A lonely night in the Arizona Desert

Esmeralda was an 18 year old girl. She lived in Guadalajara, Jalisco with her father Sergio, her mother Veronica and her 8 year old brother Adolfo. They used to be a big family but her 3 older brothers and her sister had all married and moved to the states. They were going through rough times because their father had been really ill and the doctor gave him 24 hours to live. He was already blind due to cancer. Esmeralda took care of her father, he was fighting strong. She secretly thought to herself, Why us? She had just lost her oldest sister due to heart problems 3 months ago. Eventually he fell asleep, the doctor's diagnosis became true, he died.

A few days later, after the funeral had been held. Esmeralda was ironing her clothes. She was listening to music on the radio. Music was her escape and it seemed to soothe her soul. Suddenly her mother walked in and told her to only iron what she wanted to take. In confusion she asked, What?......Why? She answered "our plane to Tijuana leaves tomorrow, pack lightly we're crossing the border." Immediately, she felt tears running down her face. Like a river after a storm, uncontrollable. It was all happening so fast. Her life had completely turned around in just a few days. She knew nothing would be the same again.

She didn't sleep. She was hoping it was all one big nightmare that she would wake up from. In the morning, she was still refusing to pack up because she thought that maybe, just maybe they would miss their flight and stay longer. Her mother had packed for her and they headed to the airport. As she was walking towards the car, she looked back at her humble home, her dreams, her childhood, her heart was being left in that house. She was crying, her tears seemed endless. It suddenly started raining as if the sky felt her pain. She got in the car and they left . She decided to not look back because she would want to jump out the car. Getting on the plane was the beginning of a new life.

When they arrived in Tijuana, Adolfo, held their hands and told them it was all going to be okay. He said," I'm the man of the house now, I will never let anything happen to the women I love". They thanked him and went to look for their bags. Their stuff had got on the wrong plane. They didn't have time to wait for their stuff so they had to leave with what they had. Now they had lost everything. They're only memories of Mexico were the clothes on their backs. They each had 5 dollars and a list of phone numbers. They went to go meet the guy that was going to help them cross, "el coyote". This man was going to lead them through the border. There was a group of about 50 people heading to the states.

They left at sunset. They walked through the desert. It was blistering hot, even though it was night. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like in the morning. She soon started to feel weak. Hours of walking in the sand had taken a toll. They walked through the night. In the morning the heat was even worse. She didn't know how hot it was but it felt like hell. They held hands through some really rough parts. They walked backwards at certain points to throw off border patrol so they saw footprints heading the other direction. Little by little, she noticed that some of the people were missing. They had been left behind because they gave up. They were really dehydrated and weren't strong enough to continue. She never knew what happened to them. No food, no water, no shade, the constant fear of being caught, had all piled up on them. Many times, she wondered how she was still alive. At this point she didn't think death would be much worse. She had made it through day one. Her mother was still going strong but she worried about her brother Adolfo. She asked if he was okay and he said "of course I am, I'm a man" he courageously said. At night they were about an hour away from the border. She felt relief, suddenly she heard helicopters. El coyote yelled "la Migra!!!" (border patrol!!). She felt her heart racing. She held her mother's hand and her brother ran with them to find something to hid behind. After they found cover, she suddenly saw uniformed men heading towards them. Two men took her mother and brother. One of the men grabbed her and handcuffed her. Suddenly he saw "el coyote" and let her go and chased after him. She couldn't see her family anymore. Everyone was gone. She was convinced that she would die there. She fell asleep on the hot sand.

When she woke up, she was surprised that she wasn't handcuffed anymore. She got up and looked around. She saw nothing. Suddenly she saw an old man sitting on a rock, he said let's go I'll show you the way. She trusted him. He helped her get to the big fence and he said "go through this hole". It leads to the other side. She followed his orders. When she got out, she was surprised to see that the man was already at the other side. She figured she was just disoriented. He led her to a payphone and she called one of her older brothers that had been living in the states. She made sure her mother and brother were okay back in Mexico after being deported and told her brother where she was so that he could pick her up. She turned around after talking to him on the phone and the man had disappeared. She yelled "thank you", just in case he was still around. She suddenly heard a whisper " No problem, Hija"...