68 & 5

 Chapter 1 | Duality (03-19-2024)

 

*alarm sounds* "Luckily I have an injection of ice near the nightstand, I intend to freeze before comes the winter..."

 

Nuclear… *sigh* what a great song, I would have loved to go to the Sal y Mileto concert last month. It's ironic how a band that talks about so many things that open the mind, with a single verse, make me think that everything is going to end. The duality appears again on a common morning.

 

I walk downstairs, and the first thing I see is my family in front of the news box, with a newscaster trying to be professional without showing emotion while talking about souls being stripped of their bodies by bodies without souls. It is unfortunate that as a society we have reached the point where our first meal of the day is murder rather than a drink of water.

 

My mom is very good at identifying who she is with a mind altered by thoughts that do not add peace; on the other hand, my dad complements his wife's intuition with some intellectual phrases. Today it was my turn to be the victim of her words; perhaps it was that slight sigh of regret that escaped my lips, or my face of indignation that gave me away. But there were the looks of my parents, two eyes recognizing my concern and the other 2 eyes staring at me while the mouth accompanied the words: “Son, maybe now we need a little hope, a ray of light like you are, Tayo; like a few years ago I was or like any of us in this family”, my dad did not know that the isolated events that took place this week in my mind, would be marking the beginning of the end of the peace that perhaps I could have transmitted to my family.

 

And it is that now people only deal with their day-to-day, living normal lives, like any of the ordinary people, who wake up in the morning and make the effort to leave the comfort of their bed and fight more against monotony, to finally give up and go to work.

 

Four days have passed and I still haven't been able to stop thinking about that article entitled "The numbers 68 and 5, the disturbing coincidence with world wars and catastrophes". And how am I going to forget it? If I am addicted to reading such interesting things. That night I kept saying to myself: "it must be the coincidences of the numbers", but how is it that the dates of the start of the First World War in 1914 have in common? From World War II in 1939?, and from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022? I still carry the paper I wrote that morning, I don't stop reading what is there whenever I can; I think I'm looking for a nonexistent reason to convince myself that it's something unimportant when I know it isn't.

 

The numbers on my paper don't leave me alone, there are several, but I only see 68 and 5. Damn! Why?!

 

World War I began on July 28, 1914.

This is: 7-28-1914. If you add 28+7+19+14 the result is 68.

7-28-1914 would be 2+8+7+1+9+1+4 = 32, which is 3+2=5.

 

World War II began on September 1, 1939.

This is: 1-9-1939. If you add 1+9+19+39 the result is 68.

1-9-1939 would be 1+9+1+9+3+9 = 32, which is 3+2=5.

 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine that nobody dared to call war at the beginning, and that still hasn't stopped. It started on February 24, 2022.

This is: 02-24-2022. If you add 24+2+20+22 the result is 68.

02-24-2022 would be 2+4+2+2+2+2 = 14, which is 1+4=5.

 

I firmly believe that numbers hide messages. And, logically, we will have to see what 68 and 5 really mean. And not only rely on those articles that seem like any other person these days; that seek to win likes with garbage ideas and without arguments.

  

I started looking for the next destruction date and realized that I was two days away from the next catastrophe. Yes, two days, that is, in the celebration of the new year for the indigenous people of my llakta. Irony or fate? I don't know, I just know I have to prepare for something.

 

The indecipherable event will start on March 21, 2024.

This is: 3-21-2024. If you add 21+3+20+24 the result is 68.

3-21-2024 would be 2+1+3+2+2+4 = 14, which is 1+4=5.

 

Damn! All this is very strange, I feel a curiosity that makes me fear the future. Although, it also makes me wish the hours would pass quickly and see with my own eyes what destiny has prepared for us. And there it is, the duality, always present as if it were one more element of daily life. Isn't it curious and striking? I am looking forward to the day; What I don't know is whether it will be a day of celebration or destruction?

In the end, the time within a day in itself is a duality: the light changes within the same day; one day may be better for some or worse for others; in the morning it can make us forget yesterday, or it can make us worry about everything that is going to happen; at night he presents us with a sad painting full of dead stars, and we all admire it with such beauty; determine a date that we will never forget or that we will never want to remember. A day that can make us enjoy life, or know death. *Sigh* Duality, duality.

