Chapter 2
The Kuranda Triangle
We continued to sit on the bench without saying much, except for a word here and there. As the spaces between the words grew, we began to show a kind of impatience. We simply began to feel the need for food or even something to drink. We were both looking at the door of the store. The door was standing a quarter of the way open. It simply wouldn’t close, it seems to be stuck on its hinges.
We stopped looking at the passersby and started looking more intently at the door. “Maybe they left and we didn’t see them leave, and they didn’t notice that we were sitting here,” I said. “No, they know we’re waiting outside. I looked enough in the direction of the door to see them when they left the entrance.” He said. “So it’s better if we stay and sit here because otherwise they won’t find us. Let’s go to one of the restaurants. I’m really hungry.” I said. “They’re probably already hungry, so they’re expected to leave pretty soon.” He said optimistically.
So we continued to sit and it was clear that every minute that passed was too much. After a while, we started talking about which restaurant we would go to, without wasting time deciding when they would finally come out of the store. At some point we had already decided to go straight to the restaurant on the corner of the parking lot, we knew it well. Although we had talked about trying a new place, it felt like the fact that we knew the menu would save us time deciding what to eat, but we were still watching the door and they didn’t come out of the door and by now we were only looking in one direction.
After a while without any movement from the door, and there was already a gap between the decision of where to go to eat and the rise of hunger, we decided that one of us had to go inside to see what was obstructing them. The other would stay behind. Maybe they did go out without us noticing and now they were just turning around looking for us.
The parking lot and the stalls were built on the side of the mountain with entrances and exits in no particular order, and very quickly the feeling of not knowing where you were accompanied you, walking from one place to another. We continued to sit for a moment in silence, and then he got up and went into the store and I sat alone with my thoughts. For some reason, the time got longer. Until I saw him walk out the door of the store, I put it down to the fact that he was now helping them decide which painting to buy, even though what was hanging outside gave a clear indication of what would be inside and it was absolutely not their taste, not even as a souvenir, so why did they enter this place at all?! I asked myself in a kind of half-question.
“They’re not in the store.” He was standing across from the bench and it was clear that he wasn’t going to sit on it again, so I got up and started walking towards the door of the store. “Where are you going? They’re not there…” he said as he wanted to join in but remembered that it was now his turn to stay behind and watch the street instead of me. “All the shops in this row have a door out on the other side that faces a kind of iron structure with stairs that go down to where we parked the car,” I said and opened the store door and went inside.