Sands Of Time

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Plaza

  "It's about time you got home-," Mamá turned around from where she was stiring something on the stove, and a look of shock pulled at her face. "Corazón, what happened? Why are you all wet?" She rushed over to me.

  "I, um, fell in the river." I hated the idea of lying to her, but the less extra questions she asked right now, the better. And she definitely didn't need to know about how man saw me swimming naked in a lake. I would never hear the end of it.

  "Let's get you dried off." She ushered me into the bathroom and scurried off to my bedroom to get some dry clothes for me to put on. Once I was in the bathroom, I peeled my damp clothing off and rung them out in the bath tub. I was shivering by this point, the sun was no longer out and keeping the encanto as warm. I wrapped myself in a towel and rung my hair out. Mamá brought me my clothes. "What were you even doing so close to the river?"

  "You were the one that said to dip my feet in." I retorted with a smirk.

  "Yes, your feet. Not your whole body. Ay." She huffed as she grabbed a smaller towel for my hair.

  "I walked into a spider's web and was washing it off when I fell." At least that was partly true. My head was being jostled by my mother's drying method, but at least I wasn't so cold any more. The tisk and sigh she made said everything I needed to know. That I was being an idiot for not having been more careful. "Lo lamento." I said in a low voice.

  "Well, get dressed and go get some soup off the stove." She started hanging my wet clothes up on the small laundry line that hung from the window. I didn't hesitate as I slipped my night dress on and wrapped the shawl around my shoulders before heading out to the kitchen.

_______

  Crystal clear water surrounded me as I swam toward the edge. The lake was a lot bigger than I thought, or maybe I just wasn't moving anywhere. The sound of a sad guitar floated through the air, twisting around my heart and filling my head. A tear fell down my cheek and when I looked up, the man with in the green ruana was standing there. His fearful eyes were scanning my face, and he looked like he was about to run away. His body poised there at the edge of the water. The air around him seemed darker than usual, and there was a strange heaviness in the atmosphere. Then the green in his eyes started to glow. Dim at first, and then ominously bright. The wind picked up and began to whip around us, pulling at my hair. The distance between us began to grow and I reached my hand out to him, trying to speak but no sound breached throat. Bruno's lips parted and...
_______

  I sat straight up in bed. My breath came in quick gasps. What was that about? Was it an omen? Was there a reason for me to see this man in my dreams? He didn't look so scary when he ran away from me yesterday, so why did my dream depict him like that? And most of all, if not fear, what was this feeling I had in the pit of my stomach?

  Finally, I stood from my bed, the thin streams of light piercing through my window shudders told me that morning was almost already half way gone. I must have been more tired than I though. And of course my mother let me sleep in. I rummaged in my wardrobe and pulled out a deep blue skirt with green stripes on the bottom, a baby blue shirt that was more white than blue, and new undergarments. Once dressed, I reached into my drawer, pulled out the first headscarf my hand touched, and put my hair up in it. The fact that it was green didn't even give me pause.

  In the kitchen, Mamá had left a plate of calentado under a cloth napkin for me and a cup of hot cocoa. The cocoa was still warm so she must have only just left before I had gotten up. I nibbled at the chorizo link as I debated on what my dream could have meant. It wasn't fear that I felt while in my dream, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

  I cleaned up the dishes once I was done and slung my bag over my sholder. This was my last involuntary day off, but I had to go talk to my mother about what I saw in my dream. I headed out the door and walked toward the shop. It was located just a little off the town square, the big double doors were pulled open wide so that everything inside could be seen from the street. The sign out front was my favorite, Papá had the woodworker in town shape a slab to look like a thread spool with a needle in it. Underneath was another piece of wood that said "Esposito tailors'" in bright blue. I strode quietly into the shop and saw my mother at the register with a customer. I watched as the young girl hugged her new dress tight as the father and mother thanked Mamá and head out into the streets.