 

Anyway, March 21. The mysterious day that begins the Andean calendar, which has intrigued me since its creation. Why did the ancestors choose that date, that specific day? 'Mushuk Nina' or 'new fire', time to be reborn or extinguish everything. It would be a total disgrace if this March 21st is the worst March 21st of my entire life. This March 21 is going to be, or would it be?, Damn! Well, I hope it is! My first time going to Pawkar Raymi. I am anxious to be in the Andean religious ceremony in honor of the creator of the land Pachacámac. One of the things I thank my parents for was when they didn't know what to do with me when I left school on vacation; they spent day and night bedridden at their jobs and had no time to take care of me. They told me they had to do it to “survive”. What a sad word, I don't understand why those of us below have to resign ourselves and live to work. Work for those who were born in a golden cradle; That is what they are called since their future is already resolved since they arrive in this world.

Unfortunately, the lack of need makes them grow up with selfish doctrines, and they do not value those who leave their homes early every day to work on the land and bring food to their great mansions. Precisely, they, those who work the land, are the ones who when they wake up thank Pachamama for the abundance. They do it for us, and this ceremony is no exception. When I was on vacation, they sent me to my grandmother's house in a corner of Otavalo called Peguche. It was the first time I would have contact with my father's family. In the first days, like all young people from the city, I didn't even want to get out of bed. I thought that my parents had sent me to that place as punishment; but, I started to walk around the place, and I was discovering a little about its culture and its origin. Later I understood that it was also my culture and my origin.

I realized that people dressed differently from what was fashionable at the time, completely different. A little embarrassed, I asked my grandmother the reason for her clothes, and without thinking, she clarified that her clothes were established since pre-Inca times and that they are proud to wear them. I continued along the path of knowledge until they told me about the most important date: March 21. March 21 is the day of the ceremony to start the Andean year, of gratitude and flowering of the land.

Each member of the community gathers with all the fruits harvested at that time, and they offer their offering to Pachacamac so that the land is purified and freed from the demons that want to possess it. The sacred rite is supported by the Aya who is in charge of driving away the demons of the earth and the crops.

And I don't understand how someone would not want to experience such a magical, mysterious and intriguing date. Besides, it's part of our culture, damn it! I have become a prisoner of my own utopia; in which all the people in this country still care and take pride in their history, culture, and traditions. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing faith when I go out on the street and open my eyes for a moment, realizing that reality is not what I thought, quite the opposite. But, I remember a Latin American genius with an infernal name, who wrote as if he had 3 heads and spoke defending the truth, with as much force as if he were the guardian of a sacred place; faithful as a dog, and severe as death. He, in a fight against the devil himself, said a phrase that is epic to this day: "I dream of love because deep down we (humans) love." And it is just that utopian dream that I have, which does not allow me to lose faith completely; a dream that will be achieved when love in people is reborn again. A love not between people, but a love that leads to respect for my unique llakta that is impacting new generations with their stories of past and inherited lives.

Utopia, according to the dictionary, is an ideal plan or system of government in which a perfect and fair society is conceived, where everything runs smoothly and in harmony. My utopia is that beyond the existence of an ideal system of government, there is an awakening of the consciousness of those minds clouded by ephemeral tendencies that were not even created here. On the contrary, these tendencies were created and positioned by outsiders, and they have wanted to force us in one way or another to adopt them to condition our actions and thoughts.

I hope that, at some point, I will be able to explain with complete certainty to those external agents that, here in Ecuador, we are an organized society; that hand in hand we have achieved what people have no longer imagined. We have had a lifetime of traditions; a life full of emotions; a culture so pure and safe that it lasts in this world of disorder. But, that, however, we cannot prevent the youth of our town from beginning to change; whether the change you are making in your life is for better or for worse. It is something we do not know.

For my part, I have always believed that one who is proud of what he has, maintains himself with the thought of it; without caring about the daily changes that happen in his life. The most ridiculous thing is to say and pretend to be someone else, who takes the real story of him and erases it even from his interior so that the rest do not know the truth. But, as the famous saying goes: “the truth comes out sooner or later”. I remember that in 2019, after seeing a Jayac concert in Otavalo, my dad told me: "You won't get away from your roots no matter how hard you run." Wow, it's been 5 years since that valuable life lesson… 5 years… my dad turned 68 last week. 68 and 5, again?! No, it can't be, it's too much of a coincidence; Or am I going crazy? Maybe I should relax a bit and put that article out of my mind, at least until the end of the day.

I am disappointed by the vast majority of people in my country. They do not realize that the only thing they cause by denigrating their own traditions is hatred. I hate his family and those around them. The biggest mistake they make is claiming to be someone they're not, hoping to be believed. They go around with such strange cuts, covered faces, and ways of dressing so false that it makes an impact to see them on the street and realize that they are all standardized. They are people who break the limits of reason, they are capable of even despising our food. In the end, they discard you if you don't behave according to the guidelines they follow; although these guidelines were not created by them. Ridiculous!

