Bastante Calor

There had been a lot of walking that week. A lot of walking and a lot of sun. Becca and her site-mate, Lily, found themselves on the road yet again without sign or sound of a combi, mototaxi, or colectivo for what felt like hours. They’d been visiting the surrounding caserios for days and while travel to each site was simple enough, catching any sort of travel back was rough. And so, they walked.

And walked.

And walked.

Until finally Lily had had enough.

“Shade,” she murmured and crossed the dirt road. She plopped herself down on a log and closed her eyes. “It’s so hot.” Becca nodded.

They waited for a few minutes, happy to sit in the shade, but no combis passed and eventually dogs from one of the farms started to approach. Becca immediately feel panic flood through her even though they appeared to just be playing.

“So maybe let’s walk,” Becca said already turning to speed walk down the road. Lily dragged herself up and followed. But there was a lot of walking that week. And a lot of sun.

“I think my brain is melting,” Becca remarked.

“There’s dust in my eyes...and my nose...and...just...everywhere,” Lily replied.

Becca perked up as she saw a horse standing nearby. Oddly, the horse stood in a ditch about four feet deep on the side of the road eating the grass that was growing at the bottom of the ditch.

“Horse,” Lily said. No response.

“He doesn’t speak English, caballo,” she waited, but still no response.

“I’m a little concerned that he’s only tied to a bushel of grass...” Lily noted.

“He’s not going to jump out of a ditch that deep,” Becca replied. The horse blew air from its nose producing a deeply horsy noise. Becca imitated the sound and Lily imitated after. They carried on like this several times, but fairly certain the sun had instead melted their brains.

Then, without warning, the horse turned to them, Becca cooed at it and before their eyes it leapt from the ditch and onto the road. Without a moment’s considerations both girls screamed, turned around, and took off running, their arms waving wildly above their heads.

When they looked back, the horse was standing solidly, eating grass from the side of the road, though Becca swore she could see a glimmer of a smirk.