P.S. I do not own Miguel, Tulio, Chel or Altivo. They are copyright of Dreamworks SKG. I do
own little Miguel though.
"The Most Terrible Thing."
Miguel sighed to himself. "Tulio's the one sleeping with Chel, why doesn't he get her
food?" Chel had been pregnant ever since they left El Dorado, and she had been having these
bizarre cravings ever since. Today she wanted some fried salamanders, a handful of piranha eggs,
and a mango for dessert. Both Tulio and Miguel nearly threw up right at her feet, having
remembered the last time they had to gut fourteen salamanders and stuffing them with squishy,
foul- smelling fish eggs. "How the hell can you eat that stuff?!" Tulio asked. "What? Everyone
back in El Dorado ate that stuff." she insisted. " But it's is SO... FRIGGIN'... NAAAASTYYY."
Miguel said slowly. "Alright, I understand. After all, I'm just a pregnant woman, with no
strenght and no possible way to be able to catch food for myself. I guess I'll just leave,
have a miscarriage and DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!" She ended with a piercing cry and flung
herself into Tulio's arms. "Aw man......" Tulio muttered. "Alright sweety, we'll get you what
you want." Chel immediately stopped crying and acted like nothing had happened. "Great, but
this time guys, don't burn the salamander and I want the eggs to be in perfect little ballS.
Last time they were squished."
As Tulio and Miguel left their shabby little hut, Tulio said," You go get it."
"WHAT?!" Miguel blurted. "Why can't you go get it?""Because last time, I was chased by monkeys
and nearly eaten alive by piranhas." Miguel rolled his eyes. "Oh boo hoo, want me to get you
some cookies while I'm out, crybaby?" "Just go!" yelled Tulio. Miguel snickered, "All right,
I'm going." and left. Now he was riding Altivo to the lake. When he saw all of the piranhas
swimming around in the lake, with their big, pointy teeth sticking out of their mouths, Miguel
gulped in fear. Altivo made a horsey laugh at Miguel's cowardice. "Hey Mister Chuckles, why
don't you stick your arm down there?" he shot back. Altivo fell silent. "I thought so." And
with that, he slid down off of Altivo, carefully crept down toward the bank, and even more
carefully stuck his arm down in the water. Trying not to grab the fishes attention, he began
to pull out the eggs and put them in a small bag he had took with him from El Dorado.
"Alrighty then, just a few more." But this time he wasn't so lucky. As he put his arm in a
second time, a piranha bit him right on the finger.
"GEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!! SONOFABITCH!!!!!!!!!" Miguel started to fling his arm
around, trying to get the fish off. "GET-OFF-OF-ME-YOU-STUPID-LITTLE-MOFO-FISH!!" he screamed
until finally the fish was flung back into the water. "Geeeeeez!" Miguel sighed in relief.
With his finger in his mouth, he went back to Altivo, who was trying really hard not to laugh
again. "Don't start." Miguel threatened. As they started to leave, Miguel heard something.
"Whoa boy, what was that?" Altivo stopped in his tracks, but didn't hear anything. Then it
came again. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Altivo started to dance around in fright. "Steady
boy, steady." But as soon as he said that, something pounced at them. It was a large jaguar.
Miguel's screams led the beast to what looked like a fantastic feast. "Oh Jesus Christ! HYAH!!"
And with that, Altivo was off. But no matter how fast the horse went, the jaguar was running
swiftly behind. And in a split second, the jaguar hurried up a tree, pounced off a tree branch,
and landed right in front of Altivo. The horse bucked and Miguel fell off. The jaguar's
attention left the horse and went straight to the the smaller figure trying to scramble
himself up off the ground.
Just as the Miguel got to his feat again, the jaguar pounced on him, all of it's claws
burying themselves deep into Miguel's skin. As they hit the ground, the cat ripped it's claws
violently out of Miguel's skin and plunged back in again, and again, and again. It was pure
agony. After what seemed like ages, Miguel kicked the animal in the stomach, causing it to
recoil in pain. But it quickly recovered. As Miguel painfully staggered to get up, the animal
plunged it's powerful, knife-like jaws into Miguel's hand. Miguel screamed so much that his
throat began to burn. With his free hand, Miguel tried to beat the creature to get him to stop.
But the jaguar was too powerful and to distracted by eating the hand than to pay attention to
the blows. But the jaguar did stop long enough to slash Miguel across the face. Miguel gave
up. He lay limply as the animal bit and clawed his body like a cook slices a chicken open.
As a curtain of blood began to fill his mouth and cover his eyes, the slashes stopped.
What followed were sounds of loud poundings, horse neighing, and the jaguar screeching
in pain. After that it was silent. Miguel then felt a tongue licking his face. He opened his
eyes to see Altivo standing there, with blood all over his hooves, and the dead jaguar lying in
a crumpled, crushed mess. "Thank you Altivo." he managed to whisper. Just then, his vision
began to fade, and his good arm supporting him began to grow weaker and weaker. Something was
wrong. "Altivo...go get... Tulio...hurry..." He slapped a bloody hand over Altivo's side, and
off he went. Then, his vision went and his arm gave.
**********************************
Tulio sat outside of the hut, while Chel slept, and started to whittle on the knife he
had been working on for the past three weeks now. So far, he and Miguel hade made the hut, a
small crummy wagon to carry stuff in, numerouse weapons, needles (which took a lot of patience
to make, which they both did not have) and a new dress for Chel made out of leaves, feathers
and skin of tiny animals. "It itches too much!" she had complained once. "Probably because
she's not used to clothes." Miguel quipped later, which even made Tulio laugh.
He and Miguel were very good friends, even though they made fun of each other constantly
and fight like little girls over stupid things. Miguel saved him when he was working as a
servant to a some-what crazy old merchant. As he was about to be beaten, Miguelran to the the
old coot and bashed him on the knee with a frying pan. Then, just to survive for a few
nights, he took the sack of gold hanging from the man's belt and bolted off, dragging Tulio
with him. After that, the merchant made them wanted crimanals. Miguel and Tulio weren't bad
people, They were framed in a way.
He hummed as he worked. "Hmm hmm doo doo be a god, tread where mortals dah dah dah...
Wait a minute...Were the hell is Miguel?" He had just realized that he and Altivo had been gone
for an hour. "Jesus tap dancin' Christ, it doesn't take this long to catch food!" He's probably
off exploring somewhere, he thought to himself. "Hmmph, well I wouldn't be surprised if he gets
eaten by a snake or somethin'"
Just then, he heard a faint galloping and a whinny. "Altivo? Miguel? Is that you?"
A neigh replied back. "Well get over here you stupid old flea bag of a horse! You too Miguel!"
Altivo, who would have usually nipped Tulio's butt for such a rude comment, was in no mood.
