ella

n't have a name

- quiet, invisible, forgotten. It wasn't on any map I knew. Just a smudge of civilization hidden bet

dred times and never notice.

y was suppose

ddy roads twisted like veins through bone-dry land, and the clouds always seemed

id it wa

d not

ide, I

I hated how the stillness made my thoughts louder. There were no h

e I was un

e unravelling was the only way I cou

-

ven smaller than

irens to offer a false sense of order. No cell towers, exce

d one

bullets, and br

th knotted hands, skin like old bark, and a voice so

se on his land. No rent. Just help w

asked w

didn't

first night, without even meeting

st n

rt of silence long

-

d using

a was Marta. We smiled in public. We worked with our heads down. Nobo

tened to the hum of the bees in the next shed.

ght about me. About us. About the life he t

no's soft head and whisper

," I told him.

cried, it cut throug

emanding

cold shiver r

I tried to deny it... he lo

-

started

goats, hauled water, helped Clara with the hives. The bees didn't sting me anymore. May

in the sun. My b

no... he c

is arms like golden freckles. Clara made him toys from straw and string. She played songs

beyond the trees. No idea

I

waited for the

-

him

from the

lized - he wasn

s boots were clean. His hat sat low on his bro

the path, just past th

ood, Emiliano strapp

I fr

him in the eyes. To let him know I s

stare

he was gone. Like smok

ld C

n't say

he moved the rifl

-

t need

Aguillas

iet. Patient. Like spiders

n't send

ow, it meant one thing-the

morning. She told me later he offered two optio

ouldn't

was tired. I wanted something more than survival. I wante

g didn't m

ike stone, his hands cold. And I dreamed of Don Agu

up ga

heard the b

-

taught me

under threat, the

e kills. Or sh

no q

'm no

ll prote

l die

-

ater, Ramiro w

'd be gone

s found near the river.

was no

blo

ur stench o

resting neatly o

iro

ess

arn

clar

n't comin

re alre

-

dn't

wasn't

bag I never fully unpacked. Diapers. Water. A few p

ore dark," I

at me, he

he

n't k

running?" she asked,

d at Em

o innocent.

to," I said. "Until

ht now - I

one

oul

ay came, I woul

y w

-