Lotería by Cynthia Pelayo EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Cynthia Pelayo
- Language: English
- Genre: Hispanic American Literature
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
THE ROOSTER
Night blanketed the arid Sonoran Valley. In bed, Señor Julian listened to
the rooster outside crow. He massaged his gnarled hands, which
throbbed from latching together the heavy barn doors. Closing those doors
became more and more difficult with each passing day, but it had to be done
alone as there was no one out here to help him. The closest town was thirty
miles away, as was the closest neighbor.
A warm wind blew in through the inch open window; the widest he ever
allowed at night for fear that it would come inside while he slept.
Something outside scurried about the ground feet from his room. It was
about this time of night that it would prowl the darkness. It sounded like a
dog but faster and lighter on its feet. He held his breath and listened. There
was silence. Even if he wanted to peer outside the window he couldn’t
because there were no lights outside. He had wanted to get a light bulb
installed out there to keep it away, but he couldn’t spare the money. There
was never enough money.
Tonight, things would be fine, he assured himself. There were no more
chickens anyway. The cows had been secured in the barn as they had
always been. So, there was nothing left outside, except, of course, for the
rooster. He sighed heavily and pressed his fingers to his temples. Did I
padlock the barn? He thought. Yes, I must have.
At first, he lost the goat. Then slowly he lost his chickens. Last week it
had taken Chanclo, his dog of eleven years. He had always been cautious
with the cows, as they were his only source of income. He pressed his
palms to his eyes. I’m getting too old for this, he thought.
The rooster’s cries were abruptly silenced. He sprang up in bed. His
hands clutched the bed sheet closely to his chest and he listened to the
quickened steps outside across the dry, cracked earth. A door creaked
several yards away. The cows shifted and moaned. The barn door was open.
It was too late. It had gotten to the cows.
Slowly, he eased himself back down and pulled the sheet over his eyes.
In the morning he would deal with it, like he had every morning for the past
few years: the puncture marks, blood drained animals, and the sympathetic
but disbelieving nods of people who thought him crazy for believing in the
small, fabled blood sucking creature—the Chupacabra.
THE LITTLE DEVIL
“I can hear them scratching,” the chubby-faced, little boy says as he
searches through a large box of Crayola Crayons.
The doctor sits directly across from him with his hands on the metal
table. “What do you mean, Sebastian, that you can hear them scratching?”
The doctor’s voice is soothing, hypnotic.
The room is yellow with pictures of the Looney Tunes characters hung
around the walls. There is Bugs Bunny on one wall, Daffy Duck on another,
Tweety Bird on the third, and the fourth wall has the Tasmanian Devil,
which is directly behind Sebastian.
For More Read Download This Book
EPUB