In my case, I like the life I have. I find something new every day. Every moment I start thinking about the things I've done; the good, and the bad. I start to think that if all people were guided by this ideology, everything that we have formed as a society over the years would be infected and destroyed. In the not-so-distant future, listening to the fight to defend what is ours for many years would be in vain. The effort would be wasted and would be forgotten.

I hope that at some point I can shout at all those who do not respect the traditions of this land that is now our time; because we are not the ones they knew before, the ones they humiliated before. Now no one kneels! And end with the phrase: “Shinallamikanchik!” (“it is what we are”). I trust that one day that opportunity will come to unburden myself against locals and strangers. And it will be one of the most beautiful moments of my life. Bleagh! Foolish and beloved utopia, it makes me excited and frustrated at the same time. *Sigh* Someday. Someday.

Chapter 2 | Water Cloud (03-20-2024)

 

Once again, I go for a walk, I keep my head down so that my hope does not fade. At each step, I begin to imagine a colorful city, with friendly and happy people. The grandparents are on the balconies listening to pasillos, albazos, and pasacalles. The flags of our capital waving in each block of the center. I see the ladies selling candles and pictures of the Virgin outside the churches. People sitting in the squares playing 'rummy' and '40'. The children running in the middle of the squares to scare away the pigeons. I see my beautiful people. The theaters are full of smiling young people eager to learn from our roots. Couples walking quickly to line up to enter museums. So damn! Proud of our folklore, with our living traditions. That, really that's what I want.

Unfortunately, my dream of a better place is interrupted by a bright and scandalous light that makes me return. Today March 20, 2024… damn! 20+03+20+24, gives 67. One day before the happy tragedy. It's not until I realize the date that all I see are humans behaving like wild animals; they devour each other and feed the dismembered parts to those who control them. And of course, what a coincidence! They are the same ones that are at the top of this food pyramid… Wake up once and for all, obedient dogs! Mental bums! Sick of themselves! Blind to their egocentrism!

Now there are two types of people that can be seen, during the day and at night; not even believed. Some are losing everything they have inherited, while others are carrying up the legacy of their ancestors. If you are embarrassed in this way, tell me what will you achieve? In fact, tell me what makes you embarrassed. Some too many people walk lost, in vain they kill each other among friends. Tell me, who do you see when you look in the mirror? Remember that lies fall under their own weight. I'm not saying I'm unsullied, but I don't want to be controlled like a soldier. Tell me, what are you trying to hide behind the mask? Or do they not want them to know about their reality? They feel less for capital, they have the need to shield their truth. Why not accept this invitation to fight against what has been imposed on us?

I think we are young people with intelligence; that we are more than report cards. That our sobriety goes beyond our drunkenness; and in adolescence, we enjoy full consciousness. And we are not slaves to the competition; we know how to value what is the true heritage. And now tell me, where are they? What is going to happen?. The only path left to us is unity, as long as we wake up from this falsehood. But you don't give a shit about that.

What will happen when only that tasteless discrimination remains when they have woken up from the dream? When the West and the North have lowered our culture to a simple folklore, nothing will be as before. The old phrases will be forgotten. They will wake up enslaving their fellow men. They will discover that they are different when they are most alike. They will discover that in this way the difference between people does not perish. I just hope they don't realize this too late. They still have one day. Well, hours. Well, no. It's too late. Too late. And they continue with their lives as if nothing happened. Am I the only one who realizes this?!

The masks that I put on these false humans have finally fallen off. Now I know that no one can help them, they are lost! There is no way out for those who never looked for one. The worst thing about this is that they are not interested; they are consumed. Their lives are inside a drawer with applications that shorten the time. Yes, those that help you to be popular, where you can buy stereotypes with a single click, empty and ephemeral entertainment; like their sad lives. It's that simple.

But those days will soon be over, the next day's result is 68 and 5; it is unavoidable. It's what they deserve. I already want to be there! Juyayay Pawkar Raymi! I want to be reborn, forget about the beasts that denied where they came from. My happiness is based on the confidence that La Pachamama will do justice to the mediocre, the lazy, and the corrupt. May the water they wasted invade their cold soulless bodies and drown the false promises of caring for our land, our customs, and our people.

What more do they want to satisfy their false happiness? Stop filtering what's around you, time is running out. I want to think that the future is uncertain, but decadence floods us. Look up, dying blind, the Pawkar Raymi draws near; It's time to leave the virtual swamp where they live.

Will it really happen? It will be tomorrow? Utopia, you are here again, you bloom within my being. My only card up my sleeve. You subdue any wish of misfortune for my people. I want to trust in a new opportunity for them; I want to trust that they will feel again.

