Beatriz Padilla: Nothing to Fear…
Beatriz created this image when she was writing this story…
As the shadows grow longer, Ramiro realizes there might not be enough daylight left for him to reach the camp before nightfall. The sliver of a moon, welcome for star-gazing, won’t do for treading along this craggy desert mountain at night. He had started out somewhat late, right after the team concluded the task, confident he could reach the summit and be back in no time. But drinking-in the stunning views, the crisp light bathing the canyon on the hike up and along the crest, those endless sights from atop the sierra, cast a spell on his meanderings, delaying his steps and obliterating any though of forsaking the privilege of being there. He simply could not bring himself to turn around and head back to join the rest of the scouting team in wrapping-up camp to take the prospective measurements back to the mining company’s city headquarters.
The mountain he stands on, and those around it, are meant to be blasted for gold.
A lizard, robust and nimble, with a long turquoise tail, pauses on a rock and tilts its head to get a good look at Ramiro. On stealth mode, an early owl flies by and snatches it out of existence. Across the canyon, Ramiro spots a coyote sniffing the air. It slowly turns and looks at him for ten seconds, then yelps, his cry answered at once from many directions, including Ramiro’s own. And in so merging with this clan, he decides, then and there, to spend the night solo atop the mountain: “Safer than getting lost or falling off a cliff while trying to find my way back to camp!”
From his backpack he brings out a jacket, flashlight and water bottle. He takes a swig from the latter, leaving some for later. He then pockets the lantern, dons on the light garment and sets out to look for a safe spot to navigate the hours of transient darkness on this face of the Earth. Anon, he finds a flat ledge on a cliff and calls it home for the night.
“Nothing to fear, but fear itself”. He lays down, stretches out his body and places his hands beneath his head. The air is mild, the rock still warm, the song of nature soft. “It is bound to get cold later at night, but I will survive. Nothing to fear.” The urge to witness it all prompts him to sit up, cross-legged. Night time scents insinuate themselves, and as his mind lets go and empties of thought, he grows in awe, feeling endless space shimmering with life, flickering sounds and specks of dancing light near and far. His eyelids grow heavy. He yawns. “Nothing to fear.” He thinks of the woman he loves and will marry. “I must bring Olivia to this amazing place...” He listens to the stream flowing way down in the canyon, as stars gradually flood the sky. Bats zig-zag by with high-pitched punctuations. “Nothing to fear, this is paradise.” He can hear his boisterous team far off, surely by the fire and downing the tequila brought for the occasion. A mother armadillo with three youngsters, stumbles upon his presence some three feet away. Ramiro is most still, then blinks, and the family flees. But he has nothing to fear, so he lies down to sleep, far enough from the edge lest he falls. As his body fully surrenders to the rock, he sees a meteorite crossing the sky and makes a wish: that thus he would die, but not tonight. And the stars reply with winks and sparkles, flirting unabashed, making Ramiro full-bodily yearn for his lass. He will love her here so deliciously it will make the constellations jealous. Accepting the challenge, the stars intensify their coquetry, and the torote tree joins in the mirth, dancing in a gust of wind. “All is well and there’s nothing to fear, no... thing to...” Ramiro dozes off and soon snores gently, deep into the night.
A grey fox comes by, eyes him in detail and moves on... A tecolote lands on a branch above him, expresses its soul for a while, and silently flies across the canyon heeding a song like its own... A rattle snake slowly slides past him... A rabbit approaches, Ramiro snorts in his sleep, the rabbit bolts... A tarantula walks over his trousers and continues down the cliff’s edge... Ramiro huddles himself as the environment gets quite cool, and in the darkness, he mumbles “Nothing to fear...” and he jolts, sitting up, and exclaims in alarm “Nothing to fear but ravaging greed and its dynamite!”
When the team woke up, the fire was out and the sun was busy reflecting its light on the empty tequila bottles. Ramiro lay snoring in his tent when his boss came by to inquire if he knew where the prospection measurements box had been stowed. The team looked everywhere and could not find it. The box and its contents seemed to have vanished. As a result, all in the team were fired. And two new moons later, Ramiro made love to Olivia at the summit with such tender passion, that the stars, voyeurs, sent a shower of meteorites to the lovers’ delight.
(Sierra la Laguna Biosphere Reserve, BCS, Mexico. April 2023)
