EL CHICO LA ARRIMÓ CON DECISIÓN a su cuerpo, la recostó contra su varonil figura con tanta fuerza que ella sintió que la había arrastrado con todo y entorno porque notó que de pronto la naturaleza se paralizó; ni la brisa ni el aliento de ella soplaban para el mundo en ese momento ni los árboles ni nada le importaban a él, que ya le empezaba a zigzaguear las manos hacia las caderas y la boca hacia su boca; pero entonces ella reaccionó cuando sintió en la entrepierna una firmeza que le apuntaba, que se le iba abriendo paso por encima de su ropa y que le iba levantando el miedo por debajo de la piel.
     ─¡Que no!, Felipe, que nos ven, te he dicho. ─Y lo empujó para liberarse y para liberar a la naturaleza que el chico tenía aprisionada con su abrazo.
     ─Nunca viene nadie, Cándida, este es nuestro escondite. Lo que pasa es que tú no te quieres casá conmigo.
     ─No es eso, lo que pasa es que tú quieres adelantá las cosas y de paso en el monte. Así no quiero.
     ─Bueno, entonces diga cómo quiere.
     ─Bueno, tiene que aprendé de eso… de la erótica.
     ─¿¡De qué!?
     ─¡Ay!, yo no sé, si usted me quiere tené, tiene que averigüá.
     Y antes de que Felipe le volviera a recostar su firmeza por la entrepierna, salió corriendo, y sin voltear le dijo:
     ─En lo que sepa de eso, hablamos de lo otro.

***

     Felipe estaba próximo a cumplir 18 años, conocía a Cándida desde niña, y hacía dos años que eran novios; los padres de ella habían aceptado la relación para evitar que se vieran a escondidos como lo hicieron las otras chicas del pueblo antes de fugarse con sus novios.
     Felipe sabía ser un buen hijo, un buen obrero, no era bruto porque asimilaba con facilidad lo que le explicaban, pero había dejado la escuela para dedicarse a ayudar a su mamá, quien era viuda porque su marido fue al único que enterraron dos veces en el pueblo, primero cuando una rama le cayó encima y lo enterró en un lodazal y luego, cuando lo llevaron formalmente al cementerio.
     Cuando Felipe creció y notó que Cándida estaba saliendo de su oruga, que del pecho le empezaban a volar dos palomas por debajo de la blusa; que de los ojos le volaban mariposas y que los otros chicos volaban con la imaginación cuando le miraban el trasero; él no se puso a imaginar nada, empezó a encontrársela disimuladamente, ha obsequiarle ayuda para cargar su morral del liceo y a mostrarle los músculos que había conseguido de tanto levantar cosas pesadas.
     Ahora tenía que aprender de eso… de la erótica, de eso que nunca había escuchado, que a nada le olía porque en su soledad se ponía a imaginar qué podía ser la erótica, cuánta fuerza necesitaba para levantarla, por dónde debía empezar a meterle mano.
     A Cándida le había bajado el susto que la firmeza de Felipe le había levantado debajo de la piel, pero sabía que él no era de los que se corrían, así que debía prepararse para seguir retrasando lo que le estaba pidiendo su novio, quien justo llegó a visitarla una tarde para pedirle que le aclarara lo de la erótica.
     ─Felipe, aquí no podemos hablar de eso porque estamos en casa de papá, tampoco podemos hablar en nuestro escondite porque tú haces que hasta la naturaleza se quede sin aliento. En lo que tenga un tiempito te lo explico.
     ─Bueno, Cándida, pero no tardes mucho, que mi firmeza de casarme contigo puede que no dure toda la vida.

