The Web of Existence connects endless dimensions and, from all of them, I ended up in this barren land. More than a thousand years have passed since I succumbed to my enchantment for the mortals and came to the Material World. Many times I tried, uselessly, to understand them, but my naivety took me into too deep involvements with their pain, love, intrigues and achievements. My material existence has worn out to the point of making me reconsider if I’d return to what I was or if I choose eternal rest.

  All of that fascination from my earthly youth was undone with the passing of the springs. The certainty of wonderful adventures was replaced, in a cruel way, for doubt, this tricky sensation that sometimes encourages us to act, and sometimes makes us languish with fear and anguish. Who would say that all that fantasy created in the world of dreams, by the mortals, that has enchanted me so much was, after all, a hybrid of hope and despair?

- Yala? – Called gently the guy sitting next to the Daughter of Movement. His voice brought her attention back to a 24/7 cafeteria, which she always attended in her sleepless dawns, where, in that moment, she shared a table with a young man she met a few days ago, that arose a lot of curiosity in her.

- Sorry – she said with a voice loaded with the tiredness of whom had lived a thousand lives – Before abandoning immortality, I was warned about the greed of your species and about how I would suffer here. It was hard to believe once I was anesthetized by your imagination. But it didn’t take long to understand the origin of all this creativity.

- I don’t know how I can help, honestly. Thirty years of my own existence, trying to appease a thousand years of suffering...

- Give up trying to appease anything, buddy. Listening is something already. – She drank her tea calmly, feeling the temperature, the texture, the flavor. – Living among you was about learning to be one of you. I learned how to feel – the weight in this word made a weird shiver arise in the man. She, in her turn, smiled, looking entertained with the situation. – Yeah, immortals don’t feel like you. We… realize things, follow rules, but we are not used to think. It was Movement who changed it.

- How so, Movement? This is very abstract…

- He is one of the Weavers, entities, so to speak, that literally weave the existence, dimensions and worlds. It’s them that do not allow any loose ends in the universes. And each one of them is an aspect a little abstract to you, mortals, but very clear to us. – The young man was wrinkling his nose, in an obvious effort to try to understand, which provoked an involuntary laughter from her.

- What’s the matter? – inquired the man, irritated.

- That amuses me in you, this almost desperate search to understand everything around you, instead of just accepting some things.

- But wasn’t it what you did when you abandoned your immortality to live among us? Try to understand us?

- No. I wanted to be one of you to be able to imagine. I only realized later that understanding you was part of the process. But I was moved by curiosity, quite simply. Many of you are moved by something else… fear. And, believe me, I got to know fear. It doesn’t allow you to understand, learn and live together. It motivates you to destroy what scares you or, worse, to cheat and control.

- But this happens when we let ourselves be controlled by it… right?

- And why do you think that you and your world are barren of magic?

- Because it doesn’t exist here.

- Listen, boy – she took a deep breath and stared at him –, it was expelled by you, men. How many women were burned, murdered, sent into exile, mutilated… all of them only looking forward to exist  peacefully with nature, helping other people and living in harmony with the world. How many harvested lives because of the fear of losing control? For not understanding something that should be simply accepted.

- I can feel your rage, especially because of the colorful sparks that are jumping from your eyes and because of the warm breeze that your breath provokes between your words – even scared as he was, the man tried to speak calmly –, but how do you explain yourself?

- I can be a source of magic, but I’m from another world. And there are many worlds whose magic whether abandoned them or were decimated… - Yala’s eyes twinkled, sparks jumped through the air, which seemed to get hotter as the conversation advanced. – Mortals are creatures thirsty for control and power. – Even with the doors of the place closed, there was a lot of wind there. – You could have it all if you lived in harmony. I had horns made of pure fire, stolen thanks to your greed and fear. I was seen as a threat, attacked, abused to the point of being buried ALIVE! – She, now, was standing and, even with a tiny and old body, her presence was imposing and powerful.

Tears started running down from the man’s eyes and, even though he tried to hold his cry, he realized that that sadness wasn’t his. He wanted to comfort her, say anything that would ease her pain, but he was paralyzed by her intensity. When Yala realized that her anguish was materializing around her, she sat down and made a hand gesture to the waitress to come to the table

After an undefined period of silence, the man tried to resume the conversation:

- You keep too many things, you need to detach yourself in order to move on, you know? This is to change. – The man could feel the loneliness inside her and was taken by compassion and shame. Yala caught what he felt.

- Why are you ashamed, boy?

- Your suffering.  All that you feel is humanity’s fault. But maybe there is a way to help you. – He helped himself with more tea. – You give me a story of your own and, in exchange, I’ll give you a story of my own. What do you think?

They stared at each other until Yala started laughing, looking truly amused with that idea.

- This seems silly, mortal. I don’t understand how something like that can have any value.

- What’s really silly is to continue with all this suffering stuck in your soul. Just tell me how you lost your horns.

- Looking like this, your suggestion seems reasonable – she said, surprised by the mortal’s idea. She sighed for some time before continuing. – I’ll tell you how they were taken from me.

- I’m all ears.