By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept

A village appeared. Like most medieval cities, it was situated atop a mountain peak; even from a distance, I could see the tower of a church and the ruins of a castle.

'Let's drive to that village,' I suggested.

Although he seemed reluctant, he agreed. I could see a chapel along the road, and I wanted to stop and go in. I didn't pray anymore, but the silence of churches always attracted me.

Don't feel guilty, I was saying to myself. If he's in love, that's his problem. He had asked about the medal. I knew that he was hoping we'd get back to our conversation at the cafe. But I was afraid of hearing something I didn't want to hear. I won't get into it, I won't bring up the subject.

But what if he really did love me? What if he thought that we could transform this love into something deeper?

Ridiculous, I thought to myself. There's nothing deeper than love. In fairy tales, the princesses kiss the frogs, and the frogs become princes. In real life, the princesses kiss princes, and the princes turn into frogs.

After driving for another half hour, we reached the chapel. An old man was seated on the steps. He was the first person we'd seen since our drive began.

It was the end of fall, and, in keeping with tradition, the fields had been returned once more to the Lord, who would fertilize the land with his blessings and allow human beings to harvest his sustenance by the sweat of their brows.

'Hello,' he said to the man.

'How are you?'

'What is the name of this village?'

'San Martin de Unx.'

'Unx?' I said. 'It sounds like the name of a gnome.'

The old man didn't understand the joke. Disappointed, I walked toward the entrance to the chapel.

'You can't go in,' warned the old man. 'It closed at noon. If you like, you can come back at four this afternoon.'

The door was open and I could look inside, although it was so bright out that I couldn't see clearly.

'Just for a minute?' I asked. 'I'd like to say a prayer.'

'I'm very sorry. It's already closed.'

He was listening to my conversation with the old man but didn't say anything.

'All right, then, let's leave,' I said. 'There's no point in arguing.'

He continued to look at me, his gaze empty, distant. 'Don't you want to see the chapel?' he asked.

I could see he didn't approve of my decision. He thinks I'm weak, cowardly, unable to fight for what I want. Even without a kiss, the princess is transformed into a frog.

'Remember yesterday?' I said. 'You ended our conversation in the bar because you didn't want to argue with me. Now when I do the same thing, you criticize me.'

The old man watched our discussion impassively. He was probably happy that something was actually happening, there in a place where all the mornings, all the afternoons, and all the nights were the same.

'The door to the church is open,' he said, speaking to the old man. 'If you want some money, we can give you some. But she wants to see the church.'

'It's too late.'

'Fine. We'll go in anyway.' He took my arm and we went in.

My heart was pounding. The old man could get nasty, call the police, ruin the trip.

'Why are you doing this?'

'Because you wanted to see the chapel.'

I was so nervous I couldn't even focus on what was inside. The argument—and my attitude—had ruined our perfect morning.

I listened carefully for any sounds from outside. The old man might call the village police, I thought. Trespassers in the chapel! Thieves! They're breaking the law! The old man had said the chapel was closed, that visiting hours were over. He's a poor old man, unable to keep us from going in. And the police will he tough on us because we offended a feeble old man.

I stayed inside the chapel just long enough to show that I'd really wanted to see it. As soon as enough time had passed for an imaginary Ave Maria, I said, 'Let's go.'

'Don't be frightened, Pilar. Don't just fall into playing a role.'

I didn't want my problem with the old man to become a problem with him, so I tried to stay calm. 'I don't know what you mean by 'playing a role.''

'Some people always have to be doing battle with someone, sometimes even with themselves, battling with their own lives. So they begin to create a kind of play in their head, and they write the script based on their frustrations.'

'I know a lot of people like that. I know just what you mean.'

'But the worst part is that they cannot present the play by themselves,' he continued. 'So they begin to invite other actors to join in.

'That's what that fellow outside was doing. He wanted revenge for something, and he chose us to play a part. If we had accepted his restrictions, we'd be regretting it. We would have been defeated. We would have agreed to participate in his miserable life and in his frustrations.

'The man's aggression was easy to see, so it was easy for us to refuse the role he wanted us to play. But other people also 'invite' us to behave like victims, when they complain about the unfairness of life, for example, and ask us to agree, to offer advice, to participate.'

He looked into my eyes. 'Be careful. When you join in that game, you always wind up losing.'

He was right. But I still wasn't happy about being inside the chapel. 'OK, but I've already said my prayer. I've done what I wanted to do. Let's go.'

The contrast between the darkness inside the chapel and the strong sunlight blinded me for a few moments. When my eyes adjusted, I saw that the old man was no longer there.

'Let's have some lunch,' he said, walking in the direction of the village.

I drank two glasses of wine at lunch. I'd never done that in my life.

He was speaking to the waiter, who told him that there were several Roman ruins in the area. I was trying to listen to their conversation, but I was having trouble stifling my bad mood.

The princess had turned into a frog. So what? Who do I have to prove anything to? I wasn't looking for anything—not for a man and certainly not for love.

I knew it, I said to myself. 1 knew he was going to turn my world upside down. My brain warned me, but my heart didn't want to take its advice.

I've paid a considerable price for the little I have gained. I've been forced to deny myself many things I've wanted, to abandon so many roads that were open to me. I've sacrificed my dreams in the name of a larger dream—a peaceful soul. I didn't want to give up that peace.

'You're tense,' he said, breaking off his conversation with the waiter.

'Yes, I am. I think that old man went for the police. I think this is a small place, and they know where we are. I think this boldness of yours about having lunch here could wind up ruining our holiday.'

He twirled his glass of water. Surely he knew that this was not the problem—that I was actually ashamed. Why do we always do this? Why do we notice the speck in our eye but not the mountains, the fields, the olive groves?

'Listen, that's not going to happen,' he said. 'The old man has gone home and has already forgotten the whole thing. Trust me.'