El Viaje de Coquita
El Capítulo Siete
The date was May 5, 2018. A day for Mexicans to remember the day that victory was won at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Throughout Santa Cecilia, people were hosting celebrations of grand proportions and creating exuberant atmospheres.
But in the Rivera household, there was no such mirth.
Just that morning, a local doctor had walked out of Coco Rivera's room with his hat on his chest.
Everyone knew exactly what message was being conveyed without needing to hear another word from the man.
Of all the Riveras, none were more devastated than Miguel, who adamantly insisted he read the eulogy at the funeral. The boy needed no words placed in front of him to convey the emotions that lay within his heart and echoed the thoughts of his family.
Little could anyone have realized that worse was still yet to come.
Coco woke up surrounded by complete darkness spare for an orange glow from one area. Turning to face the glow, she saw it was a trail of cempazuchitl pedals.
"What in the world?" She reached out toward the pedals, surprised by how little effort was needed to do so.
She pushed herself out of her wheelchair, finding that she was able to walk again.
"Where am I?" She followed the trail of glowing pedals.
The world around her was completely silhouetted spare for the dark sky above her. The only source of light was the cempazuchitl pedals, which disappeared behind Coco as she followed them. As she walked, she looked down the trail to see where it led. All she could make out was a bright orange light that could've passed off as the sun were it not for the dark sky.
As she drew closer, she noticed that the trail of pedals was growing thicker by the meter. If the pedals were pebbles, it could easily have passed as a gravel walkway through the woods. She was close enough to the light to see what it was.
It was a bridge made entirely of cempazuchitl pedals. She couldn't see what was on the other side, as it was blanketed in a dark purple fog. To Coco's surprise, the bridge took her weight as if it were made entirely of stone.
She continued forward until the fog lifted to reveal what awaited her.
She was awestruck as she took in the sights of thousands of colorful skyscrapers stacked on top of one another stretching as far as the eye could see. "Wow...!"
Only then did Coco become aware that she wasn't the only one on the bridge. Others were walking in the same direction as she was.
And all of them were nothing but bones.
As soon as Coco's feet reached solid ground again, two skeletons in security uniforms directed her to a queue outside a large door labeled "Los Recién Llegados".
As she joined the queue, a loudspeaker announcement made her situation completely clear. "Bienvenidos a la Tierra de los Muertos. Por favor entren por el Departamento de Reuniones de Familias, y su familia estará notificado de su arribo."
It was roughly half an hour of waiting before Coco reached the end of the line. She was helped by a female agent.
"Buenas noches, señora. My name is Sofía, and I will be your Crossing Agent tonight."
"Es un placer conocerte."
"Gracias. Name please?"
"Socorro Catalina Rivera de Martínez."
She inputted the name into a typewriter. "And what family do you have here?"
"My mamá and papá, Tío Óscar, Tío Felipe, my husband Julio, his sister Rosita, and my daughter Victoria."
"Ah, you must be Héctor's daughter."
"You know my papá?"
"Sí. He's made a name for himself trying to cross the bridge every year on Día de los Muertos to try and see you."
"I knew it! I knew he still loved me even after all these years!"
"Do you want him to come here first or the rest of your familia?"
"I want to see my papá."