Cargo Catastrophe
I open my eyes in the middle of the night. I'm sweating. Claudia pokes me. "You awake?" she asks.Wiping my forehead, I nod. "We can't stay here, Claudia... we must get home."
Claudia sighs and gets out from under the quilt. "We escaped the Bloodroot tribe.. we can escape this, too. Come."
I follow her to the door and we quietly sneak out. Once we're out in the prairie, I motion for Claudia to come with me. She does and I bring her to the clay bank.
"Maybe there will be a ship coming..." I whisper. Claudia nods, but her eyelids droop. I let her lie her head in my lap and she falls asleep.
After a while, the tell-tale swishing of a ship slicing through the water echoes throughout the night. I wake Claudia up and we watch as a large ship comes to a stop near the bank. A few men climb out, tall and lanky, and they leave the hatch open. I beckon for Claudia as I sneak into the hatch.
A pile of hay beneath the hatch muffles the noise of our fall. We climb out of the hay and feel for a wall. Claudia finds it. It's slimy, and it takes all my courage not to gag. But we manage to find a crate and hide behind it.
Suddenly, three men climb down into the belly of the ship. From the limited light, I can see that they are the same men that left the hatch open in the first place. They're carrying a bunch of boxes, which they dump in the middle of the space. Then they dust their hands and climb back up, closing the hatch.
It's pitch black. Claudia and I hold our breath as the ship lurches and begins to move. I peek out of a small crack in the ship's side and see water sloshing below. It smells like mildew and the air is dank. I lean back and sigh. How did I ever get myself into this situation?
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Claudia shakes my shoulder. I sit upright and blink. I must have fallen asleep. We look out the crack and see that the ship is pulled up to a bank. The hatch opens and the men come down, get some boxes, and climb back up. We take this chance and climb out into fresh air.
But that's not the only good news - we're in Mexico again! The Tall Tree is undamaged, and some people are even rebuilding the village. Claudia and I climb the Tall Tree and pick cacao and talk.
Just like the good old days.
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