Continuing on Her Journey by Allen Henriquez

Maria Celia Lopez, eight years old, ran away from home down the narrow pathway of the building’s alleyway.  Running past desperate emotions and raised voices, out into the darkness of a fearless hope, to escape.  A hope for silence and peace, hope for tiny little things, tiny little thoughts that could return again and be explored.  Thoughts of flowers, plants, insects, the brightness of day, the magic of night, the desire for knowledge of all things to be explained.  No screaming, no yelling, no fear, anger, panic days, day after day, days dominated by her parents.

Maria was out in the desert now, the Arizona desert.  The sun was up, a diagonal path she took across hot sands: passed cacti, several paloverde trees, and a prairie dog.  The prairie dog popped out of a hole, however ducking and moving around dry brush were a badger and a mongoose.She later observed a rock formation southwest of the main road.  The cliffs of the rocks were with caves below them.  Maria didn’t want the silence to end.  She carrying, her backpack for school, inside she had: a notebook, with a pen, an apple, orange and a plastic bottle of water.

There, under a rock overhang, she found a place of shade, silence and serenity.  There she would sit in reflection, genuflection, and observation.  She studied the sightings of life all around her, writing and drawing what she saw: the sagebrush, the Saguaro cacti, birds of varying species, including the wren, the cactus wren.

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To be continured...