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El Laberinto, 1971-1987
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LOS TAPONES por elsa nava Antonia cradled the large hammer as she carefully manuvered toward the shed. Her small bare toes hugged the pathway of worn bricks cool and damp with the Saturday morning dew. She hid the hammer at the back of the shed and then headed toward her great aunt's tienda. Antonia passed through the broken fence and into the yard behind their home. She glanced over to the edge of the steep embankment and moved closer to it following the curved rim of the gulley. She wanted to catch a glimpse of the old arroyo running behind the tall, over-grown weeds below her. She stopped and stood at the edge holding onto a haula for her aunt's chickens. There are ghosts in that water, Antonia thought. Her young mind listened to her mother's voice recount the story of the flood which had happened years before. The arroyo had spilled over the low embankments and houses had been swept away, Antonia's mother had begun, during the heavy rains. People along the higher banks had listened and watched as the old shacks passed beneath them. There had seemed to be no other noise but the screams of the people still inside their homes struggling to get out of the flood waters. A wide-eyed frightened dog had also been swirling and crying out in the strong and rapid current which eventually consumed him. All those people there, Antonia thought, and no where to go but follow the carved out passage, always in that water, dark and formless. I wonder if they will ever see heaven y Diosito? The arroyo was not just a muddy creek to her but something big, mysterious and powerful. She enjoyed the knowledge of living next to this powerful element. [emblem] Antonia broke into a skip as she went up the neighbor's graveled driveway. Finally reaching Calaveras street, Antonia climbed the wooden steps to her tia's store. She poked her fingers between the screen doors and threw them open. The red colored sawdust made her feet itch as she dragged her feet and headed for the towering counter to her right. The tia's dark face appeared above the horizon of the counter. "Halo, chatita," la tia greeted her." "[[upside down exclamation point]]Antonia! So many times I have told you not to do that!" she warned with a frown. "[[upside down exclamation point]]Again I must sweep your tracks away!" Antonia stopped dragging her feet and turned to see the sparse, parallel grooves in the dispersed red sawdust. "Bueno, ya esta hecho. Has your mama sent you?" Antonia was proudly examining her tracks but now turned, smiling shyly, to her aunt. She positioned her toes on the trimmings at the base of the counter and reached up to place her arms on the top and hung there. "[[upside down question mark]]Me das los tapones tia?" Antonia asked quietly. La tia's frown lightened but she continued to scold in a piqued tone. "I do not know why I should give you los tapones, the bottle caps. You come in only to make more work for me! To y tu hermanos siempre me andan molestando con esos tapones," she told Antonia as she reached up to the wire, paper bag divider hanging above the counter. She chose the smallest bag and headed for the soda cooler. Antonia jumped from the counter and went over to watch her aunt pack the different colored bottle caps into the small bag. She scurried after the tapones which fell to the floor as her tia continued to pack. Antonia placed the bottle caps against her nose and breathed in the aromas of grape or root beer soda. "[[upside down exclamation mark]]Here, anda! Y le saludas a tu mami!" 7
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LOS TAPONES por elsa nava Antonia cradled the large hammer as she carefully manuvered toward the shed. Her small bare toes hugged the pathway of worn bricks cool and damp with the Saturday morning dew. She hid the hammer at the back of the shed and then headed toward her great aunt's tienda. Antonia passed through the broken fence and into the yard behind their home. She glanced over to the edge of the steep embankment and moved closer to it following the curved rim of the gulley. She wanted to catch a glimpse of the old arroyo running behind the tall, over-grown weeds below her. She stopped and stood at the edge holding onto a haula for her aunt's chickens. There are ghosts in that water, Antonia thought. Her young mind listened to her mother's voice recount the story of the flood which had happened years before. The arroyo had spilled over the low embankments and houses had been swept away, Antonia's mother had begun, during the heavy rains. People along the higher banks had listened and watched as the old shacks passed beneath them. There had seemed to be no other noise but the screams of the people still inside their homes struggling to get out of the flood waters. A wide-eyed frightened dog had also been swirling and crying out in the strong and rapid current which eventually consumed him. All those people there, Antonia thought, and no where to go but follow the carved out passage, always in that water, dark and formless. I wonder if they will ever see heaven y Diosito? The arroyo was not just a muddy creek to her but something big, mysterious and powerful. She enjoyed the knowledge of living next to this powerful element. [emblem] Antonia broke into a skip as she went up the neighbor's graveled driveway. Finally reaching Calaveras street, Antonia climbed the wooden steps to her tia's store. She poked her fingers between the screen doors and threw them open. The red colored sawdust made her feet itch as she dragged her feet and headed for the towering counter to her right. The tia's dark face appeared above the horizon of the counter. "Halo, chatita," la tia greeted her." "[[upside down exclamation point]]Antonia! So many times I have told you not to do that!" she warned with a frown. "[[upside down exclamation point]]Again I must sweep your tracks away!" Antonia stopped dragging her feet and turned to see the sparse, parallel grooves in the dispersed red sawdust. "Bueno, ya esta hecho. Has your mama sent you?" Antonia was proudly examining her tracks but now turned, smiling shyly, to her aunt. She positioned her toes on the trimmings at the base of the counter and reached up to place her arms on the top and hung there. "[[upside down question mark]]Me das los tapones tia?" Antonia asked quietly. La tia's frown lightened but she continued to scold in a piqued tone. "I do not know why I should give you los tapones, the bottle caps. You come in only to make more work for me! To y tu hermanos siempre me andan molestando con esos tapones," she told Antonia as she reached up to the wire, paper bag divider hanging above the counter. She chose the smallest bag and headed for the soda cooler. Antonia jumped from the counter and went over to watch her aunt pack the different colored bottle caps into the small bag. She scurried after the tapones which fell to the floor as her tia continued to pack. Antonia placed the bottle caps against her nose and breathed in the aromas of grape or root beer soda. "[[upside down exclamation mark]]Here, anda! Y le saludas a tu mami!" 7
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