He ran out of the brushes and straight to Tulio. "Hey... W-Where's Miguel?" Tulio looked into
the brushes to see if Miguel was still in there planning to jump out and scare him. Nothing.
"OK horse, where's Miguel?" Altivo, with a frightened look on his long face, turned and
showed Tulio the bloody hand print on his side.
Tulio heart did a loop-dee-loop in his throat. "Something's wrong." he managed to
finally say, hoarsely. Altivo gave him a "Well DUH!" look. Tulio ran to the hut. "Chel!
CHEEEEEEEEL!!" Chel came out droggily. "What is it? *yawn* Is it time to eat?" "No.
listen to me," Tulio said, with his hands on her shoulders, "Altivo just came back, alone,
with blood smeared on him. I think Miguel's in trouble. You stay here and wait till I come
back." He left her there, stuttering incoherantly, and mounted on the horse. "Altivo, take
me to Miguel. HYAH!" And they were off.
******************
"MIGUEEEEEL! MIGUEEEEEEELLLLL!" Tulio yelled his name over and over as they raced
through the jungle. Anything could have happened to him, he thought. Eaten by piranhas, eaten
by jaguars. "MIGUEL, CAN YOU HEAR ME?! HELLOOOO!" Altivo raced through the forest as fast as he
could go. He may have been a horse, but he knew trouble when he saw it. Finally, they reached
the lake. They were close. Just seconds after furious running, they found him. "Oh God, NO!"
Tulio ran to Miguel's side. He had several slashed marks running across his face, his chest,
arms and legs were completely ripped nearly to shreds, and his hand was nearly chewed off.
The sight of all of the blood made Tulio's stomach lurch violently, and he vomited in the
bushes.
After spitting the last of it, he ran back to Miguel and snapped his fingers in front
of his face. "Miguel? Can you hear me? Hello?!" He could here him breathing, if you would even
call it breathing. It was more like a faint, raspy rattling sound in his throat. "Tu-" was all
he managed to get out, and the rest came out in a loud, agonizing groan. "Just hang on buddy,
I got ya." Tulio took off his batterred shirt and vest (which he didn't really need since it
was always so hot.) He sat Miguel up and wrapped the shirt as tightly as Miguel would let him.
"NOT SO MUCH! NOT SO MUCH." Miguel was sobbing in gasps and wincing moans as he was bandaged.
Tulio then took his vest and wrapped tenderly aroun Miguel's mutilated hand, though he still
screamed in agony anyway. Without even asking if he could walk, Tulio hoisted him up on Altivo
and sat behind him. And, with Miguel leaning on his chest for support they raced back to Chel.
******************
Chel was worrying herself sick. All she heard was that something was wrong and then everyone
was gone. As she paced around the room, she heard Tulio calling for her to come out quickly.
"Tulio, what is the meaning of-" She stopped herself when she stepped outside. Tulio was on
Altivo, and in his arms were what appeared to be Miguel, slashed badly. "Oh... my gods." she
finally said. "Help me with him." Tulio ordered. Chel raced over to Altivo and helped get M
iguel off and helped carry him into the house. "Jaguar?" she asked. "What else?" Tulio said
wearily."Well, it's a good thing all us El Doradoans are experts at health. Quick, go fetch
me some needles and some hair from Altivo's tail." Within minutes, all she needed was in front
of her.
The next few hours were gruesome. Tulio had to restrain Miguel from kicking. He was
never good with pain, he thought. Miguel screamed as Chel violently plunged the needle
repeatedly into his skin. "Can't you do it any easier?" Tulio yelled. "His skin is slashed to
deeply." Chel explained. "If I only do it on top, they'll never heal and bleed to death."
So Tulio stayed quiet after that. After it was done, Miguel was bandaged again and passed out
from the pain.
"Tulio, there's more." she said later. "So what else is new." Tulio shot back gloomily.
"Tulio his hand is too damaged beyond repaire. I think we're going to have to-" "Whoa now, NO!"
Tulio barked. "Don't even go there! I am not about to do what I think your thinking!" "Tulio,
it has to come off!" "N-O, NO!" "Godammit Tulio! His hand is already half mush! Now if you say
no to anything that could help save your best friend in the best way possible... Well then
congradulations. He's as good as dead." And she left him, stunned.
Tulio thought about it for a few hours. Then he came to Chel, with tear-streaks coming
down his face. "What do you need me to do?"
***********
"All right." Chel said. "I need something sharp. We'll use one of the ax's you made."
"NO!" Tulio cried out immediatly. "That will take too long and it'll be too gruesome. You saw
how he reacted with that little needle. *sigh* There's... a sword by the, um, beach. I'll just
go get." And he left. As he and Altivo reached the beach and retrieved the sword, Tulio burst
into wailing sobs and sank to the ground. "It's all my fault." he weaped into his hands. "I
should have gone, but I didn't want to. And why? Because I... was afraid... of a bunch of
STUPID... MOTHER FUCKING... MONKEYS!!!!!" He sobbed into his hands untill his eyes were burning
and his head was pounding. Finally, he got to his feet, went to Altivo, and hugged him. At first
Altivo was surprised and alarmed, but relaxed because he realized that Tulio needed it.
When Tulio returned with the sword, he heard singing. He looked in the door and saw
Miguel with pure agony on his face, having just woken up from his peaceful sleep and feeling
the pain again. Chel rubbed her fingers through his hair and sang softly and sweetly to him,
trying to soothe him. As Tulio watched, he realized that Miguel was in good hands. Ever since
they left El Dorado, Miguel and Chel weren't exactly "chummy." Perhaps now, they could grow to
be friends, Tulio thought. If Chel was kind enough to help them, Miguel could learn to appreciate
her.
"Oh good your finally here." Chel said, and just as she reached for the sword, Tulio
drew it away from her. "You know I won't be able to help you." He said. "I can't watch. I don't
even think I can be here when you do it." "I understand." she said. "You can sleep somewhere
else tonight and come back in the morning." Tulio finally gave her the sword, and walked over
to Miguel. "Hey man, how are you doin'?" Miguel opened his eyes slowly. "I've DEFINANTLY had
better days." His voice was a hoarse whisper, but it still had that cocky attitude he always
had. "So, you're leavin for the night, huh? You're gonna miss all of the fun!" "Shut up,
blondie." "You shut up, stick boy." They both shared a laugh, but Miguel's was cut off short
by a wheezing groan. "But anyway, you go ahead and go. I'll be alright. And say thanks to
Altivo for saving my life... And thank you." "No prob, Bob."
Before he left, Tulio turned back to see Miguel. Although Miguel was smiling, Tulio
knew that he was absolutely terrified of what was to come.
