pendant in the shape of a sun Its center is filled with a flat black stone If you hold it up to the sun its light glows through the obsidian I take it from her hand and hold it up but there’s no sun Only the moon Sometimes I try to imagine I can see things I really can’t But I’m sure a faint glow filters through the middle of the stone I move the pendant back and forth It disappears completely when I move it too far from the center of my vision When I look back Lita is motioning to an identical pendant around her neck You know she says Yucatecos believe obsidian holds magic A doorway to bring lost ones together She purses her lips Her brown skin wrinkles toward her nose like cracked bark on a tree They shouldn’t force me to go I say You have to Petra Lita looks away for a long time before speaking again Children are not meant to be separated from their parents You’re Dad’s parent He should stay with you then We all should Even as I say it I know I sound like a little kid She laughs a deep soft chuckle I’m too old to travel so far But for you Dios mío a new planet How exciting My chin trembles and I bury my head into her side squeez ing her around the waist I don’t want to leave you Her stomach lowers with a deep sigh Somewhere off in the desert behind Lita’s house a coyote howls calling for its friends 2 DONNA BARBA HIGUERA
As if on cue the chickens cluck and one of her fainting goats bleats You need a cuento she says referring to one of her tall tales We lie back looking up at the night sky The warm desert wind blows over us as Lita pulls me into the tightest hug ever I never want to leave this spot She points up at Halley’s Comet From here it doesn’t look so dangerous Había una vez she begins her story a young fire snake nagual His mother was Earth his father the sun A nagual snake I ask But how can the sun and Earth be parents to something part human part animal Sssh This is my story She clears her throat and takes one of my hands in hers Fire Snake was angry His mother Earth fed and nurtured him but his father the sun stayed away His father would bring crops but he also brought great drought and death One very hot day as Sun loomed over the nagual Lita waves her arm toward the heavens he challenged his father Even though his mother begged him to stay with her forever the young Fire Snake sped off toward his father Lita remains silent for a moment I know the stall is part of her strategy to keep me in suspense It works Then what She smiles and continues With his tail flaming behind him Fire Snake gained speed until he could not slow himself 3 THE LAST CUENTISTA
But as he approached his father Sun he realized his mistake His father’s flames were far more powerful and stronger than anything else in this universe The nagual looped around his father speeding back toward his home but it was all too late His father’s fire had burned his eyes so he could no longer see Lita clicks her tongue Pobrecito blinded and moving so fast he could never slow down Never able to find his mother She sighs Now comes the part in all her stories where her voice becomes becomes lighter like she’s casually giving directions to the corner panadería So every seventy-five years he retraces the journey hoping to reunite with her She points again at the fire snake Close enough to sense his mother but never to embrace Except this time I say heat running up my back Yes she answers pulling me closer In a few days the fire snake will finally find his mother Y colorín Colorado este cuento se ha acabado she says ending her cuento I rub her hand over and over memorizing her wrinkles Who told you that story Your grandma Lita shrugs She told me bits I might have made most of it up I’m scared Lita I whisper She pats my arm But for a moment did you forget your troubles I don’t answer out of shame Her story had made me forget Forget about what could happen to her and everyone else Don’t you be afraid she says I’m not It’s only the nagual coming home 4 DONNA BARBA HIGUERA
I glance up at Fire Snake in silence I’m going to be just like you Lita A storyteller She sits up legs crossed facing me A storyteller yes It’s in your blood She leans in But just like me No mija You need to discover who you are and be that What if I ruin your stories I ask Lita cups my chin in her soft brown hand You can’t ruin them They’ve traveled hundreds of years and through many people to find you Now go make them your own I think of Lita and her mother and her mother’s mother How much they knew Who am I to follow them I clutch the pendant in my hand I’ll never lose your stories Lita You know the planet you are going to will have a sun or two also She taps her pendant with her fingernail Look for me when you arrive My lower lip quivers and tears fall down my face I can’t believe we’re leaving you She wipes a tear from my cheek It’s impossible for you to leave me I’m part of you You’re taking me and my stories to a new planet and hundreds of years into the future How lucky I am I kiss her cheek I promise to make you proud Gripping my obsidian pendant I wonder if Lita will watch the fire snake through the smoky glass when he finally reunites with his mother 5 THE LAST CUENTISTA
