The Great Unpacking Of Love
Part 20

My pain being unbearable, I grabbed a letter opener from my torturer’s “executioner” and scarred my forearms as much as I could.

– It’s horrible !

— You might think so, but the relief I felt at the moment of the actual act was close to enjoyment. The physical pain erased my inner suffering, certainly for a very short time, but an enjoyment all the same.

— Mantinko, why didn’t you turn to Allah instead?

— My deep distress, my ordeal constantly recurring in my head, my deep despair and my moral wounds swept away everything in their path, including my faith.

The fire that I thought was extinguished deep within me was just waiting to be rekindled at the slightest spark of suffering.

— Have you made an appointment with your human tragedy deminer?

— Yes, yes and I admit that I consider him a bit like my God of the moment.

— Mantinko, do you feel deep inside you the desire to get out of this?

— I don’t know Adèle, I’m totally lost. I feel alone in the world, far from my loved ones, from the people I love and I tell myself that I will never see my family again. If I set foot on Guinean territory again, I am a dead man. Here in Belgium, I only know you.

— It’s not so bad! Tell me my beautiful Prince, do you know Nelson Mandela?

— Obviously, who doesn’t know this extraordinary man who was imprisoned for many years for his ideas, fighting all his life against racial segregation.

— Mandela once said: “I never lose. Either I win or I learn.”

Day 54

— Hello Madam Ying.

– Hello doctor.

– How are you ?

— I’m fine, very well even. I fully feel the effects of Freudian parasailing.

— Terrific, Adèle!

— I resolve my demons from the past one by one. I show the cards and redistribute them as I wish. I feel more and more in tune with myself, more respectful of my existence. Every day I tend towards little joys that light me up.

— To what do you attribute your returned life positivity?

— In Mantinko.

– Pardon ?

— To Mantinko, my companion in hardship and existential struggle.

— Please expand on your thoughts, Adèle.

— This large mirrored cabinet seemed to be able to bring me nothing. That’s what I thought the very first time I saw it. He started showering me at meals with his freeze-dried desserts, candy, fruit, butter, sugar… he would even offer me what he didn’t have. But the greatest gift he gave me is priceless, its value is inestimable and far exceeds all the effects of the anxiolytics and antidepressants on the entire Earth. My Prince of the Sands enveloped me in his invisibility cloak of human warmth, of his platonic Love without ever expecting anything in return.

— Do you think this caring relationship with this man is one-sided?

— Come to think of it, no. My deep respect and my extreme sensitivity for his person and his wounds, my platonic Love helped him to regain his dignity, to regain confidence in the Human Being and to restore meaning to his life.

It is clear that we both particularly love nature therapy and laughter. Smile, laugh, laugh, thank you to the hormones of happiness and pleasure!

Isn’t that a great story off the beaten track, Doctor Yang? The improbable meeting of two sufferings in the service of each other

– A true humanitarian rescue, Adèle!

Day 55

— Adèle, Adèle… look, I got my papers for the Freedom route!

— Great my big man, I’m so happy for you. You are finally at peace. Come into my arms, I’m so, so happy with what’s happening to you. What a beautiful story that began so tragically! How will things work out for you now?

— My psychiatrist wants me to stay another month at La Montgolfière to be sure that I am ready to face my new life. Then, I will move into housing for three months under the supervision of my social worker. Together, we will establish my life plan and the priorities to work on.

– It’s really super ! You won’t be released like that into the wild, that’s reassuring.

— Yes, but I have a huge problem.

—Oh?

– I do not know how to cook. Do you think you could teach me?

“That goes without saying, Mantinko. What wouldn’t I do for Guinea?

— Yes, but there is still another problem.

—Oh?

— Do you know how to cook Halal?

— Halal, Kosher, Buddhist vegetarianism, Amish, Japanese, Breton, Alsatian, Belgian… in cooking, nothing holds any secrets for me!

— Madam Ying, your stay is coming to an end. Do you feel strong enough to face the outside world again?

— Yes, I feel armed to the core to thwart the bombs of existence. I feel completely at peace with myself so that I am no longer drawn to the abyss of darkness.

—What proves it to me?

— In my slow resurgence of the taste for life, I was able to realize how precious it was to me. I only have one and only one, better not waste it again. But all the subtlety of The Hot Air Balloon is that I realized that my little personal suffering seemed very pathetic compared to the horrors experienced by Mantinko.

— Perhaps, but it was your suffering, the one that was unbearable to you. There is no formatted gradation in the scale of psychological injuries, only what the person feels matters. Just like there are no exact predictions of parasailing ticket takers.

— I want so much again to be able to watch the sunrise, lying in the heart of an autumnal forest, to play the naked Ondine in a quivering river, to pick a dew-covered raspberry with my lips, to rolling in the weeds…

— Great program which seems to me to promote positivism. You actually seem ready to…

– To get off La Montgolfière!

— Exactly Madame Ying, and to set foot on the solid ground of your existence.

— A small step for Humanity, a big step for Adèle!

Day 59

— So tomorrow you’re leaving, are you leaving me?

— Yes, Mantinko. My stay is over and I passed my existential exam with flying colors.

— You will come see me from time to time, I hope?

— Of course, the question doesn’t even arise. And I won’t forget to come play Top chef when you’re settled in at home.

I have to tell you, Mantinko, you forge my admiration by the strength that you managed to find in yourself, to be reborn from your ashes, like a phoenix.

— So much praise! Don’t forget, Adèle, that it’s also thanks to you that I wanted to fight.

— Me too, Mantinko. You will remain the most beautiful meeting of my life.

You know, there are so many people who, when faced with adversity, choose a path that they believe is more comfortable, forgetting their own dignity. To me, you are a real Hulk.

— Say Adèle, I’m not green after all!

— No, but for me, you are a real alien of resilience!