Sightseeing

For English speakers only. Sorry, Spanish fellows!

I know, it is a generic title. But I have got something special related to this topic!

This time, I will talk about everything that has happened during this month that deserves special mention. As some of you know, my father is very active. He is still struggling to get better, yet he never stops. After several days of constant raining, he took me and my little brother Nacho to Guadaiza River to check the water currents.

This was our starting point.

The river is split in two currents, both of which go through areas that look like enchanted forests.

All of this water comes from a dam. We wanted to see the dam, but my father's weak health and lack of time kept us away from it. We would get there the following weekend.

At last, here is what can be seen beyond it, with the water reflecting the landscape. Unfortunately, the wires ruin it and nothing can be done to fix this issue.

This is the dam. The entire dam, so you do not miss a detail.

There goes the water... and our adventure...

(Warning: If you want to take a perfect picture of the waterfalls from above, make sure your camera includes a strap to avoid dropping it.)

Surprise! Here is the surprise!

Keri Johnson, creator of the British webcomic "Zookie the Dragon", comes back here with another piece of artwork not only for me, but also for one special person. For one that I like to call my close friend. For his 22nd birthday. Enter Álvaro!

Do you remember Manfreddy Ferguson, that anthropomorphic bear drawn by Lucía to Álvaro at the very first Marbecon? If not, I am not surprised; that happened six years ago, and he is not as well known as he used to anymore. In addition, I did not tell you his background as he was not as developed as he is now. Well, now it is your chance to get to know him!

The previous year (before the one when he was drawn and shown here, I mean), following the video game franchise "Five Nights at Freddy's" trend (in my case, somehow), Álvaro thought of designing a character based on the main protagonist, an animatronic called Freddy Fazbear, with me. We are both his co-creators, but he allows me to be credited as his creator. I named him Manfreddy after Freddy (obviously, even if it is technically misspelled, but that was intentional regardless) and surnamed him Ferguson after a long-lost friend of mine (who I hope is reading this). I also gave him the British nationality (despite him not being from Earth). His original appearance was too reminiscent of that of the original character; as such, it would be in constant change as time went by. He, along with Álvaro's persona, an anthropomorphic rabbit called Sawn, would start off a whole new work of fiction full of original characters, which include Manfreddy's brothers (a rabbit called Axel and another bear called Sam) and my persona Thomas "Tommy" Catson. Eventually, Álvaro and I dropped the aforementioned trend entirely in favor of more original personalities for the characters who were created as animatronics, making them simply robots or something else.

The following drawing represents my fondness for this creation. Even though I created him, he is one of my idols, and for good reason. He is a peace-loving (I call him Manfred, which means "man of peace", which means I chose the perfect name for him!), robotic gentleman who happens to be considered a "Prince of the Stars", due to having stars for cheeks, plus some other stars that take up some parts of his fancy attire. He is also a singer who performs concerts with his brothers as a band at a family restaurant that I (Tommy) set up thanks to Sawn. It is a long story. Anyways, since he loves stars, he enjoys watching the Sun rise or set. I decided to join him as the shows are just like his: never repetitive and hard to miss. Where we are watching the sunset is up to your imagination, but note that we are just friends. Nothing more, nothing less.

Álvaro, if you are reading this, remember: we have been close friends for nearly our entire lives. I hope nothing will keep us apart, but this is for you to remember me when you and/or I have to go away. Of course, we will always keep in touch with and meet each other whenever possible, but one gift never hurts.

Remember to visit the link watermarked on the drawing to check out Keri's artwork and follow the Dragon!

Now that I am done with fiction, I will carry on with the topic. The weekend after Álvaro's birthday, on Sunday, Zenia joined me, my father and Nacho to go on a trip to Mijas. It was nothing too complex since my father and I knew part of it, so it was a simple trip.

Brothers.

Parents. In my case, stepmother and father.

Church. Believe in God (and dragons)!

Walking on the street. This part of the town reminded Zenia of Old Havana.

We kept roaming around the town for a bit longer, but the weather was too clear for my father to walk under the Sun, due to his sensitive skin. We had to go back to the car and get out of there. I would return to my house soon afterwards.

I recommend you to visit both of the aforementioned places. "Variety is the spice of life", as they say.

That is all!