The Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Los Amantes del Círculo Polar)

THE LOVERS OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

It's good for life to have many circles,

but mine, my life, has only gone around once.

And not all the way, not to the most important part.

I've written that name so many times inside.

And here, now, I can't close anything,

I'm alone...

As a child, with the world around me,

I felt protected.

But one cold afternoon, after school,

something happened.

I knew nothing about girls.

Where do girls run to?

Why did she stare at me?

If she hadn't stared at me, I'd have run

and caught the ball.

Or earlier, if that boy's boot

had kicked well,

the ball would've stayed inside.

And I might have been in the goal.

Everyone would have congratulated me.

But that didn't happen.

I like the cold. Do you?

The cold? No, why?

It has to be cold in winter so you appreciate the spring.

I prefer summer, when it's hot.

Life has to have its cycles.

- Everything is born and dies. - Not e verything.

What lasts fore ver?

Life is like that, implacable,

happy and sad.

Everything runs out in time.

Even love.

It's like gasoline.

You forget you're running low, and you end up stranded.

You have to accept life's difficulties with good humor,

because the y come and go.

The y can't last forever.

I'll be right back.

Forgive me, I'm not to blame.

Your mom and I are separating.

My baby...

I'll always love you.

And if the gasoline runs out, I'll die.

AIR MESSENGER LONG DISTANCE

How will this journe y end?

Any other questions?

Did you know

that an eight-year-old mind

asks an average of 33 questions an hour?

I asked even more, but always the same question.

So, any questions?

Otto.

May I go to the bathroom?

That's all you want to ask?

I think you have a more important question.

Do girls ask the same questions we do?

Well...

I think they ask fewer questions.

Girls your age are older than you.

Have you read the airplanes?

- Who wrote this? - The yard is full of airplanes.

If I got this, I'd be so embarrassed.

That's corny.

The same sentence is written on all of them.

Very romantic. That's life's big question.

I decided to talk to her.

First I'd ask her name.

Then I'd say I'm Otto,

and that it's spelled the same backwards.

Otto!

Otto!

Otto!

Hi, my name's Ana.

I'll stay here as long as I need to.

I'm waiting for the coincidence of my life,

and I've had all kinds of them.

I could tell my life story as a train

of coincidences.

The first and most important

was the worst. It came

with a tragedy.

No.

My mother came for me

with the worst

news I'd e ver heard.

Don't cry anymore, so that it won't happen!

That fucking car.

I said don't!

When I say don't, I mean don't.

Can you run back? A few hours back, a life back?

It was my father's life. If his daughter didn't run,

who would?

Where did that boy come from?

From my father's death?

I thought it was his gift,

to make up for dying so soon.

I even thought it was him...

I looked at his childhood photos.

There was no resemblance,

but that didn't matter.

As a child, I began to believe

that my father had gone to live inside a boy my age,

but better looking than him.

Maybe I was sick of seeing my mother cry.

Dry your e yes, Daddy didn't die.

How did it happen?

When it's cold, most things go faster,

or come sooner.

I mean coincidences. I love it when it's cold.

I love it when it's cold.

One freezing day, I read a question about love,

too lovely to have been written by a boy.

I had to share it, what could I do with it by myself?

Here, Mommy.

It's beautiful.

Who wrote it?

It's

from...

that man.

Oh, really?

If you don't want it, I'll keep it.

What are you saying?

I love it.

It was him again.

That message

came from my father.

It's cold.

Very cold.

My name's Olga.

Mine is Alvaro.

The y shouted his name.

Otto!

He tells me to wait!

That kid is incredible!

What's wrong with you?

Stop being stupid.

He's soaked.

Don't take us home, it's too far away.

I'll leave him with his mom. She'll give him a bath.

Right, Otto?

Then I'll take them home.

Hey...

I'm here, I'm Ana.

Remember?

Say something.

My name's Otto.

You know your name?

No. Well, yes...

Otto!

Yes.

And...

You can also read Ana

backwards.

- Of course. - Great, it's a palindrome.

- You just realized that? - Yes.

You just realized that?

My father used to say

that a palindromic name gives you luck,

and it did turn my life around.

Mommy, I don't feel well.

What's wrong?

I don't know. I feel dizzy.

You know why I'm Otto?

Not now, Otto!

Fine, I'm leaving.

What?

I'm close to home.

I'm very stubborn.

I decided Otto spoke on the outside and my father on the inside.

So I spent lots of time beside him,

speaking to my father e very day in the afternoon,

without Otto hearing me.

Mommy's boyfriend is just for her.

You're the only father I have. That's all I need.

- Goodbye, Otto. - Say hi to your mother for me.

Goodbye.

See you tomorrow.

A kiss. If you hear me, send me one too.

- Hello, Otto. - Did you sleep well?

Very well.

I was so in love that the fact that Ana was so strange

seemed to me to be because of love.

You know your dad's been promoted?

You didn't tell him?

He doesn't even know my job.

Well, now your father will have a bigger office.

Your dad's got a lot of work.

Ana. You two could talk once in a while,

you're like brother and sister.

No. I don't want a brother.

Nor I a sister.

You'll get used to it.

We're going to the new house. You'll see it some day, Otto,

when we've settled in. You can stay on the weekend.

The changes came suddenly.

Are you hurt?

No.

Shit!

Are you crazy?