The Prodigal Son- A Rhivera Story

Chapter 1- Ignacio's Folly

~ Chapter 1 – Ignacio's Folly ~

~ 1994 ~

         A cow's head craned down to graze on the grass beneath it. Many other cattle occupied the fenced-in clearing, with palm trees dotting the area beyond it. The sun had barely risen when a group of farmhands pulling a cart approached the animal. The cow gnawed on a mouthful of grass, blissfully unaware of the men's motives. The cart was stopped in front of the cow, and two of the farmhands nudged the compliant beast onto it.

         A man with tan skin, disheveled hair, and rough hands, who appeared to be around forty years old, headed the group. He fashioned something from his side - a bolt pistol, typically used for humanely slaughtering cattle. He circled the cart to the front where the cow stood.

         The man cocked the pistol. He was about to draw the pistol up to the cow's forehead to ensure a clean kill, but then he looked at two young teenagers working among them.

         "Hey boys, why don't you do it?"

         One of the boys sporting the beginnings of a mustache and beard, asked, "You want us to?"

         "Why not? It'll be a good learning opportunity."

         The mustached teenager seemed unsure of himself, but the other one was eager, "I'll do it!"

         Though he seemed confident, even he seemed unsure of himself when the pistol was passed into his hands.

         "Okay, Eugenio, raise it right up to her forehead and hold it steady. I'll tell you when it's okay to fire."

         Eugenio raised the pistol to the cow's head; it was still blissfully unaware. The young man steadied his hand and held it directly over its forehead. It took him a moment to steady his arm. "Is this good, Ignacio?"

         The man, Ignacio, replied, "Yeah. Just like that. When you pull the trigger, a rod will eject hard. If it doesn't kill her, it'll knock her out cleanly. We'll take it from there. Whenever you're ready, go ahead."

         Eugenio took a deep breath. Just when Ignacio expected the cow to drop, nothing happened. He stared at the young man and chuckled, "Getting cold feet, kid?"

         Eugenio winced, dropped his arm, and observed the pistol, "...It's not working."

         "What do you mean it's not working?"

         "It won't fire!"

         Ignacio took the pistol from the young man and stepped away. He aimed the pistol at the ground and tried to pull the trigger, but it wouldn't budge. He uncocked it and tried again, but it still wouldn't fire.

         "Well... I'll be damned."

         Another slimmer man who was around Ignacio's age, asked, "What're you thinking?"

         "I'll fix it at home. We'll leave the cow till then, " Ignacio replied.

         "Have you fixed one of those before?"

"Yeah. Probably jammed by one of the washers or something."

"Who knows the last time we cleaned that thing..."

         They nudged the cow off the cart and back onto the pasture. It returned to grazing immediately, completely unaware of its aversion of death. Ignacio chuckled, "You got lucky today, bud."

         Ignacio and the others returned to his farm nearby and continued to work on the grounds. He and the co-owner of the farm, Julian, had their workers attend to various tasks. They had the two teenagers, Eugenio and Raul, doing much more mundane tasks meant to teach them about farm work. But both seemed eager to contribute more.