***

     ─Yo puedo ayudarte ─le dijo Sebastián cuando Felipe le contó lo que necesitaba para que Cándida se casara con él.
     Sebastián había pretendido a la mamá de Felipe sin ganancia alguna porque la viuda no quiso volver a casarse. Aun así, Sebastián guardaba la esperanza envuelta en un montón de mensajes que practicaba en su memoria por si ella algún día se decidía a aceptarlo y hasta se había hecho muy amigo de Felipe.
     Como Sebastián había estudiado agronomía, esa tarde le explicó:
     ─La erótica es lo que le da fertilidad a la intimidad.
     ─No entiendo.
     ─¿Entiendes qué es lo que le da fertilidad a la tierra para ser cultivable?
     ─¿El abono que posee?
     ─¡Exacto!, Felipe, lo que hace fértil al campo es su abono, su tipo de humedad, sus nutrientes.
     ─¿Qué tiene que ver eso con la erótica?
     ─Mucho, Felipe; mira, imagina que la erótica es el abono, los nutrientes de una relación, digamos que son las caricias, las palabras, los besos, todos esos detalles que hacen que el amor crezca bonito como una mazorca de maíz bien formada.
     ─Pero si yo a Cándida le hablo, la acaricio y también la beso.
     ─Seguramente la aprietas en lugar de acariciarla.
     ─Lo normal.
     ─A lo mejor quieres morderla en lugar de besarla.
     ─Un poco.
     ─Y de seguro no le hablas al oído, si no que se los quieres comer.
     ─Eso dice ella.
     ─¡Ahí está!, ella lo que quiere es que tengas abono, que seas fértil en atenciones.
     ─O sea, que la haga crecer bonito como una mazorca de maíz bien formada.
     ─Sí, por ahí va el asunto. Felipe, la erótica es como cuando siembras una mata de maíz; primero vas y ves el terreno, luego lo limpias, abres el hueco, metes el grano, lo cubres de tierra y luego lo cuidas de la plaga, o sea, lo limpias, lo abonas, le echas insecticida, lo ves crecer y cuando está listo, te lo comes. Ves, te comes el fruto después de verlo crecer, de dedicarle tiempo, no al contrario.
     ─Claro, porque no se puede comer ningún fruto si no ha nacido.
     ─¡Exacto!, y eso es lo que ella quiere, que no llegues a comerte el fruto, así, directamente, sino que primero trabajes con intención las caricias, las palabras, los besos y todos los detalles amorosos previos a lo otro.
     ─Pero yo no sé hacer eso.
     ─¡Pues, aprende! ¡practica!
     ─¿Con quién?
     ─¡Ah!, no sé, practica con los árboles.

***

     A partir de entonces Felipe se dio a la tarea de aprender la erótica. No hubo árbol que no abrazara, no hubo flor que no recibiera sus caricias, no hubo fruto que no les diera sus besos y no hubo paisaje que no le dijera palabras bonitas. Pasaba horas de un árbol a una flor; de una flor a un fruto; de un fruto a un paisaje. A veces se dejaba llevar y besaba al árbol o acariciaba tan fuerte a la flor que le despegaba los pétalos; entonces volvía a empezar, tomaba un tronco de la contextura de Cándida y lo halaba suave hacia su cuerpo, como si fuera de cristal; le metía los dedos por entre la corteza, se imaginaba que conquistaba sus cabellos, dejaba caer disimuladamente la mano hacia abajo y en un segundo descubría que la firmeza de su entrepierna chocaba con la dureza del tronco, al que largaba de inmediato porque no quería que Cándida se decepcionara de él, pero reaccionaba y lo levantaba como si fuera ella, le pedía disculpas y volvía a empezar la práctica.

     Felipe quería casarse con Cándida cuánto antes por eso no dejaba de practicar y como cada vez quería estar más seguro al acariciar, al hablar y al besar a las flores; un día pensó que sería bueno practicar con una vaca que pastaba cerca.

     Era una vaca vieja, mansa, que pertenecía a la familia de Cándida. Empezó a practicar cuando empezó a caer la tarde; cuando los tonos anaranjados del sol iluminaron la entrada de la noche y el bosque se pintó de fuego, dándole a la vaca un esplendor que santificaba su naturaleza de hembra universal.
     Como Felipe había empezado a dominar el arte de la imaginación, creyó que lo que estaba sucediendo era producto de sus fuerzas eróticas; no se acercó a la vaca como un hombre, la miró como si fuera la única criatura de la tierra que provocara aquel encuentro entre el día y la noche, entre el sol y la naturaleza, entre él y su amada; la vaca se convirtió en su amada, solo entonces cuando la vio así, la deseó, le empezó a susurrar en medio del bosque, a través de la brisa para que solo ella lo escuchara y se le fue acercando con la confianza de ser recibido.
     Felipe también dominaba el arte de la concentración porque en medio de aquella soledad diferenciaba los sonidos de la naturaleza, sentía el aleteo de los pájaros, la savia de los árboles le excitaba su sangre, el sonido del grillo le llegaba como un murmullo que lo alborotaba por dentro, como si su cerebro supiera que los grillos hembras perciben los sonidos de los machos para atraerlos y hacer posible los apareamientos.
     Felipe sabía que Cándida lo esperaba, la miraba mordiéndose tiernamente los dedos, notaba que la punta de su lengua se asomaba con timidez como llamándolo con insinuada simulación; entonces se metía en los ojos de ella y la encontraba en el pecho, acomodada entre los dos senos, pero no quería llegar y apretarla porque dañaría el momento; había aprendido a controlar la firmeza de su entrepierna, a mantenerse pensando en la palabra que rozara el alma, en las caricias que sensibilizaran la piel, en el susurro que doblegara a la oreja; quería que ella ansiara más que él la entrega, enseñarle lo que había aprendido de la erótica.

