that experience.

  “It was awesome!”

  “It was…”

  “We need to come back another day!”

  “I agree…”

  “This must've given you a lot of inspiration."

  “About that…”

  “Hmm?”

  “It was pretty good, but…I don’t know how to express the things I felt in that place…”

  “You mean...”

  “Yeah, like last month. I know I felt something but…how am I supposed to express it?”

  “...That’s good!”

  “Huh?”

  “Don’t forget that feeling, we don’t have the ‘how’, but we have the base.”

  “A base…”

  “We just need to know how can we make something physical with that.”

  “In that case…the last place can help…”

  “An art gallery, if that doesn't help, nothing will."

  "It will...I think."

  Aisha's steps were a little faster, and the way she pulled me was stronger than usual.

  After what happened last month, the idea of ??being able to express her feelings in something tangible must've intrigued her. And I knew that intrigue motivated her. I wanted to know how this would turn out too, so I moved faster.

  “C’mon!”

  “As you wish.”

  The art gallery was a little far, so we stopped in some places for resting, but after doing it, we increased the speed, just because we REALLY wanted to know if this search was going somewhere.

  “There it is.”

  “It looks like the museum…”

  “From the outside. I guess this kind of places aren’t that different.”

  Although the first impression wasn’t the best, the inside was actually different. The walls were full of paintings. The names and dates below indicate the author and the day where the work arrived. Some of them were replicas of other famous paintings, but we also saw works of people from this century. That was surprising.

  “Something interests you?”

  “Hmm…”

  Aisha approached a weird painting with erratic lines. For me it looked like a painting of someone who was beating the canvas with a brush, but maybe it was different for her.

  “That one…”

  “Yes?”

  “...”

  I thought that we finally had something, but her answer was…curious.

  “...I’m hungry.”

  “...Huh?”

  “That paint, looks like spaghetti.”

  Aisha was probably saying that for the orange and yellow. Yes, it looks like a giant spaghetti from a certain angle, but probably was just the hunger talking for her.

  “You didn't eat something before?"

  "I was checking the list of places and forgot to eat breakfast.”

  "I see."

  “...”

  “That’s the only thing you see?”

  “There’s more?”

  “...I mean, I also don’t understand this kind of work, I just thought…”

  “...”

  “...Wait for me here."

  One of the reasons I left Aisha alone was to buy some food. But the other reason was that she might get some ideas if I left her alone for a while. After all, some people work better when no one is watching. But, we're talking about Aisha, so I tried to hurry.

  “Seven should be enough. She isn’t the hungry type.”

  Obviously I can't enter a lunch, so instead I got some chocolate bars. Is it a bad lunch? Yes, but at least she will be satisfied for a while.

  “This should compensate the things she always pay.”

  After my totally wrong declaration, I entered the gallery, expecting to find Aisha in front of the painting of spaghettis. But instead she was standing in front of one near the entrance.

  “...”

  “Aisha”

  “Lusia?”

  “Yeah, that's me. I brought you this.”

  “Thanks…”

  Aisha ate a chocolate bar while I tried to see what she was looking at.

  “Hmm, those are stars?”

  “Yes.”

  “You like that?”

  “We live in an urbanized zone, the stars aren’t that impressive here.”

  “Right.”

  “Somehow, this one is…interesting…”

  We kept looking at the painting for a while. Aisha was clearly thinking something, but the best I could do in that moment was do nothing and let her think. That surprisingly was the right move.

  “I think…I got an idea.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes…but…”

  “Is it a bad idea?”

  “It's not that…Just…It's a bit too vague.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think I know what to do, but I don’t know how it should look.”

  “Then we should discuss this with Camila.”

  “Right.”

  “Write everything you felt today, that way you won’t forget it.”

  “Got it.”

  That's how we complete the first step of our project. I have no idea what the final result will be like, but I know it will at least be fun.

  I was so focused on that part that I never thought about where Aisha’s eyes were looking during our ‘investigation.’