I am so close, my desires and beliefs are coming together. I can't choose my thoughts. Do I want humanity to disappear? Or am I going to disappear too? Much and little, much remains to be done for people to react and give value to what will happen tomorrow; and little to finish with these empty bodies that wander aimlessly. How sad I am for them; What a joy to know that soon the Earth will be able to rest.

I feel different, I don't recognize myself on day 67. What if my craving for Pawkar Raymi makes me this strange? I have never wished death on anyone. Well, just rapists and corrupt presidents, but who hasn't? I hope my mind is not my worst enemy, as the famous singer would say. I hope that my current, apparently divergent, thoughts do not condition my past good deeds. Nothing is said, I must not trust myself. Rejoice over the misfortune of others, I'm not like that. Could it be that you are just getting to know me? Besides, who will be the judge tomorrow? I hope the judge isn't human, although now that I think about it it's a bit creepy on both sides: the unknown has always scared me, although I find it too intriguing; On the other hand, a human judge? It makes it impossible for me to believe that there is someone in this world capable of being fair without his interests interfering in his decisions.

I don't know what I want to happen to me now. I just want to end this strange day, the wait eats away at my mind, soul, and body. I feel strange, more than yesterday; no one really cares about day 68. Are they idiots? Or am I the idiot?

2:41 p.m., double five, reminds me I need to get somewhere before the day is out. They say that there are magical places all over the world. I believe that all of Ecuador is magic. I'm on the road, I need to get there and clear my doubts. Who would have thought that a dormant volcano would be the perfect place for a farewell? Some call it "water cloud", but I prefer to call it Pululahua. I always thought that name was a good description of this caldera, since almost every day, in the afternoon, the volcano is covered with mist. Also, my grandfather told me that in this place, the sun's rays fall perpendicularly; and that is why it was such an important place for the indigenous people of centuries ago.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the 'Temple of the Sun' is right at the entrance of the volcano. I must find out why my first thought was of this place. I get into the mist and I couldn't be happier. I feel fear because of the respect I have for this unknown place; but extremely happy to be here. It is as if it were an energy recharging point for humans.

I begin my descent down a path of stones, dirt, and a bit of grass. Halfway, I manage to see a lady who is on her way to her house, in the middle of the crater; I offer her my arm so that she leans on it and her path is more pleasant. She thanks me and she asks me my name, to which I reply: “My name is Tayo, what is your name?” She tells me: “I am ‘Yachak’, nice to meet you Tayo. Tell me, why did you take so long to come? I was stunned at her question, I almost slipped on the stones, but now Yachak is the one holding me, and she insists that I answer her question. To which he replied:

• How do you know I've never been to this place?
• Your face is that of someone who is disoriented in the mist
• (deep breath) Ah, haha, I thought…haha…forget it
• What? did you think she was a witch or something?
• No!, well, I was just surprised by your question
• Don't worry, I'm not a witch, but I know why you're here.
• Oh yeah?
• Yes. Just trust your instinct. The doubts you have today are from good people, you are not bad for wanting the day of a tradition to come.
• But what will happen tomorrow?
• Fair enough. No more no less.
• Nothing makes sense right now, at least I know why I'm here on this dormant volcano.
• You haven't learned anything from days 66 and 67. Do you even know the meaning of your name, Tayo?
• It is not a very common name, but I suppose because of the cave that is in the Amazon.
• Tayo, is a night bird that hides something valuable in his chest.
• In my chest? What could it be?
• Up to here I come. Enjoy the Mushuk Nina, Tayo.
• Wait!

Yachak let go of my hand and disappeared into the mist in the middle of nowhere. I looked for her, but it was in vain. I continued my way until I got out of the cloud that enveloped me. The first thing I saw was that the sun was bigger than normal, it was as if it wanted to enter the crater. An indescribable peace enveloped me inside. Now there was only silence, so silent that if he made even the slightest noise, the entire crater might rumble. I couldn't do anything but take a deep breath and feel alive. For some reason, he knew that this was the home of the Ayas, it was as if they inhabited the entire volcano.

Leaving that magical place, the noise of the city, the pollution, the disgust of the people, and their indifference, made me remember the reason why I was running away from this crap of everyday life. But those days would soon be over and they would never return. I was completely sure. It seems that everything is going to explode at any moment, I just hope that for them it is no tomorrow. I, for one, am ready. Thank you Yachak!

Chapter 3 | Pawkar Raymi (03-21-2024)

 

"Tayo, night bird that hides something valuable in its chest." Those words have been haunting my head ever since I opened my eyes. It was difficult to contain the cravings these days, but it was worth it. Well, the time has come, I just silently pray with desperation that the duality is still present and that the destruction brings a new beginning. I'm ready for day 68!

