The Yellow World by Albert Espinosa Read Free Book Online

he explained these things to us I looked at him closely. I wanted to know what this dark-skinned man was thinking, with his round eyes and prominent eyebrows. I wanted to know why he was special, what the secrets were that made him different.
    I never knew what they were, but he taught us something vital: The things that we had—false legs, scars, bruises, bald heads—these were things that made us different and made us feel special, which is why we should never hide them but show them with pride.
    He achieved his aim: I’ve never been ashamed to show off the things I lack. And I’ve been able to make secrets, thethings that are the most difficult for us to share, nothing more than a proof of our differences.
    When I left the hospital I didn’t forget these lessons. Whenever I’ve had a secret I’ve asked myself if having it is a good idea and I’ve decided when to reveal it, when to allow it to transform me into someone special. What you hide is what says the most about you.
    The formula is …
    1. Think about your most hidden secrets.
    2. Allow them to mature and finally reveal them. Enjoy keeping them hidden, but enjoy it more when you show them.
    3. When you do reveal them, secrets will make you special. Whatever they were, they used to be yours and now they belong to lots of people.

9
Put your lips together and blow
    It’s not just for your birthday. Blow and make a wish, blow and make a wish
.
    —the mother of my friend Antonio, one of the Eggheads, who left us at the age of thirteen
    It’s possible that while I was in the hospital they gave me a thousand injections, no kidding. I’ve got cysts, dry veins, hidden veins. I love it when a vein decides to sink down into the body’s catacombs, far away from the skin, far away from the needles. How intelligent veins are.
    I always breathed out when they gave me an injection, as much when I stopped feeling pain as when I felt it. Breathing out, like blowing out a candle, always makes things better. I like to think there’s something magical in it.
    I remember that Antonio’s mother—Antonio was a funny little Egghead who always made me laugh—told us that we should blow out air and make a wish. She told us that peopleonly do this when it’s their birthday because they think that there’s something powerful about the day itself, but they don’t know that it’s the blowing out that’s the most important thing. I loved Antonio’s mother; she always told us great stories full of examples. Among many other things, she told us about the power of blowing on things.
    She told us about mothers who blew on their children’s injuries when they fell off their bicycles, about grazes that were cured with nothing more than blowing and a little bit of hydrogen peroxide. Blowing on things as a superpower.
    I believed this without question. Every time they gave me an injection I made a wish; I never forgot to do this. I blew out, made a wish, and noticed the injection. I smiled automatically. What luck it was to be able to make so many wishes. I felt privileged. Also, I should add, lots of them have been fulfilled.
    And now in my normal life I haven’t stopped blowing. I blow and make a wish two or three times a week, without any obvious cause, whenever I need to. As Antonio’s mother said, all these wishes, all this blowing accumulates inside us and we have to let it out, we have to extract these desires.
    So don’t be frightened, and blow at least once a week, whenever you need to make a wish.
    Sometimes I think that so many of my wishes have come true because of blowing so much in the hospital.
    I think that, without knowing, the body has given us a weapon against bad luck; the problem is that the day-to-day nature of this superpower stops us from noticing it.
    Remember:
    1. Form your lips into an O.
    2. Think of a wish and believe that perhaps it will come true. The wish has to be something that you really want; it can’t be just anything.
    3. And blow. Breathe