**************************
Tulio and Altivo made camp at the beach. The salty air, cool wind and soft splashing
always seemed to calm him down. He made a fire and began to cook a few bananas. He and Miguel
always liked to have all of their fruits cooked, which made always Chel call them "picky boys
who play with their food." Miguel would always quip "Whatever you say, Senora Salamander." Tulio
laughed to himself of all of the found memories they had ahd so far. But that was all about to
change drastically. And Tulio was betting his money for the worst.
************************
Tulio could not sleep at all that night. Even though he wasn't at the hut, he could hear
and see all that was happening. The sickening hacking... The horrible screaming... And all of
the blood flowing as if it would never stop. Several times, minutes in between, he woke up in
a cold sweat, twitching violently and sobbing untill his heart fealt like it was about to be
squeezed to death.
*************************
Tulio woke feeling like he did not rest at all. His neck was painfully stiff and his
eyes were sore from crying and being awake most of the night. Altivo was next to him, sleeping
like a baby. "I envy you, horse. You can sleep no matter what the circumstances." Altivo raised
his head up and blew a rasberry to Tulio's comment. Tulio smiled at the horse and looked back into
the jungle sadly. "I suppose she's done now, huh?" Altivo nodded, with a sad look on his face a
s well. Tulio gave a long, painful sigh and got up. "Well... Let's go and get it over with."
He mounted Altivo and they left for the hut.
When they arrived, Chel was asleep outside. She absolutely... possitively... looked
like shit. Her hair was all messed up and her dressed was stained in blood. Tulio hesitated
on the horse. A part of him wanted to go in and see his friend and how he turned out. The
other wanted to run away forever so he wouldn't have to see the frightening image he was
afraid he would find. No, he said to himself. I'm not a coward. I will go in there and see
my friend. He got off the horse, walked to Chel, and gently tapped her on the shoulder.
Chel opened her eyes, which had large circles under them, and closed them again. "He wouldn't
stop screaming..." she said exhaustedly. "I had to knock him out so we could both get some
sleep... You can go in if you want to..." and she went back to sleep.
Tulio stood outside the doorway for a few minutes. He was totally afraid of what he
would see. But, with a deep inhale, he went into the room.
Miguel was sleeping on the cot. The bandages that were on his chest were taken off
and on his hand. Or... what was his hand. Although it was wrapped with both his shirt,
his vest, and Miguel's shirt, it was completely saturated in blood. His forehead had a large
bump on it, and next to his head was a rock. Tulio felt the tears well up in his eyes again.
Since he had been crying so much the past few days, he eyes began to burn sensationally again.
He tried to hold back his tears to stop the burning. Then he saw his friend, nearly ripped to
pieces."He's probably going to die and all I'm doing is complaining about my eyes." In a fit of
pity for his friend and pure hatred of himself, he let his tears flow heavily, not carring
about the pain in his eyes, but the pain in his heart.
His sobs must have been louder than he thought, because Miguel woke up. He gave a groan
that caused Tulio to gasp in surprise. "Hey!" he said, trying to wipe his tears away so Miguel
wouldn't see. "How are ya?" What a stupid question, he thought to himself. "Forget I asked that."
he said with a shy grin. Miguel stared at him. He had tear streakes running down his bloody
face. "Don't even try to act like your not sorry fo me." he said with a smile. His voice was
hoarser than ever, probably from all of the screaming he did last night. "Oh my God!! How the
hell can you even joke at a time like this? Do you know what hell I've gone through?!" Miguel's
face looked shocked and hurt by Tulio's outburst. Then it turned to absolute venom.
"Do you think it's easy for me? DO YOU FUCKING THINK IT'S EASY FOR ME!?!? LOOK AT ME!!"
He went to his bandages and ripped them off, trying to stifle screams and wails as he did.
"JUST LOOK AT ME!!!!!" He shoved his arm to Tulio. Where his hand would have been was a ugly,
bloody stump. Tulio screamed in terror. "EXACTLY!!! SO DON'T SAY TO ME THAT THIS HAS BEEN HELL
FOR YOU!! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!! YOUR THE ONE THAT RAN AWAY!! I'M THE ONE WHO HAD TO SUFFER
ALL OF THE HACKING AND THE BLOOD AND FORCES OF PAIN THAT YOU HAVE NEVER DREAMED ABOUT!! SO
DON'T EVEN TELL M-" When he said the word tell, he unintentionally slammed his stump to the
ground.
He let out the most blood-curdling scream that Tulio had ever heard. Blood oozed from
his stump and he was flailing about in agony. "CHEL! CHEL!!!! GET IN HERE QUICK!!" Tulio
shouted. A startled Chel came running into the hut and sat next to Miguel. "Alright Miguel,
listen to me! Calm down! It's all going to be over soon!" But Miguel wouldn't stop screaming.
Desperately, she picked up the rock and slammed it against Miguel's head. With a whimpering
groan, he was out again. "Uh... Maybe you should go get him some food." she said.
****************
Miguel woke up the next day. When Tulio walked in to give him his breakfast, Miguel shot
him a stone cold stare. "Miguel, I Know your mad at me-" Miguel interuppted him by clearing his
throat. "A-hmm-hmm." "Alright then, I know you hate me right now, but-" "A-HMM-HMMMM!" "OK OK,
I KNOW YOU WANT TO SLIT MY THRAOT OPEN AND WEAR MY VOCAL CHORDS AS A NECKLACE AND DANCE AROUND
MY BURNING CORPSE LIKE SOME SORT OF MATING RITUAL!!!!!!! NOW ARE YA HAPPY!!!???" "Well, I
wasn't thinking about the vocal chords part, but it's a very nice touch." Miguel quipped.
Tulio laughed. Miguel didn't. Tulio sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry I said it was hell for me
and not for you. I was just really scared. I don't want you to die. Your... Your my best friend.
Can you ever forgive me?"
Miguel hateful expression melted away to smile. "Aw fuck it. I always do." The two
shared a laugh and, trying to be very careful, Tulio gave him a hug. "But do you know what
really puzzles me Tulio?" "What?" "How come Chel, a pregnant woman, didn't throw when she
saw me bleeding but you did?" "Aw shut up, Blondie!"
****************
Things went from bad to worse. Miguel's wounds became horribly infected, and he never
was good with pain. Miguel stopped eating, drinking, and became extremely sick. Both Tulio and
chel had to take turns taking care of him when he awoke with horrible hallucinations and pain.
Every time he did manage to eat something, he threw it up hours later. He sweated perfusely and
twitched uncontrollably, muttering nonsense to people that weren't even there. He became so
skinny that Tulio could count all of his ribs if Miguel would stop moving for a while.
