A PLACE CALLED MILAGRO DE LA PAZ.

AuthorArgueta, Manlio
PositionExcerpt

There were two strong tremors that really made Latina nervous. She was scurrying about the house, sweeping the patio, and making Lluvia hurry to clean up the leaves in the asoleadero. Keeping busy like that made her forget her fear of dying--always a living terror for her. The mother is anxious for her daughter to get home. That's why, when she hears Chocolate barking, her heart returns to her chest. A sign that Crista is almost at the corner.

Chocolate senses her a hundred meters away before she reaches the house and hurries to greet her, and to help carry the basket. Just knowing Crista got home alive is reason enough to be happy. Lluvia also goes to greet the younger daughter, glancing back at the grandmother and Juan Bautista.

Squeals of protest. The boy doesn't know how to break his grandmother's grip; she's holding him tight and has his head resting in her lap. Both are sitting in the asoleadero on the meteor-like boulders, under the branch of the nance tree. He has been subjected for more than an hour to the torture of his grandmother picking the lice out of his hair.

Crista no sooner arrives than she touches Lluvia's head. "What happened to your butterflies?"

"I set them free."

"What for? They looked so beautiful in your hair."

Latina would be able to explain it better.

The daughter asks if anything serious happened, if the children are all right, if the tremors caused any cracks in the walls. Ever since she felt maternal again, Crista's mood has been different, although some degree of anxiety still makes her feel inclined to hide her emotions in front of Juan Bautista and Latina.

"The poor little things nearly died of fright, but they're all right now," the mother reassures her.

Crista frowns as if to ask, Don't you see how sad you look?

I don't look sad; I am sad, Latina thinks.

"They don't know about fear." Latina explains to her that they'll feel safer now that there are three grown women in the house. "There's a few good things in this world."

Latina knows they always run the risk of death being so close to the volcano, but that's life. Explosions everywhere under the earth. She ponders the situation and makes an effort to put Crista more at ease: "We have to accept the fact that we can't escape God's judgment." It was implacable. Then, almost with a sigh: "Don't worry; all the volcano does is roar; the dog that barks doesn't bite." As for los seres desconocidos and the evil spirits, that was another matter even though they...

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