Patriot Sparks: Diego and Estrella's Extraordinary Adventure.

The first time I saw her, I was daydreaming of glory.

The future shone bright in my mind’s eye. The future gleamed with a golden light that blinded me to the present. But that was all right. For the future was everything, and now was nothing. Now was but a dark pit between times of glory.

I thought about the people who had gone before us, those immortals like Almirante Cananéia and Zumbi dos Palmares who had died for our freedom, their sacrifice so that we might live today in the light. I thought of how they had fought against foreign invaders and how they had died for our freedom, so that we might live today in the light. Why would anyone want to die for a country if it did not have a glorious future? For what is any struggle worth if it yields only darkness?

I looked up at Estrella beside me, sitting on the low wall overlooking the great city square. Her perfect profile was lit by the flickering golden glow of the great statue behind her, its ephemeral presence reminding us both how fleeting life is. She looked down at me and smiled, her eyes shining so brightly that I could see my own reflection in them. She held out her hand, offering it to me as she always does when we are together.

I grasped her hand tightly and let her lead me down from the wall towards the square below. We needed to be on our way to meet some of her friends at our favorite bar; tonight was supposed to be special. But first we had to cross the square, where men stood shouting their patriotic cries while waving their flags and signs high in the air, as they always do when they are together in public. It is not good for us to stand so close to them; otherwise they will begin shouting at us until we shout back. They may even strike us or throw things at us if we do not pay attention to them! But sometimes I am hungry for their insults and their slings; it reminds me that there is a world outside of this one where patriotism burns hot and strong!

“Patriotism is a virtue!” cried one man standing atop a small wooden platform that bore a sign saying ‘Viva Brasil’! He waved his flag wildly above his head as he shouted his words over and over again into a loudspeaker that amplified his voice across the square and into our ears: “Viva Brasil! Viva Brasil! Viva Brasil!”

It grew louder and louder in our ears as more men began chanting along with him: “Viva Brasil! Viva Brasil! Viva Brasil!” They were all crying tears of joy as they repeated one another’s words over and over again into the night sky. The sound crashed through my body with such force that it seemed to shake my very soul and remove my heart from my chest entirely until all that remained was something greater than myself: something vast yet grand; something larger than life itself; something infinitely powerful yet infinitely fragile; something eternal; something pure; something true…

And then there she was, standing beside me as she always does when we are together, pulling me away from my daydreams of glory toward reality with her soft touch upon my arm. She smiled down at me warmly until I managed to smile back at her; then she tugged gently on my arm once more and led me through the crowd of patriotic men who shouted ever louder into the night sky above their heads until finally we passed beyond them onto the other side of the square where there were fewer men on stage shouting patriotic cries into microphones while waving flags around their heads with rhythmic precision as if imitating birds flapping their wings in unison. Even so, it only took us three seconds to pass through their ranks before we were out of range of their voices entirely and walking peacefully down an empty sidewalk towards our favorite bar without fear or worry or thought…

* * * *

The first time I saw him… Well, I didn’t really see him–not really–but it felt like I did… All right, maybe I am starting out badly here, but let me try to explain what happened because it is important… It must be important because it felt so real… So real… It felt so real…

Yes… You see now? You understand what I mean now? Good… Because I wasn’t sure myself at first either… And then he showed up again later that same evening after Estrella asked one of her friends from school out onto the dance floor with us three, which meant we had four people dancing together in total, which meant that we should have been able to make some pretty good shapes together on our own since we each only had two feet each on which to stand. Even with Estrella having four feet plus two hands instead while also managing somehow to hold our drinks upright without spilling any while still looking cool while doing all this before beginning our dance movements simultaneously at exactly