Tulio never felt more heart-broken in his life. He knew Miguel would never in a million
years survive this. It had been two weeks since the attack, and Miguel could not even sit up by
himself anymore. "It's my fault." he said to Chel one night when Miguel had finally gone to
sleep, gasping painfully each time he breathed. "I shouldn't have made him go alone."
"Oh Tulio," she said, rubbing his head. "if you would have gone instead, then you would be just
like him." "No, that's not what I meant. I should have gone with him... Maybe if I did he
wouldn't be as bad."
They sat there in silence for a few seconds when Chel finally said, "You wanna feel the
baby kick?" Tulio looked up. "Yeah?" After all that had happened, he forgot that he was going
to be a father. "OK!" He put his hand on her stomach, and felt a faint little bump. "Cool!"
"I know!... You know Tulio... We should start thinking of names." Tulio blurted his answer
without any hesitation "If it's a boy: Miguel. If it's a girl: Michelle." Chel was shocked.
"Wow! What's Michelle?" "It's a French, feminine version of Miguel." he said, matter-of-factly.
"Of course! I should have known!... I really think he'll like that... but let's keep it a
secret so he'll be surprised." "Yeah," he said, turning sadly over to Miguel. "I think he
deserves it."
* * * *
Things did not get any better. Miguel was starving but was so sick to keep anything down.
One night,while Tulio was cradling the sobbing, screaming Miguel, he cried, "T-t-t-t-t-Tulio.
I'm s-s-s-so-o-o- hungry. Help me... please, help me. Ple-he-heeeease!!!" Tulio had enough.
"Aw, you're hungry? You're hungry?! YOUR HUNGRY?!?!?! WELL HERE, HAVE SOME FOOD!!!!!!" He
grabbed a banana, peeled it, and began shoving it down Miguel's throat. Chel woke up and looked
in horror. "MY GODS TULIO, STOP IT!!!!" But he wouldn't stop, even though Miguel kept kicking
and flailing about as Tulio crammed the food into his mouth. "YOUR GOING TO EAT IT, AND YOUR
GOING TO KEEP IT DOWN THIS TIME!! BECAUSE, GODAMMIT, I WON'T LET YOU DIE!!! YOU ARE NOT GOING
TO DIE!!! YOU HEAR ME?!?! HUH?!?! DO YA?!?! DO YOU HEAR-"
Tulio stopped to see what he was doing. He had Miguel pinned to the floor, who was
sobbing in pain and in fright, his face smeared in food. Tulio then looked at Chel. She was in
the corner, her hands covering her mouth and, although very tanned, pale as a ghost. Tulio got
off of Miguel in complete horror. "Oh God....... Oh... GOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!" He fell to the
ground, sobbing so hard, he didn't even realize Chel standing, with a puddle of water between
her legs. "Uh... Tulio?"
******************
Tulio looked up finally to see chel clutching her stomach and sliding back down to the
floor. "Tulio!" she cried. Tulio finally snapped out of it and crawled over to Chel. "Is it?"
was all he managed to say. "YES!!!" she screamed, grabbing his hand and squeezing it as hard as
she could. Both she and Tulio took turns screaming. "AAH!" "AAH!" "AAH!" "AAH!" "OH TULIO, SHUT
UP AND GET THIS THING OUT OF ME!!!!" she said as she threw is hand to the ground.
"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" he cried, cradling his hand. "OK Chel." he said after recovering,
"Although I was forced to, I was able to deliver all of my brothers and sisters... That's when
the nightmares began..." "TULIO!!!" "SORRY! OK, now listen to me. I want you to breathe in..."
She did. "And breathe out." She did. "Good! Now I want you to continue to do that whEn then the
pain comes back. Those are called: con-trac-tions"- "TULIO, I KNOW WHAT A CONTRACTION IS! I'M
NOT STUPID!!" "OK SORRY!"
Hours had past, and Chel had had enough. "TULIO, YOU GET DOWN THERE NOW!!! I WAN'T THIS
THING OUT WHETHER I'M READY OR NOT!!!!!" Tulio scrambled over to Chel's legs and lifted up her
dress. "Alright, when I say go, I want you to push for ten seconds. Ready.... GO!" "AAAAAAA-!"
"1..." "-AAAAAH!!! "2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10! Very good! now let's let you rest for a
minute and we'll do it again." "ARE YOU INSANE?! ISN'T IT OUT YET?!" "No, but your crowning
very nicely!" he said reasuringly, which made her fall back and sob desperatley.
"Alright, ready?" "I guess." she said wearily. "Alright...ready...GO!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!" "10! OK! One more push and it'll all be over. And.....
GO!" With another screaming push, the baby slid into Tulio's hands. "IT'S A BOY!!! IT'S A BOY!!!
I'M A FATHER! I'M A FATHER!!! AAAAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!!!!" He started to dance around
the room with the baby. "Tulio! Take care of the baby!" Chel said, worried that the estatic
Tulio would drop him." "OH YEAH! I NEED TO TAKE CARE OF HIM! I NEED TO TAKE CARE OF MY SON!!!"
He carefully snipped off the inbedical chord, wrapped him in a blanket he made for him, and
gave it to Chel. "Aaaaaw! Hi little baby! Hi! How are you?" You hurt Mommy so very much! Yes
you did! Yes you did!" Chel cooed to the little baby for about 5 minutes when they heard a
voice said, "Let me see him."
It was Miguel, who had passed out when Tulio attacked him but was now fully awake.
"Oh, of course, Miguel." Chel said and handed the baby to Tulio who then showed him to Miguel.
The baby had his mother's round face and brown eyes and was a mixture of both Tulio and Chel's
skin color. "Here you go, buddy." Tulio said, and put the baby gently into Miguel's good arm.
Miguel stayed there for a few seconds, slid his arm out from the baby, and began to sit up.
"No Miguel, don't-" But as Tulio reached for him, Miguel blocked his hand and pushed it away.
Then, with all of his strength, sat up painfully. He then picked the baby up again and cradled
him in his arms.
"What are you going to name him?" he asked, with tears in his eyes. "Miguel." "OK, but
that name's definantly going to get his ass kicked. " And they bothed shared a laugh.
* * * *
Tulio's Log
Miguel finally was well enough to get out of bed today two monthes after the attack. His stump
and all of his scars have finally healed, which Miguel thinks they make him look "tough."
I had made him a blanket out of the jaguar that had attacked him. He says he's really excited
to get it dirty. When I asked why, he replied, "So I can beat the living shit out of it when I
clean it." Miguel was happy to see Altivo. He took Little Miguel and they rode him together. We
then had a feast that Chel had made AND had gathered herself. She says she's sick of
salamanders and fish eggs, which is good news to Miguel and I. Little Miguel finally smiled
today when he was riding the horse with Miguel, which made Miguel so happy he cried. You know,
I was betting that Miguel would ever survive this most horrible thing. Guess I'll just mark
that as another bet I've lost with Miguel!
