The Weight of All Things

Nicolás and Blanca search the riverbank for Tata. He shares his tortilla with Blanca and washes the statue of Our Lady in the river. Then Nicolás wades into the water to wash his sweaty body. The water only reaches as high as his waist. He admires the beauty of the landscape and the water and reflects on his schoolteacher who showed him the Sumpul on a map. She taught him that this river forms a border between El Salvador and Honduras, but Nicolás didn’t understand this concept as a child. To him the river was a source of water, fish, and fear. The river is supposedly haunted by “La Ziguanaba, the mad woman of legend with the savage looking eyes and the long wild hair. La Ziguanaba who had abandoned her small son and who, because of it, was sentenced to roam the riverbanks in search of him” (40). He is terrified of this mad woman and remembers his mother trying to calm his fears. The thought of her makes him sob and call her name. He dunks under the water to wash away his tears and returns home with Blanca.

Nicolás sits by the fire he has made after eating his dinner.