6:15 p.m. San Miguel, Mexico. Overcast. Warm breeze. Drums and trumpets in the distance. A parade. "Dia de Trabajo."

H: "Are you drinking scotch?"

R: "Just a taste."

Me: "We're hittin' the booze and crawling around."

Dog barking.

Birds, birds, birds chirping. Birds wings fluttering in the peppercorn tree. Bang! Firecracker. Se llaman 'cuetes.' Ice rattling in a glass. Silence. Four women in two rooms sitting in the luxury of silence. Clackety clack of the keyboard. Breeze moving through the trees.

"Ooooh!" someone in the distance. Breeze, breeze, breeze.

Toilet flushing. Bang! Silence. Four women in silence. Gratitude.

Heartache. Bang! Gratitude.

R: (collapsing on the couch) "Oh, yeah baby."

Dogs, dogs, dogs barking. Sirens driving by getting louder...getting quieter.

Birds. Heartache. Sip of white wine. Phone rings.

R: "Hello? Johnnie? No, I don't think so. I think you have the wrong number. Ok. Sure."

Mom: "Johnnie?!"

H: "Boy do they have the wrong number."

R: "Then he wanted to know who this was...you don't call the wrong number and then ask who this is! (pause) Johnnie. Cuckuroockoockoo."

Mom: "Ok, I'm really only reading the right-hand page of this book. It's all this book deserves." (pause) "Megan?"

Me: "Yes?"

Mom: "What attracted you to this book?"

Me: "I don't know...I only read a paragraph and just...liked the imagery. Something about drinking the milk out of the coconut and tossing the empty skulls."

R: "It was probably on a page you skipped!"

Trucks passing. Birds. Birds. Silence. Flipping of pages.

Me: "I can't believe I forgot the cord to upload my photos. I had it right on my table. I knew I forgot something."

Mom: "I left my socks."

H: "We'll find one tomorrow."

Me: "You think we can find one?"

H: "Oh yeah...this is such a tourist town."

Me: "That's true."

Gratitude.

Trust.

Big overwhelming gratitude.

Now.

Now.

Now.