The End
own little Miguel though.
"The Most Terrible Thing."
Miguel sighed to himself. "Tulio's the one sleeping with Chel, why doesn't he get her
food?" Chel had been pregnant ever since they left El Dorado, and she had been having these
bizarre cravings ever since. Today she wanted some fried salamanders, a handful of piranha eggs,
and a mango for dessert. Both Tulio and Miguel nearly threw up right at her feet, having
remembered the last time they had to gut fourteen salamanders and stuffing them with squishy,
foul- smelling fish eggs. "How the hell can you eat that stuff?!" Tulio asked. "What? Everyone
back in El Dorado ate that stuff." she insisted. " But it's is SO... FRIGGIN'... NAAAASTYYY."
Miguel said slowly. "Alright, I understand. After all, I'm just a pregnant woman, with no
strenght and no possible way to be able to catch food for myself. I guess I'll just leave,
have a miscarriage and DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!" She ended with a piercing cry and flung
herself into Tulio's arms. "Aw man......" Tulio muttered. "Alright sweety, we'll get you what
you want." Chel immediately stopped crying and acted like nothing had happened. "Great, but
this time guys, don't burn the salamander and I want the eggs to be in perfect little ballS.
Last time they were squished."
As Tulio and Miguel left their shabby little hut, Tulio said," You go get it."
"WHAT?!" Miguel blurted. "Why can't you go get it?""Because last time, I was chased by monkeys
and nearly eaten alive by piranhas." Miguel rolled his eyes. "Oh boo hoo, want me to get you
some cookies while I'm out, crybaby?" "Just go!" yelled Tulio. Miguel snickered, "All right,
I'm going." and left. Now he was riding Altivo to the lake. When he saw all of the piranhas
swimming around in the lake, with their big, pointy teeth sticking out of their mouths, Miguel
gulped in fear. Altivo made a horsey laugh at Miguel's cowardice. "Hey Mister Chuckles, why
don't you stick your arm down there?" he shot back. Altivo fell silent. "I thought so." And
with that, he slid down off of Altivo, carefully crept down toward the bank, and even more
carefully stuck his arm down in the water. Trying not to grab the fishes attention, he began
to pull out the eggs and put them in a small bag he had took with him from El Dorado.
"Alrighty then, just a few more." But this time he wasn't so lucky. As he put his arm in a
second time, a piranha bit him right on the finger.
"GEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!! SONOFABITCH!!!!!!!!!" Miguel started to fling his arm
around, trying to get the fish off. "GET-OFF-OF-ME-YOU-STUPID-LITTLE-MOFO-FISH!!" he screamed
until finally the fish was flung back into the water. "Geeeeeez!" Miguel sighed in relief.
With his finger in his mouth, he went back to Altivo, who was trying really hard not to laugh
again. "Don't start." Miguel threatened. As they started to leave, Miguel heard something.
"Whoa boy, what was that?" Altivo stopped in his tracks, but didn't hear anything. Then it
came again. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Altivo started to dance around in fright. "Steady
boy, steady." But as soon as he said that, something pounced at them. It was a large jaguar.
Miguel's screams led the beast to what looked like a fantastic feast. "Oh Jesus Christ! HYAH!!"
And with that, Altivo was off. But no matter how fast the horse went, the jaguar was running
swiftly behind. And in a split second, the jaguar hurried up a tree, pounced off a tree branch,
and landed right in front of Altivo. The horse bucked and Miguel fell off. The jaguar's
attention left the horse and went straight to the the smaller figure trying to scramble
himself up off the ground.
Just as the Miguel got to his feat again, the jaguar pounced on him, all of it's claws
burying themselves deep into Miguel's skin. As they hit the ground, the cat ripped it's claws
violently out of Miguel's skin and plunged back in again, and again, and again. It was pure
agony. After what seemed like ages, Miguel kicked the animal in the stomach, causing it to
recoil in pain. But it quickly recovered. As Miguel painfully staggered to get up, the animal
plunged it's powerful, knife-like jaws into Miguel's hand. Miguel screamed so much that his
throat began to burn. With his free hand, Miguel tried to beat the creature to get him to stop.
But the jaguar was too powerful and to distracted by eating the hand than to pay attention to
the blows. But the jaguar did stop long enough to slash Miguel across the face. Miguel gave
up. He lay limply as the animal bit and clawed his body like a cook slices a chicken open.
As a curtain of blood began to fill his mouth and cover his eyes, the slashes stopped.
What followed were sounds of loud poundings, horse neighing, and the jaguar screeching
in pain. After that it was silent. Miguel then felt a tongue licking his face. He opened his
eyes to see Altivo standing there, with blood all over his hooves, and the dead jaguar lying in
a crumpled, crushed mess. "Thank you Altivo." he managed to whisper. Just then, his vision
began to fade, and his good arm supporting him began to grow weaker and weaker. Something was
wrong. "Altivo...go get... Tulio...hurry..." He slapped a bloody hand over Altivo's side, and
off he went. Then, his vision went and his arm gave.
**********************************
Tulio sat outside of the hut, while Chel slept, and started to whittle on the knife he
had been working on for the past three weeks now. So far, he and Miguel hade made the hut, a
small crummy wagon to carry stuff in, numerouse weapons, needles (which took a lot of patience
to make, which they both did not have) and a new dress for Chel made out of leaves, feathers
and skin of tiny animals. "It itches too much!" she had complained once. "Probably because
she's not used to clothes." Miguel quipped later, which even made Tulio laugh.
He and Miguel were very good friends, even though they made fun of each other constantly
and fight like little girls over stupid things. Miguel saved him when he was working as a
servant to a some-what crazy old merchant. As he was about to be beaten, Miguelran to the the
old coot and bashed him on the knee with a frying pan. Then, just to survive for a few
nights, he took the sack of gold hanging from the man's belt and bolted off, dragging Tulio
with him. After that, the merchant made them wanted crimanals. Miguel and Tulio weren't bad
people, They were framed in a way.
He hummed as he worked. "Hmm hmm doo doo be a god, tread where mortals dah dah dah...
Wait a minute...Were the hell is Miguel?" He had just realized that he and Altivo had been gone
for an hour. "Jesus tap dancin' Christ, it doesn't take this long to catch food!" He's probably
off exploring somewhere, he thought to himself. "Hmmph, well I wouldn't be surprised if he gets
eaten by a snake or somethin'"
Just then, he heard a faint galloping and a whinny. "Altivo? Miguel? Is that you?"
A neigh replied back. "Well get over here you stupid old flea bag of a horse! You too Miguel!"
Altivo, who would have usually nipped Tulio's butt for such a rude comment, was in no mood.
