Library

2026-06-23

Apartments. Fish. Tables.

I pass in front of grandparents house. The car isn't there. I have the key so I could go in but I'm afraid of being caught. It's Friday night and I know my cousins and uncles are there and that they probably all went out for dinner. I end up not going in and go to the building instead.

I'm in the Benfica building and I'm moving apartments to another one in Charquinho (but they're all in the grandparents' building). I open the door and go in. I'm immediately struck by the sound of water. The apartment isn't like anything I've ever seen. It has a restaurant vibe. There are tables everywhere and the tables are transparent and have fish inside them. But the apartment lights are white and hurt my eyes. I move away from the fish and look for a quieter corner but it's all the same.


Airport. Germany. Bikini.

I'm at the airport with someone, I'm not sure if it's my mother and someone else. It's an airport in Germany and as soon as we arrive I see a Uniqlo. We sit on a bench in front of the store and I start looking and then I leave my pink bag with them and go check out the store.

Inside I run into Monica in the bikini section. There are a bunch of them in yellow tones, they're bikini bottoms and there are several styles. I look at one that's a bigger bottom, it looks more like a top than a bikini bottom and it's yellow with some pink tones too. She says she already tried that one on and Tiago said it didn't look good on her because her breasts are too big. I look at other ones that are smaller, more like a bikini top, and think that by that logic I should look better in one of those but I want to try that one on. She also hands me a small yellow bottom.

When I'm about to grab the top another girl appears and says she's also looking for that one and suddenly I can't find it anymore and I decide to go to the fitting room and ask Monica for hers to try on. Before that I go with the bottom to the store entrance and hold it in front of me so it doesn't set off the alarm, to see if my mother and whoever are still on the bench or if a lot of time has passed, but she's still there and signals to me that everything's fine.

Then I meet Monica at the fitting room and she shows me a basket where she left her top. I grab both pieces and go into the fitting room but right before I go in I split it in half and tear it, like I'm tearing paper, but I know it's not actually torn, that it'll go back to normal. It's a movement I do like when you unbutton things to try them on. The lady at the fitting room asks me for the pieces to count them and that's when I realize that maybe I did that too early. She's confused to see them in four pieces instead of two and I say very naturally that it'll go back to normal. She's so confused she doesn't even say anything.

I go into a fitting room and try on the bottom first. When I undress a wind starts outside and the fitting room curtain lifts and opens and there's a lady in the hallway looking at me and I try to close the curtain but the wind is so strong the curtain flies and opens completely. I think these must be mixed fitting rooms but I'm not too worried. Then I notice the fitting room also has a wooden door and I try to close it but the door doesn't latch so it also ends up opening. I give up on that and try on the bikini bottom over my underwear. It's semi-transparent. Then I try on the top but I don't like it either. I also confirm that the pieces went back to normal and aren't torn at all.

When I leave and hand the pieces to the lady she looks at them and sees they're intact and gets even more confused. I say I didn't like them and she says she understands that those pieces aren't worth that price for me and that it doesn't make sense for me to take them. Then she asks if I've ever been to Uniqlo and I say yes, in Japan even. She's surprised and asks something else and I think I have to go to Japan again.

When I leave the fitting room I still go look at a few more pieces, there are nice dresses and tops, with a lot of detail, but I end up not trying anything else, none of them are exactly what I'm looking for.


Airbnb. Fountain. Pots.

I'm in an Airbnb and the cleaning lady has rearranged the frying pans and put the ones I usually use inside a cupboard hanging on hooks. Then I go out to the street with one of those stainless steel pots to boil water and I go to a small fountain in a square to wash the pot. I go there twice. The second time there's a line of people behind me waiting to also wash their things or get water, but no one's in a hurry and I don't feel any pressure either and I wash calmly. The fountain has a mini drainer for anyone who wants to leave some plates to dry, and it also has a drain so you can pour out dirty water. I notice I have some foam on my hands but I leave with the foam still on because the house is just next door.