Only a Moment

A Bike Ride

Disclaimer: Don't look at me. I don't own them. Robert Rodriguez does.

Thanks to Blank for this idea.

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The Day of the Dead was always fun. If you were a kid, that is. If you were an adult it meant crying and singing and talking in maudlin voices about lost loved ones. If you were a kid it meant a day off of school, and a chance to ride around town with no one to stop you.

He wanted to see the parade. His parents were walking, singing to their daughter, his youngest sister. She had died in the cradle in February. He had cried, but not much. In a way he barely understood, he had realized that one less child in the house meant more food for everyone.

Not many people came to Mexico in November. It was hard to sell enough to make decent money. The American señor had given him a lot of money, but that was already gone, spent on food and shoes for his oldest brother Pablo.

So he was hoping to hang out on the fringes of the parade today. Maybe as the people turned away and started to head back home, they would want to buy some bubble gum. You never knew.

The parade was awfully loud this year. The wailing sounded almost like real screaming. And the firecrackers were louder than they ever had been.

They sounded like gunshots.

Maybe he wouldn't go to the parade this year. Suddenly it didn't seem like such a good idea. Maybe he would just go home, instead.

He turned around and began pedaling back the way he had come.

A man stepped out from one of the buildings to his right. He walked funny, sort of staggering, like he was drunk, or hurt. He held his hands in front of him, like he couldn't see where he was going. The boy understood this. The day was bright, and the buildings were dim, and sometimes it took a while for his eyes to adjust to the difference. It was a good thing the man had stopped before walking out onto the street.

The man was dressed in black and he was wearing sunglasses. There was something on his face. Something red.

Suddenly going home sounded like a very good thing to do.

A very good thing.

He started pedaling faster. He dinged the bell to warn the man he was coming.

The man's head whipped around, and one hand reached out.

For him.

*****