He ran out of the brushes and straight to Tulio. "Hey... W-Where's Miguel?" Tulio looked into
the brushes to see if Miguel was still in there planning to jump out and scare him. Nothing.
"OK horse, where's Miguel?" Altivo, with a frightened look on his long face, turned and
showed Tulio the bloody hand print on his side.
Tulio heart did a loop-dee-loop in his throat. "Something's wrong." he managed to
finally say, hoarsely. Altivo gave him a "Well DUH!" look. Tulio ran to the hut. "Chel!
CHEEEEEEEEL!!" Chel came out droggily. "What is it? *yawn* Is it time to eat?" "No.
listen to me," Tulio said, with his hands on her shoulders, "Altivo just came back, alone,
with blood smeared on him. I think Miguel's in trouble. You stay here and wait till I come
back." He left her there, stuttering incoherantly, and mounted on the horse. "Altivo, take
me to Miguel. HYAH!" And they were off.
******************
"MIGUEEEEEL! MIGUEEEEEEELLLLL!" Tulio yelled his name over and over as they raced
through the jungle. Anything could have happened to him, he thought. Eaten by piranhas, eaten
by jaguars. "MIGUEL, CAN YOU HEAR ME?! HELLOOOO!" Altivo raced through the forest as fast as he
could go. He may have been a horse, but he knew trouble when he saw it. Finally, they reached
the lake. They were close. Just seconds after furious running, they found him. "Oh God, NO!"
Tulio ran to Miguel's side. He had several slashed marks running across his face, his chest,
arms and legs were completely ripped nearly to shreds, and his hand was nearly chewed off.
The sight of all of the blood made Tulio's stomach lurch violently, and he vomited in the
bushes.
After spitting the last of it, he ran back to Miguel and snapped his fingers in front
of his face. "Miguel? Can you hear me? Hello?!" He could here him breathing, if you would even
call it breathing. It was more like a faint, raspy rattling sound in his throat. "Tu-" was all
he managed to get out, and the rest came out in a loud, agonizing groan. "Just hang on buddy,
I got ya." Tulio took off his batterred shirt and vest (which he didn't really need since it
was always so hot.) He sat Miguel up and wrapped the shirt as tightly as Miguel would let him.
"NOT SO MUCH! NOT SO MUCH." Miguel was sobbing in gasps and wincing moans as he was bandaged.
Tulio then took his vest and wrapped tenderly aroun Miguel's mutilated hand, though he still
screamed in agony anyway. Without even asking if he could walk, Tulio hoisted him up on Altivo
and sat behind him. And, with Miguel leaning on his chest for support they raced back to Chel.
******************
Chel was worrying herself sick. All she heard was that something was wrong and then everyone
was gone. As she paced around the room, she heard Tulio calling for her to come out quickly.
"Tulio, what is the meaning of-" She stopped herself when she stepped outside. Tulio was on
Altivo, and in his arms were what appeared to be Miguel, slashed badly. "Oh... my gods." she
finally said. "Help me with him." Tulio ordered. Chel raced over to Altivo and helped get M
iguel off and helped carry him into the house. "Jaguar?" she asked. "What else?" Tulio said
wearily."Well, it's a good thing all us El Doradoans are experts at health. Quick, go fetch
me some needles and some hair from Altivo's tail." Within minutes, all she needed was in front
of her.
The next few hours were gruesome. Tulio had to restrain Miguel from kicking. He was
never good with pain, he thought. Miguel screamed as Chel violently plunged the needle
repeatedly into his skin. "Can't you do it any easier?" Tulio yelled. "His skin is slashed to
deeply." Chel explained. "If I only do it on top, they'll never heal and bleed to death."
So Tulio stayed quiet after that. After it was done, Miguel was bandaged again and passed out
from the pain.
"Tulio, there's more." she said later. "So what else is new." Tulio shot back gloomily.
"Tulio his hand is too damaged beyond repaire. I think we're going to have to-" "Whoa now, NO!"
Tulio barked. "Don't even go there! I am not about to do what I think your thinking!" "Tulio,
it has to come off!" "N-O, NO!" "Godammit Tulio! His hand is already half mush! Now if you say
no to anything that could help save your best friend in the best way possible... Well then
congradulations. He's as good as dead." And she left him, stunned.
Tulio thought about it for a few hours. Then he came to Chel, with tear-streaks coming
down his face. "What do you need me to do?"
***********
"All right." Chel said. "I need something sharp. We'll use one of the ax's you made."
"NO!" Tulio cried out immediatly. "That will take too long and it'll be too gruesome. You saw
how he reacted with that little needle. *sigh* There's... a sword by the, um, beach. I'll just
go get." And he left. As he and Altivo reached the beach and retrieved the sword, Tulio burst
into wailing sobs and sank to the ground. "It's all my fault." he weaped into his hands. "I
should have gone, but I didn't want to. And why? Because I... was afraid... of a bunch of
STUPID... MOTHER FUCKING... MONKEYS!!!!!" He sobbed into his hands untill his eyes were burning
and his head was pounding. Finally, he got to his feet, went to Altivo, and hugged him. At first
Altivo was surprised and alarmed, but relaxed because he realized that Tulio needed it.
When Tulio returned with the sword, he heard singing. He looked in the door and saw
Miguel with pure agony on his face, having just woken up from his peaceful sleep and feeling
the pain again. Chel rubbed her fingers through his hair and sang softly and sweetly to him,
trying to soothe him. As Tulio watched, he realized that Miguel was in good hands. Ever since
they left El Dorado, Miguel and Chel weren't exactly "chummy." Perhaps now, they could grow to
be friends, Tulio thought. If Chel was kind enough to help them, Miguel could learn to appreciate
her.
"Oh good your finally here." Chel said, and just as she reached for the sword, Tulio
drew it away from her. "You know I won't be able to help you." He said. "I can't watch. I don't
even think I can be here when you do it." "I understand." she said. "You can sleep somewhere
else tonight and come back in the morning." Tulio finally gave her the sword, and walked over
to Miguel. "Hey man, how are you doin'?" Miguel opened his eyes slowly. "I've DEFINANTLY had
better days." His voice was a hoarse whisper, but it still had that cocky attitude he always
had. "So, you're leavin for the night, huh? You're gonna miss all of the fun!" "Shut up,
blondie." "You shut up, stick boy." They both shared a laugh, but Miguel's was cut off short
by a wheezing groan. "But anyway, you go ahead and go. I'll be alright. And say thanks to
Altivo for saving my life... And thank you." "No prob, Bob."
Before he left, Tulio turned back to see Miguel. Although Miguel was smiling, Tulio
knew that he was absolutely terrified of what was to come.