I stand in front of the mirror for a moment seeing that my tattoos of the Andean Chakana and the Aya Huma shine in a peculiar way as if they had just been impregnated into my skin. I leave my room energetically to hug my parents like never before and tell them that today is a great day for the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new hope; They think that my attitude is because I'm going to celebrate the Pawkar Raymi in Cotacachi, but no. It is because the Pawkar Raymi will come to Quito, to Ecuador, to the Andes, to South America, to the whole world! Before going out into the street, my dad tells me in a firm voice from the living room: "Fly high, Tayo" and my mother instantly joins in saying: "tonight is special, prepare your heart." I can do no more than hug them again and I feel like my chest boils inside. My 'taita' and my 'mama' just smile and before letting me go, they hand me a shigra, with a note on the outside that says: “for sunset”. I have no idea what it could be, I just know that I feel protected. Will my parents be ayas?

Today I perceive the streets darker than before, the smog color is no longer so present on the walls and glass, and now the solitude color predominates with brushstrokes of anguish. But even so, people do not stop looking at their devices of false happiness. If only they would look up for a second and admire this spectacular sky, with clouds slowly forming a whirlwind; perhaps there they could wake up from their enslaving trance, to pause and remember that they are human. But they got used to being called users.

16:43, I'm heading to Pululahua, obviously. I hug the shigra that my parents gave me with an inexplicable feeling. I already want the sunset to come!

17:36, sunset is getting closer. I must find Yachak. I am at the entrance to the Pululahua, but I cannot see anything. The fog is stronger than yesterday, I try to enter, but it is impossible. So I decided to go to the highest point on the rim of the crater and settle down to receive the Pawkar Raymi.

18:23, the sunset begins. The time has come to find out what's inside the shigra... no, it can't be!... I find an Aya Huma mask that I put on without wasting time and it fits perfectly. I try to contact my parents to thank them for the incredible gift, but I notice that the mobile signal has dropped. Immediately afterward, I hear screams coming from the city, begging for attention and help. Could it be that your cry is due to a lack of connection? Yes, without a doubt.

I return my sight to the interior of the crater and notice that the thick cloud that covered it has completely disappeared. Is awesome. I try to take off Aya's mask because I feel like it's squeezing me a bit; but it is impossible for me. I can't take it off. I feel how my chest begins to heat up, while I begin to observe many Ayas in the Pululahua. Some were dancing and others were preparing their barnacles for the Pawkar Raymi. Suddenly I seem to hear Yachak's voice in my mind, and he tells me to go down to the crater, that now I will be able to enter. I start my descent, but in a very fast way, I have no control of my legs. In less than 3 minutes I am already in the middle of the valley. All the Ayas surround me, they start shouting and stamping their feet with impressive energy. One of them approaches me and hands me a barnacle, and he tells me: welcome Aya Huma Tayo.

It was then that I understood my purpose. It was one of them, my chest exploded in a scream and firm stamping. In the last ray of light, all of us Ayas went out to tour all of Quito whipping our barnacles against the floors that made the people who respected Pachamama come out of their houses and join the dance; while those lifeless bodies turned into dust and disappeared with the wind. The party started, and the Pawkar Raymi arrived!

All scientists, philosophers, thinkers, fortune tellers, seers, and the majority of the world's population, throughout history, always believed that the end of the world we know would be with epicenters in the countries that are world powers, several believed that the Earth would be split in half in places like the pyramids in Egypt or the megalithic monument of Stonehenge in England. Even if it would end as the beginning of everything, we would be extinguished by a giant meteorite that would hit the earth. Even the Mayans failed!

What they never foresaw was that the honor of being at the point where everything is destroyed, and everything is born, would be from the Andes, specifically Ecuador. And now it all makes sense! We were always a lung for the entire planet. They always wanted to conquer us in one way or another. They always missed us so as not to see what we were. They never allowed us to know our power as a country and as citizens of a small nation in terms of territory, but immense in natural wealth. Wow, that does make sense! We are the exact point where everything restarts, where everything is balanced and unbalanced: latitude 00°00′00″.

The party continued for 5 days. I couldn't stop tapping. I waited for all the Ayas to return to their homes, when I realized that it was the last one, I decided to return to my home; in the Pululahua. I removed my mask, laying my barnacles at one side. I didn't stop smiling until my last breath.

  

Chapter 4 | ¿? (03-22-2024)

And when I woke up, the Aya Huma was still there. Turning off the alarm while she said: "Nuclear...".