Day 28: Evening

My Journey to the Sea and Beyond

Some doors don’t open into rooms.
They open into breath.
This was my first evening at Casa Refugio.

My Travel Diary - Previous Days:
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Day 28: Evening

Casa Refugio

I’ve arrived.

The house sits on a narrow street.
Hardly a sign, only a pale green iron gate
and a small ceramic tile that reads:
Casa Refugio - mujeres solamente.

Women only.
A place that feels as if it has slipped out of time.

I rang the bell.
For a moment, nothing.
Then footsteps.
Slow, steady, sure.

The door opened.
A woman, perhaps in her sixties,
silver hair, and a smile that asked no questions.
Her name was Lídia.

“Kaia, ¿verdad?”
I nodded.
She took my backpack
as if it weren’t just luggage but weight,
and said softly,
“Ven. You’re here.”

Inside, the house was still
but not silent.
You could hear the clink of cutlery,
the splash of water,
the wind moving through an open window.

White walls.
Dark wood.
Colors that smelled of earth and sun.

My room was upstairs,
all the way in the back,
with a glass door opening to the rooftop terrace.
A wide bed with linen sheets.
An old wooden wardrobe,
open, with three crocheted hangers.
On the dresser:
a jug of lemon water
and a handwritten note:
“Arrive slowly.”

I showered briefly.
Hot water.
But not for long.
Just enough to wash the journey off me
and the memory of the call.
My hair was still wet
when I later sat on the terrace.

Dinner was served in the patio,
under string lights,
among blooming plants and women
who didn’t talk much.

Lídia placed a plate before me:
lentils with chorizo,
tomatoes with coarse salt,
a piece of bread with a hard crust
and a soft, still-warm center.

The first bite tasted like a home
I never had.

I could have cried.
But I was too full
with relief.

No one asked why I was here.
No one needed to.

Now I’m lying in a hammock,
wrapped in a blanket.
My hair almost dry.
The sky above me is clear,
with three bright stars
that look
as if they know something
I don’t yet know.

I breathe freely.
I’m not cold.
I’m sleeping outside.
Because I want to.
Because I can.

And for the first time in days,
I don’t feel alone -
I feel light.

“Back then, I thought I was just passing through Barcelona.
Now I know: I was learning how to stay with myself.
This is where the road truly began.”