**************************
Tulio and Altivo made camp at the beach. The salty air, cool wind and soft splashing
always seemed to calm him down. He made a fire and began to cook a few bananas. He and Miguel
always liked to have all of their fruits cooked, which made always Chel call them "picky boys
who play with their food." Miguel would always quip "Whatever you say, Senora Salamander." Tulio
laughed to himself of all of the found memories they had ahd so far. But that was all about to
change drastically. And Tulio was betting his money for the worst.
************************
Tulio could not sleep at all that night. Even though he wasn't at the hut, he could hear
and see all that was happening. The sickening hacking... The horrible screaming... And all of
the blood flowing as if it would never stop. Several times, minutes in between, he woke up in
a cold sweat, twitching violently and sobbing untill his heart fealt like it was about to be
squeezed to death.
*************************
Tulio woke feeling like he did not rest at all. His neck was painfully stiff and his
eyes were sore from crying and being awake most of the night. Altivo was next to him, sleeping
like a baby. "I envy you, horse. You can sleep no matter what the circumstances." Altivo raised
his head up and blew a rasberry to Tulio's comment. Tulio smiled at the horse and looked back into
the jungle sadly. "I suppose she's done now, huh?" Altivo nodded, with a sad look on his face a
s well. Tulio gave a long, painful sigh and got up. "Well... Let's go and get it over with."
He mounted Altivo and they left for the hut.
When they arrived, Chel was asleep outside. She absolutely... possitively... looked
like shit. Her hair was all messed up and her dressed was stained in blood. Tulio hesitated
on the horse. A part of him wanted to go in and see his friend and how he turned out. The
other wanted to run away forever so he wouldn't have to see the frightening image he was
afraid he would find. No, he said to himself. I'm not a coward. I will go in there and see
my friend. He got off the horse, walked to Chel, and gently tapped her on the shoulder.
Chel opened her eyes, which had large circles under them, and closed them again. "He wouldn't
stop screaming..." she said exhaustedly. "I had to knock him out so we could both get some
sleep... You can go in if you want to..." and she went back to sleep.
Tulio stood outside the doorway for a few minutes. He was totally afraid of what he
would see. But, with a deep inhale, he went into the room.
Miguel was sleeping on the cot. The bandages that were on his chest were taken off
and on his hand. Or... what was his hand. Although it was wrapped with both his shirt,
his vest, and Miguel's shirt, it was completely saturated in blood. His forehead had a large
bump on it, and next to his head was a rock. Tulio felt the tears well up in his eyes again.
Since he had been crying so much the past few days, he eyes began to burn sensationally again.
He tried to hold back his tears to stop the burning. Then he saw his friend, nearly ripped to
pieces."He's probably going to die and all I'm doing is complaining about my eyes." In a fit of
pity for his friend and pure hatred of himself, he let his tears flow heavily, not carring
about the pain in his eyes, but the pain in his heart.
His sobs must have been louder than he thought, because Miguel woke up. He gave a groan
that caused Tulio to gasp in surprise. "Hey!" he said, trying to wipe his tears away so Miguel
wouldn't see. "How are ya?" What a stupid question, he thought to himself. "Forget I asked that."
he said with a shy grin. Miguel stared at him. He had tear streakes running down his bloody
face. "Don't even try to act like your not sorry fo me." he said with a smile. His voice was
hoarser than ever, probably from all of the screaming he did last night. "Oh my God!! How the
hell can you even joke at a time like this? Do you know what hell I've gone through?!" Miguel's
face looked shocked and hurt by Tulio's outburst. Then it turned to absolute venom.
"Do you think it's easy for me? DO YOU FUCKING THINK IT'S EASY FOR ME!?!? LOOK AT ME!!"
He went to his bandages and ripped them off, trying to stifle screams and wails as he did.
"JUST LOOK AT ME!!!!!" He shoved his arm to Tulio. Where his hand would have been was a ugly,
bloody stump. Tulio screamed in terror. "EXACTLY!!! SO DON'T SAY TO ME THAT THIS HAS BEEN HELL
FOR YOU!! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!! YOUR THE ONE THAT RAN AWAY!! I'M THE ONE WHO HAD TO SUFFER
ALL OF THE HACKING AND THE BLOOD AND FORCES OF PAIN THAT YOU HAVE NEVER DREAMED ABOUT!! SO
DON'T EVEN TELL M-" When he said the word tell, he unintentionally slammed his stump to the
ground.
He let out the most blood-curdling scream that Tulio had ever heard. Blood oozed from
his stump and he was flailing about in agony. "CHEL! CHEL!!!! GET IN HERE QUICK!!" Tulio
shouted. A startled Chel came running into the hut and sat next to Miguel. "Alright Miguel,
listen to me! Calm down! It's all going to be over soon!" But Miguel wouldn't stop screaming.
Desperately, she picked up the rock and slammed it against Miguel's head. With a whimpering
groan, he was out again. "Uh... Maybe you should go get him some food." she said.
****************
Miguel woke up the next day. When Tulio walked in to give him his breakfast, Miguel shot
him a stone cold stare. "Miguel, I Know your mad at me-" Miguel interuppted him by clearing his
throat. "A-hmm-hmm." "Alright then, I know you hate me right now, but-" "A-HMM-HMMMM!" "OK OK,
I KNOW YOU WANT TO SLIT MY THRAOT OPEN AND WEAR MY VOCAL CHORDS AS A NECKLACE AND DANCE AROUND
MY BURNING CORPSE LIKE SOME SORT OF MATING RITUAL!!!!!!! NOW ARE YA HAPPY!!!???" "Well, I
wasn't thinking about the vocal chords part, but it's a very nice touch." Miguel quipped.
Tulio laughed. Miguel didn't. Tulio sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry I said it was hell for me
and not for you. I was just really scared. I don't want you to die. Your... Your my best friend.
Can you ever forgive me?"
Miguel hateful expression melted away to smile. "Aw fuck it. I always do." The two
shared a laugh and, trying to be very careful, Tulio gave him a hug. "But do you know what
really puzzles me Tulio?" "What?" "How come Chel, a pregnant woman, didn't throw when she
saw me bleeding but you did?" "Aw shut up, Blondie!"
****************
Things went from bad to worse. Miguel's wounds became horribly infected, and he never
was good with pain. Miguel stopped eating, drinking, and became extremely sick. Both Tulio and
chel had to take turns taking care of him when he awoke with horrible hallucinations and pain.
Every time he did manage to eat something, he threw it up hours later. He sweated perfusely and
twitched uncontrollably, muttering nonsense to people that weren't even there. He became so
skinny that Tulio could count all of his ribs if Miguel would stop moving for a while.
Tulio never felt more heart-broken in his life. He knew Miguel would never in a million
years survive this. It had been two weeks since the attack, and Miguel could not even sit up by
himself anymore. "It's my fault." he said to Chel one night when Miguel had finally gone to
sleep, gasping painfully each time he breathed. "I shouldn't have made him go alone."
