Nautilus File: Nautilus File

By Toni Camacho

Nautilus File.

This book tells the story of an old man named Gary who, to escape from his solitude, occupies his spare time preparing football teams. Rupert, an extravagant director of a sports club, hires him so that his groups of athletes win the league of its category. The veteran coach will unearth his past as a soldier and discover an enigma that surrounds one of his new players.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: Mar 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393534914

Book preview

Chapter I

Ulises slept deep in his bed, unhurried to begin the day. He was a tall boy, with an athletic appearance and dark skin, as well as his mother's. His hair was blond and he wore very short, green eyes.

His room was completely untidy, and he kept glimpsing a person who lived without any kind of uneasiness, accomplishing the minimum in the day. His mother had already labeled him a lost cause, but she felt guilty because her son had grown up without a father and that worry had always afflicted Helena.

Suddenly, a phone rang weakly in the room. Ulises woke with a start and picked up his cell phone from a pile of dirty clothes.

- Yes.

- I've been waiting here for half an hour! - said Robert angrily.

-...What? - he stammered in a thick voice.

- Ulises, are you all right?

- I'm sorry... I just woke up.

- We agreed at ten-thirty, you will not get the appointment right away!

-It takes me five minutes.

- We'll see if it's true!

Ulises jumped out of bed and started looking for clothes, he put anything on, he was in a rush rather than elegance. In two minutes he went down the stairs and slammed the door. Her mother in the kitchen sighed when she heard the door slam. He got to the subway and there his friend was waiting for him. Robert was a short, squat, white-skinned boy with many freckles in the face area. His hair was reddish and his eyes blue. He had a carefree and humorous character that Ulises liked very much and generated a friendship between the two boys that lasted since they met in childhood.

- What happens! Did the sheets get you?

- We have time.

- You always have everything under control - Robert said defiantly.

- What happens?

- You're late, and besides, you're likechrome, and you're not fit to go out on the street!

- Why? Ulises asked in surprise.

-You wear the clothes inside out. This is like the joke of speed or precision...

-  I do not know it.

- These are two friends and one question to the other: what do you choose speed or accuracy? And the other one responds that he wants speed. Then the first begins to do operations out loud: five times five equals six hundred, three times three twenty-one, four times four, twenty-seven...

- You say it too fast, but you do not get anyone.

- You wanted speed: no?  Now go in a place and put your shirt and pants right!

- Do not tell me ... I'm so clumsy? -  said Ulises, ashamed.

- It's the second time I tell you: wake up now! In addition to wearing clothes that look good on you neither with glue, you do not use it well.

- I dressed it too fast to not make you wait.

-Okay! Well, now you go into the camera and change - Robert said.

The two boys went down to the subway station, Ulises entered the photo booth and dressed their clothes correctly. At that moment an old woman came and saw them, she thought the young people did very strange things that did not happen in their time and began to grumble.

With Ulises ready, they left for the meeting.

Robert had long ago told his friend that he knew a woman with supernatural powers who guessed and could talk to loved ones who were nolonger with us. At first, Ulises was skeptical, but after Robert insisted, he began to rethink the suggestion.

It was eleven-fifteen in the morning, when Ulises and Robert were already in the old quarter of Barcelona. The consultation with the witch, as the boys called her when they referred to the woman, was at eleven-thirty.

The streets were very narrow and the two friends ran through them as if a ghost was chasing them. The people passing by looked amazed. At one point, Robert stopped abruptly.

- Lets not run anymore, I'm wondering why we're moving at full speed like somebody's after us - said Ulises’ friend.

-You said we're too close to the time.

-Of course! We let go. Now we're going to be on time if we're walking quietly from where we are. We ran very unnecessarily without looking at the time. We did not stop for a minute to become aware of what we were doing.

- Let's get sweaty for the appointment. -  Ulises was worried.

- We're young, we do not smell bad - laughed Robert maliciously.

- But we can get a cold from the air conditioner.

- Come now ... I do not think she had an air conditioner, I did not see any when I was in the office - Robert replied.