     En eso estaba cuando lo vio Candelario, el hermano menor de Cándida, quien había ido a buscar a la vaca y quien corrió a su casa a decirle a sus padres que Felipe era un pervertido... Continuará....

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The erotics

     THE BOY PULLED HER DECISIVELY closer to his body, leaned her against his manly figure with such force that she felt that he had dragged her with everything, with the surroundings because she noticed that suddenly nature came to a standstill; neither the breeze nor her breath blew for the world at that moment nor the trees nor anything else mattered to him, who was already beginning to zigzag his hands to her hips and his mouth to her mouth; but then she reacted when she felt in her crotch a firmness pointing at her, that made its way over her clothes and lifted the fear under her skin.
     ─No, Felipe, they can see us, I already told you. ─Y pushed him to break free and release the nature that the boy had imprisoned with his embrace.
     ─No one ever comes, Candida, this is our hiding place. What happens is that you don't want to marry me.
     ─It's not that, it's that you want to move things forward and here in the bush. That's not what I want.
     ─Well, then say how you want it.
     ─Well, you have to learn from that... from erotica.
     ─From what?
     ─I don't know, if you want to have me, you have to find out.
And before Philip could put his firmness back into his crotch, he ran out, and without turning around, he said to her:
     ─In what I know about that, we'll talk about the other.

***

     Felipe was about to turn eighteen, he had known Cándida since she was a child, and they had been dating for two years; her parents had accepted the relationship to prevent them from seeing each other on the sly as the other girls in town did before eloping with their boyfriends.
     Felipe knew how to be a good son, a good worker, he was not a brute because he easily assimilated what was explained to him, but he had left school to devote himself to helping his mother, who was a widow because her husband was the only one who was buried twice in the village, first when a branch fell on him and buried him in a mud hole and then, when he was formally taken to the cemetery.
     When Felipe grew up and noticed that Candida came out of her caterpillar, that two pigeons began to fly from her chest under her blouse, that butterflies came out of her eyes and that the other children flew with their imagination when they looked at her bottom, he did not start to imagine anything, he began to know her slyly, to give her help to carry her school bag and to show her the muscles he had gained from so much lifting weights.
     Now he had to learn from her... from erotica, of which she had never heard, of which she had never smelled anything, because in her loneliness she began to imagine what erotica could be, how much strength she needed to lift it, where she should start to put her hands.
     Candida had been put off by the fright that Philip's firmness had raised under her skin, but she knew he wasn't the type to cum on her back, so she had to be prepared to keep delaying what her boyfriend wanted from her, and only went to visit her one afternoon to ask him to clarify about the erotica.
     ─Felipe, here we can't talk about it because we're at daddy's house, we can't talk in our hideout either because you make even nature gasp. As soon as I have a little time I'll explain it to you.
     ─Well, Candida, but don't take too long, my determination to marry you may not last a lifetime.