"Oh Tulio," she said, rubbing his head. "if you would have gone instead, then you would be just
like him." "No, that's not what I meant. I should have gone with him... Maybe if I did he
wouldn't be as bad."
They sat there in silence for a few seconds when Chel finally said, "You wanna feel the
baby kick?" Tulio looked up. "Yeah?" After all that had happened, he forgot that he was going
to be a father. "OK!" He put his hand on her stomach, and felt a faint little bump. "Cool!"
"I know!... You know Tulio... We should start thinking of names." Tulio blurted his answer
without any hesitation "If it's a boy: Miguel. If it's a girl: Michelle." Chel was shocked.
"Wow! What's Michelle?" "It's a French, feminine version of Miguel." he said, matter-of-factly.
"Of course! I should have known!... I really think he'll like that... but let's keep it a
secret so he'll be surprised." "Yeah," he said, turning sadly over to Miguel. "I think he
deserves it."
* * * *
Things did not get any better. Miguel was starving but was so sick to keep anything down.
One night,while Tulio was cradling the sobbing, screaming Miguel, he cried, "T-t-t-t-t-Tulio.
I'm s-s-s-so-o-o- hungry. Help me... please, help me. Ple-he-heeeease!!!" Tulio had enough.
"Aw, you're hungry? You're hungry?! YOUR HUNGRY?!?!?! WELL HERE, HAVE SOME FOOD!!!!!!" He
grabbed a banana, peeled it, and began shoving it down Miguel's throat. Chel woke up and looked
in horror. "MY GODS TULIO, STOP IT!!!!" But he wouldn't stop, even though Miguel kept kicking
and flailing about as Tulio crammed the food into his mouth. "YOUR GOING TO EAT IT, AND YOUR
GOING TO KEEP IT DOWN THIS TIME!! BECAUSE, GODAMMIT, I WON'T LET YOU DIE!!! YOU ARE NOT GOING
TO DIE!!! YOU HEAR ME?!?! HUH?!?! DO YA?!?! DO YOU HEAR-"
Tulio stopped to see what he was doing. He had Miguel pinned to the floor, who was
sobbing in pain and in fright, his face smeared in food. Tulio then looked at Chel. She was in
the corner, her hands covering her mouth and, although very tanned, pale as a ghost. Tulio got
off of Miguel in complete horror. "Oh God....... Oh... GOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!" He fell to the
ground, sobbing so hard, he didn't even realize Chel standing, with a puddle of water between
her legs. "Uh... Tulio?"
******************
Tulio looked up finally to see chel clutching her stomach and sliding back down to the
floor. "Tulio!" she cried. Tulio finally snapped out of it and crawled over to Chel. "Is it?"
was all he managed to say. "YES!!!" she screamed, grabbing his hand and squeezing it as hard as
she could. Both she and Tulio took turns screaming. "AAH!" "AAH!" "AAH!" "AAH!" "OH TULIO, SHUT
UP AND GET THIS THING OUT OF ME!!!!" she said as she threw is hand to the ground.
"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" he cried, cradling his hand. "OK Chel." he said after recovering,
"Although I was forced to, I was able to deliver all of my brothers and sisters... That's when
the nightmares began..." "TULIO!!!" "SORRY! OK, now listen to me. I want you to breathe in..."
She did. "And breathe out." She did. "Good! Now I want you to continue to do that whEn then the
pain comes back. Those are called: con-trac-tions"- "TULIO, I KNOW WHAT A CONTRACTION IS! I'M
NOT STUPID!!" "OK SORRY!"
Hours had past, and Chel had had enough. "TULIO, YOU GET DOWN THERE NOW!!! I WAN'T THIS
THING OUT WHETHER I'M READY OR NOT!!!!!" Tulio scrambled over to Chel's legs and lifted up her
dress. "Alright, when I say go, I want you to push for ten seconds. Ready.... GO!" "AAAAAAA-!"
"1..." "-AAAAAH!!! "2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10! Very good! now let's let you rest for a
minute and we'll do it again." "ARE YOU INSANE?! ISN'T IT OUT YET?!" "No, but your crowning
very nicely!" he said reasuringly, which made her fall back and sob desperatley.
"Alright, ready?" "I guess." she said wearily. "Alright...ready...GO!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!" "10! OK! One more push and it'll all be over. And.....
GO!" With another screaming push, the baby slid into Tulio's hands. "IT'S A BOY!!! IT'S A BOY!!!
I'M A FATHER! I'M A FATHER!!! AAAAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!!!!" He started to dance around
the room with the baby. "Tulio! Take care of the baby!" Chel said, worried that the estatic
Tulio would drop him." "OH YEAH! I NEED TO TAKE CARE OF HIM! I NEED TO TAKE CARE OF MY SON!!!"
He carefully snipped off the inbedical chord, wrapped him in a blanket he made for him, and
gave it to Chel. "Aaaaaw! Hi little baby! Hi! How are you?" You hurt Mommy so very much! Yes
you did! Yes you did!" Chel cooed to the little baby for about 5 minutes when they heard a
voice said, "Let me see him."
It was Miguel, who had passed out when Tulio attacked him but was now fully awake.
"Oh, of course, Miguel." Chel said and handed the baby to Tulio who then showed him to Miguel.
The baby had his mother's round face and brown eyes and was a mixture of both Tulio and Chel's
skin color. "Here you go, buddy." Tulio said, and put the baby gently into Miguel's good arm.
Miguel stayed there for a few seconds, slid his arm out from the baby, and began to sit up.
"No Miguel, don't-" But as Tulio reached for him, Miguel blocked his hand and pushed it away.
Then, with all of his strength, sat up painfully. He then picked the baby up again and cradled
him in his arms.
"What are you going to name him?" he asked, with tears in his eyes. "Miguel." "OK, but
that name's definantly going to get his ass kicked. " And they bothed shared a laugh.
* * * *
Tulio's Log
Miguel finally was well enough to get out of bed today two monthes after the attack. His stump
and all of his scars have finally healed, which Miguel thinks they make him look "tough."
I had made him a blanket out of the jaguar that had attacked him. He says he's really excited
to get it dirty. When I asked why, he replied, "So I can beat the living shit out of it when I
clean it." Miguel was happy to see Altivo. He took Little Miguel and they rode him together. We
then had a feast that Chel had made AND had gathered herself. She says she's sick of
salamanders and fish eggs, which is good news to Miguel and I. Little Miguel finally smiled
today when he was riding the horse with Miguel, which made Miguel so happy he cried. You know,
I was betting that Miguel would ever survive this most horrible thing. Guess I'll just mark
that as another bet I've lost with Miguel!
The End