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Los ojos de Juan

Nunca entendí el amor que Juan sentía por aquel gato.

Durante años fui su cuidadora y, aunque veía cómo sus fuerzas se apagaban poco a poco, había algo que nunca cambiaba: la forma en que cuidaba a aquel gato barcino de ojos marrones.

Lo trataba como si fuera parte de su familia. Le hablaba, lo acariciaba y, aun en sus últimos días de vida, cuando apenas tenía fuerzas para levantarse, siempre quería tenerlo cerca.

Una tarde, mientras lo veía junto a su cama, no pude evitar preguntarle:

—Juan, nunca he entendido cómo puedes preocuparte tanto por él, incluso ahora, cuando apenas tienes fuerzas.

Él miró al gato durante unos segundos y sonrió.

—Hay cosas que estos animales sienten y que nosotros no logramos comprender.

No le di importancia a sus palabras. Pensé que solo era el cariño de un hombre hacia el compañero que lo había acompañado durante tantos años.

Pero pocos meses después, Juan murió.

Cuando llegó el momento de marcharme de aquella casa, me quedé mirando al gato sin saber qué hacer con él. Juan ya no estaba allí para cuidarlo y no podía dejarlo solo.

Decidí llevarlo a la casa de un vecino que se había ofrecido a cuidarlo. Lo tomé en mis brazos y caminé hasta la puerta, pero antes de entregarlo, el gato levantó la cabeza y me miró.

El vecino notó que me había quedado inmóvil.

—¿Qué pasa? ¿Ocurre algo? ¿Por qué no me lo das?

No pude responder. Me quedé paralizada al ver sus ojos. Ya no eran los mismos ojos marrones del gato barcino que había conocido durante años; ahora poseían un color diferente, un azul profundo que solo había visto en los ojos de Juan.

Escritos propios de Mary de Luz
Imágenes realizadas en Gemini

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English

Juan’s Eyes

I never understood the love Juan had for that cat.

For years, I was his caregiver, and although I watched his strength slowly fade away, there was something that never changed: the way he cared for that tabby cat with brown eyes.

He treated it as if it were part of his family. He talked to it, caressed it, and even in his final days, when he barely had the strength to get up, he always wanted to keep it close.

One afternoon, while I was watching him beside his bed, I couldn’t help but ask:

—Juan, I have never understood how you can worry so much about him, even now, when you barely have any strength left.

He looked at the cat for a few seconds and smiled.

—There are things these animals feel that we fail to understand.

I didn’t give importance to his words. I thought it was simply the affection of a man for the companion who had been with him for so many years.

But a few months later, Juan passed away.

When the time came for me to leave that house, I stood looking at the cat, not knowing what to do with it. Juan was no longer there to take care of him, and I couldn’t leave him alone.

I decided to take him to a neighbor’s house, someone who had offered to care for him. I held him in my arms and walked to the door, but before handing him over, the cat lifted his head and looked at me.

The neighbor noticed that I had frozen in place.

—What’s wrong? Is something happening? Why don’t you give him to me?

I couldn’t answer. I stood there, paralyzed, staring into his eyes. They were no longer the same brown eyes of the tabby cat I had known for years; now they had a different color, a deep blue that I had only ever seen in Juan’s eyes.

Written by Mary de Luz
Images created in Gemini