***

     ─I can help you ─sebastián told him when Felipe told him what he needed for Cándida to marry him.
     Sebastian had pretended to Philip's mother for no gain because the widow did not want to remarry. Still, Sebastian kept hope wrapped up in a bunch of messages he practiced in his memory in case she someday decided to accept him, and he had even become good friends with Felipe.
     Since Sebastian had studied agronomy, that afternoon he explained to her:
     ─Erotica is what gives fertility to intimacy.
     ─I don't understand.
     ─Do you understand what gives fertility to the soil to be arable?
     ─The fertilizer it possesses?
     ─Exactly, Felipe, what makes the field fertile is its compost, its type of humidity, its nutrients.
     ─What does that have to do with erotica?
     ─Much, Felipe; look, imagine that erotica is the fertilizer, the nutrients of a relationship, let's say it's the caresses, the words, the kisses, all those details that make love grow beautifully like a well-formed ear of corn.
     ─But if I talk to Candida, I caress her and I also kiss her.
     ─Surely you squeeze her instead of caressing her.
     ─The usual.
     ─Maybe you want to bite it instead of kissing it.
     ─A little bit.
     ─And you sure don't talk in her ear, if not you want to eat them.
     ─That's what she says.
     ─There it is, what Candida wants is that you have fertilizer, that you be fertile in attentions.
     ─Oh, that's it, that you make it grow beautiful like a well-formed ear of corn.
     ─Yes, that's the way it goes. Felipe, erotica is like when you sow a bush of corn; first you go to see the land, then you clean it, open the hole, put the grain, cover it with soil and then you take care of the pest, that is, you clean it, fertilize it, pour insecticide on it, watch it grow and when it's ready, you eat it. You see, you eat the fruit after watching it grow, after spending time on it, not the other way around.
     ─Of course, because you can't eat any fruit if it hasn't been born.
     ─Exactly, and that's what she wants, that you don't eat the fruit, just like that, directly, but first work with intention the caresses, the words, the kisses and all the loving details prior to the other.
     ─But I don't know how to do that
     ─Well, learn, practice!
     ─With whom?
     ─Ah, I don't know, try trees.

***

     From then on Felipe set himself the task of learning eroticism. There was no tree that he did not embrace, no flower that did not receive his caresses, no fruit that did not receive his kisses, and no landscape that did not speak beautiful words to him. He would spend hours from a tree to a flower; from a flower to a fruit; from a fruit to a landscape. Sometimes she would let herself go and kiss the tree or caress the flower so hard that it would peel off its petals; then she would start again, take a trunk of Candida's build and pull it gently towards her body, as if it were made of glass; He would slip his fingers through the bark, imagining he was conquering her hair, he would slyly let his hand fall down and in a second he would discover that the firmness of his crotch collided with the hardness of the log, which he would immediately throw away because he did not want Candida to be disappointed in him, but he would react and pick it up as if it were her, apologize to her and start the practice all over again.

     Felipe wanted to marry Cándida as soon as possible, that's why he did not stop practicing and as he wanted to be more and more confident when caressing, talking and kissing the flowers; one day he thought it would be good to practice with a cow that was grazing nearby.

      It was an old, tame cow that belonged to Candida's family. She began to practice when the evening began to fall; when the orange tones of the sun illuminated the entrance of the night and the forest was painted with fire, giving the cow a splendor that sanctified her nature as a universal female.
     As Felipe had begun to master the art of imagination, he believed that what was happening was the product of his erotic forces; he did not approach the cow as a man, he looked at her as if she were the only creature on earth that provoked that encounter between day and night, between the sun and nature, between him and his beloved; the cow became his beloved, only then when he saw her like that, he desired her, he began to whisper to her in the middle of the forest, through the breeze so that only she could hear him and he approached her with the confidence of being received.
     Felipe also mastered the art of concentration because in the middle of that solitude he could differentiate the sounds of nature, he felt the fluttering of the birds, the sap of the trees excited his blood, the sound of the cricket reached him like a murmur that excited him inside, as if his brain knew that female crickets perceive the sounds of the males to attract them and make mating possible.
     Philip knew that Candida was waiting for him, he looked at her tenderly biting his fingers, he noticed that the tip of her tongue peeked out shyly as if calling him with insinuating simulation; then he would get into her eyes and find her on his chest, wedged between the two breasts, but he did not want to reach out and squeeze her because it would damage the moment; He had learned to control the firmness of her crotch, to keep thinking about the word that would touch the soul, the caresses that would sensitize the skin, the whisper that would bend the ear; he wanted her to desire surrender more than he did, to teach her what he had learned from erotica.
     That's what he was doing when Candelario, Cándida's brother, who had gone to get the cow, saw him and ran home to tell his parents that Felipe was a pervert... To be continued...