The boys came to the fortune teller's house. As the door opened, the children noticed the chill that could be in the freezer compartment of a department store. In front of them, they found a woman of about seventy, who was very well preserved for her age. His gaze was dark and penetrating, and if you looked into her eyes, a subtle feeling mixed with cold and fear blocked you emotionally, forcing you to look away.

- What do you want kids?

- Madame Lucia, we had a combined visit - said Robert.

- Yes, yes... Come through here.

The two friends entered the house following the old woman. The hallway was dark, but in the end you could see the soft light of a bedroom. There was a strong smell of incense in the air. The house was old and somewhat gloomy. Built in the mid 19th century, its walls had more than a hundred years of history that you could guess scary secrets.

- Feel free boys.

The room was lit with a candle, in the middle of it was a round table with an armchair and two chairs in the front. The boys sat on the seats and Lucia stood before them in the armchair.

- What do you want to know, Ulises?

- How do you know my name?

- They told me.

- Who?

- If I go into trance, I hear voices that are not of this world, people who once were with us and now are wandering souls. I communicate with them.

Ulises did not much believe in what he heard, but out of respect for his friend Robert, who had advised him to go there, he waited quietly to complete that session with the septuagenarian.

- I come to the appointment because I want to know what my future holds. I have no work, my mother passes by me, and I have a grandfather who lives at home who is like a rattle...- Ulises said suddenly and without pause.

- Breathe, boy ... inhale through the nose and blow through the mouth. Leave your mind blank, calm down and look inside your heart. Now answer: what reasons really brought you here to my house, full of history and guests?

Ulises began to cry in a disconsolate way.

- Where is my father?

- What do you know about him?

- My mother always told me he's dead. I notice something that is hiding from me, but I do not know what it is.

- Easy... breathe deeply...

Lucia in a moment remained white-eyed, her head suddenly moving forward as if she were fainting.

- Quiet, Ulises, she's often like that, the old woman is not dead, - Robert whispered to his friend in a soft, confident tone.

The old woman began to articulate words. Initially, she was not understood, and then the hoarse voice changed to a tuned voice record: she was Ulises' grandmother.

- Trust your destiny, calm, soon your situation will change and you will discover in a short time many things that are not now within your reach, because in the present you that live you are not prepared to face them. Someone new will accompany you so that you can face this new reality that stands in your way. It is a person who has walked close to death, who has mastery in the art of living and which you do not yet know. Everything has a reason, live day by day, trust in you and it flows, the darkness lights up and the shadows that cloud you now will dissipate forever.

The boy did not believe what he heard. It was really her voice.

Ulises' grandmother loved his grandson very much and he had missed her dearly since his death a year and a half ago. He valued this relative very much, and listening to her was a very hopeful experience.

Robert put his hand on his friend's shoulder. Ulises was shocked at what he had experienced, felt broken. Soon the old woman began to change her corporeality and returned to her.

- How are you feeling, Lucia? Robert said.

- Well, I do not feel anything during the trance, it's later when I notice something tired.

- How are you, Ulises? The medium became interested.

- I have no words to express the emotions I felt.

- This is the message you needed to hear, do not go deeper into the circumstances, everything will be cleared up, trust it. Maybe the advice you've heard has to digest it and maybe in your reflection you go and find the signs in your life. If you have new concerns within a season: come here. Now you have to go, you should not know more. This ignorance will help you grow as a person. Look within yourself, what is within anyone is greater than what you can find outside.

- Many thanks for everything. Shall I owe you something, Lucia?

- No, this is the gift I have and it is to serve others. The power I use has been given to me by God and flows through me. If it is your will to get better with a contribution, you can leave whatever you choose in the box that is in the entry. Not contributing anything is a very respectable option.

- I'm very grateful, I listened to my grandmother and for me it was a very special gift. I leave with great confidence and desire to face what life can put in my way.

The boys got up and hugged Lucia. The old woman walked them to the doorway down the dark corridor. Ulises went ahead and left a donation to the fortune teller in the box of wills. Once they were at the door, they said good-bye.

