2206 : Window Onto A New World
XIV. Silent Talking
Before the heaven-sent nomination, the quinquagenarian had known a life characterized by omnipresent restrictions. She reflected that all the years of dedication, raising her darling Franqueso, and crusading on behalf of others, had decidedly paid off from a moral perspective. Yet, while they had contributed to repel scarcity further and further away, they had never afforded her that definite experience of freedom she had hankered for. Circumstances had conspired and obligated her to stay on Ovel, irrespective of her original intent of going back home after her studies. If that program had somewhat lost its appeal once she had discovered the charms of the planet, on many occasions, as a single young mother, she had contemplated returning to the all-relative security of living with her parents onboard Harmonia One. Still, even at those junctures when it had seemed the best alternative forward, some obstruction or another had prevented the move. And then, there had always been too many needs and not enough means, too many responsibilities and not enough rights, too much work and not enough time, too much uncertainty and not enough reassurance, too many injustices and not enough vindications. More sorely, there had been too much desire and not enough love. In retrospect, it appeared that whenever she had escaped her own chains, however briefly, she had promptly joined her peers in their own quests for liberty. And so, limitations, under their many guises, had constantly surrounded her. The public figure appreciated how the privileges and comforts conferred by her new position enabled her to make her peace with most of her past frustrations, at long last. In turn, this enhanced lucidity allowed her to discern, and accept, that there was no other way to heal the affective wounds wreaked by the departure of the father of her sole child than to forgive the man and his cowardice, sincerely and unconditionally. She had never known since him such an enchanting romance, and she was learning that the resentment she nurtured, and suffered, towards him had only delayed the prize she yearned for, the opportunity to try again, with someone she genuinely loved. Yet, every now and then, amidst the serene mending, one matter burdened her, one regret she couldn't shed once and for all. She was still waiting for her wish for a second chance to obtain her bachelor's degree in ecology to be granted. Despite knowing that she would have indubitably led an utterly different life had she completed the curriculum as planned, she couldn't help but feel that, somehow, the cosmos owed her that much. Or maybe she was the one being unfair, Romero wondered as she recognized the distinctively shaped church of the Community not too far ahead in the distance, reminded by the unique edifice that she had also received her share of blessings. Indeed, her second chance had probably come after all, but she had chosen otherwise. The friendships she had fostered in the disfavoured suburb of the megapolis had blossomed into an essential part of her world. She had been fortunate enough to forge deep bonds of amity with Aaren and Bernard. And indisputably, Aeira was the person she was the closest to, except perhaps for her own Francesco. Had it merely been pure luck ? And was there such a thing ? The environmentalist pondered the notion as she recalled how she had met the prophetess, walking in a small public park nearby her The Threshold
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Christopher Stewart