nikolai

When he was just thirteen years old, Adrián did something he could never forget.

Her best friend had shown up one night completely distraught, carrying a baby in her arms. Her hands were trembling and she could barely speak. She didn't want to take care of it, and after arguing for hours, they both ended up making a decision that, being so young, they didn't really understand.

That night they left the baby in front of an orphanage door.

Adrián never spoke about the matter again.

The years passed.

At twenty-seven, Adrián had become a completely different man. He was reserved, serious, and led a seemingly normal life. However, every now and then that night, the memory returned to him.

One afternoon he was walking peacefully through the city when someone passed by him.

He was a young adult, walking distractedly while looking at his phone.

Adrian barely paid attention... until something powerfully caught his eye.

A small butterfly-shaped mark stood out on the skin of her hand and continued slightly up her arm.

Adrian remained motionless.

That mark was impossible for him to forget.

She remembered the baby from that night perfectly. When she had held him for the last time before leaving him at the orphanage door, she had seen that same small, butterfly-shaped birthmark on his hand, extending slightly up his arm.

His heart skipped a beat.

"No..." he murmured almost to himself.

He looked at the boy again.

It was impossible.

Fourteen years had passed.

And yet, that mark was still there.

Adrian took a couple of steps behind him, completely confused. He didn't know whether to approach him, ask him directly, or simply walk away and pretend he'd never seen him.

Finally, she took a deep breath and quickened her pace until she was close to him.

"Excuse me..." she said cautiously.

She stared at him for a few seconds, trying to remain calm.

—Can I ask you something?

Fourteen years have passed since that night.

Adrian thought he would never hear from that baby again. For him, that memory was buried in a part of his past he preferred not to revisit.

But that afternoon, as he was walking through the city, he saw a boy who seemed completely unrelated to him.

And then he saw the mark.

A small butterfly on her hand, extending slightly towards her arm.

The same brand I remembered from the baby.

Adrian doesn't yet know if his memories are playing tricks on him or if he has really just met the person he had been trying to forget for fourteen years.

And now he's about to find out.