- From now on, I trust your life will change. On the other hand, I will suggest that having good cleaning habits is healthy. I'd say a shower is too good to start. You are very young and do not give a picture of beauty precisely - said the seer.

- Bye-bye-the boys said good-bye, a little embarrassed.

- Goodbye, this is your home.

***

Chapter II

The phone rang, Ulises was still sleeping. The phone made a noise again, the boy started to sit down and fell from the bed, waking up suddenly. After falling on himself with the fall, he began desperately searching through a mountain of clothes, towels, books, notebooks, backpacks ... until he found the device.

-... Hello...

- It sounds incredible, you're still asleep! Do you do anything else in your life? The training is at eight o'clock!

- Sorry Robert, it's that reading a book I was sleepy.

- You're a sleeper.

- Okay, sorry ... Please, you can come in ten minutes to pick me up with the car.

- Bah! Quickly! Above all, dress well!

After the combined time, Robert took Ulises in his house, both went to the soccer field. Today was a special day: it was the first session of the new coach. The boys had already heard of him, he was recommended by the board of directors in order to change the mentality of the players. Gary was an octogenarian man, but he seemed to be younger, many people did not believe in the years he had; given the circumstance that the new coach had to show his identity card to some unbeliever.

He was a tall, thin man, his hair was brown and he wore his hair back. He had big honey eyes with a very expressive look that spoke for itself. He had always played sports and his diet was very healthy. In addition to these habits, genetics was on his side because in his family there were people who had passed a hundred years.

- Hello, my name is Gary and I did not come here to play games with you, I'm here to train people who in the future will be happy to have played football because an old man accompanied them to learn some valuable things in their lives The club has never won any title in this category. It seems that from the directive, the message is to get all the trophies. Like the people you are and in a league where players like you also play: what reasons lead me to think that you will not get the best results ?, those who won the previous titles were also athletes of their modality? And I say: what is the difference between them and you?

The boys did not believe what the new coach was saying.

Claudio was a boy of medium height, dark skin with large dark eyes and long black hair up to his shoulders. The organizing midfielder teased the old man.

- I do not know who you are, I see a person who wants to sell me a story and I do not know where he wants to go. Did you see the players of the other teams?: they are not lame. Who are you to come here questioning our sporting spirit?

- I am the new coach and you are a football player capable of achieving any triumph.

The heterogeneous group of young people began to laugh in unison, in different volumes.

- I am not a comedian, I am your guide to get the best results in your lives through football, a sport like another, with values and principles, said the instructor.

- You're an old man who does not know what you're talking about. Your whole speech is very good, and maybe some of us are impressed, but I'm not here to waste my time.

- You are free to do what you want, to live is to decide, besides I could see that you are not an apprentice, and that is precisely what I value people.

- What is it to be an apprentice? Claudio asked.

- When I say that word, I mean a person who is willing to learn, faces challenges and he intuits that he can improve in his life.

-I get off the train, this is crap.

- The power you have it.

- Good bye crazy old fart, all this is just a milonga.

Claudio stood up shaking his head in disbelief and left the field. There was an awkward silence.

- Anyone else want to leave?

Beside Gary was a tall, stout boy with brown skin and brown hair, as well as his eyes. He was a restrained but extroverted person and had no qualms about talking to his companions. The boy, seeing the situation presented, tried to give his opinion to calm the mood that caused the arrival of the new coach.

- We think... - Roman said.

- Are you a football player and clairvoyant? Gary laughed. Just talk about you, you may not know what the rest thinks.

- I think you have to try to give it a try. For one thing, the board thought you were the best person to do the job.

- Yes! - said the majority.

- Very well! Let's focus on training! Today we're going to learn to breathe. -  The boys started laughing at Gary.

- Smarter, try not to breathe to see: what's wrong?

Ben was a tall, broad-shouldered young man. Her skin was albino, his eyes light and blue. He had spent his whole life playing around the club, just like Robert and Ulises.

- My name is Ben and I'm the team's goalkeeper. If a person does not breathe, it becomes a ham after about twenty minutes. There are studies that report that a person begins to have serious sequels in their body without a supply of