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Fiction. © Copyright 1997, Jim Loy
Walter Lomar was sitting in his motionless car, on a freeway in Los Angeles. The cars all around him were stopped because of an accident up ahead. On the radio, he heard that three people had been killed in a volcano eruption in Mexico. He wondered why anyone would live near an active volcano.
A little earlier, in Mexico, Miguel Chavez, his wife Maria, and their three little children (Carlos, Juanita, and little Pedro) were packing some of their belongings. They loaded up the burro. They loaded food, water, clothing, some books, and some toys. And, they set off down the path through the jungle.
The air smelled strongly of sulfur. Sometimes they could hardly breath. Their eyes stung. Ashes fell on their heads and shoulders. The children were afraid, but they didn't cry. Maria was afraid. Miguel was afraid.
The path ran directly away from the mountain. As they walked, the air got cleaner, easier to breath. The family became happier.
Then they heard a crackling sound. Soon they came to a wall of black rock blocking the path, newly cooled lava. Between the family and the cooled lava wall were the remains of burned trees and smaller plants. The air was hot here. Miguel climbed the wall of black rock. He saw an orange and red river of lava, a hundred meters ahead of them.
They left the path, and struggled through the ashes of the burned jungle. The children had no shoes, and there were still some hot spots to walk through. So, two children rode the burro, and Miguel carried little Pedro. Their faces and clothes quickly turned black from the ashes.
Eventually, they re-encountered the path, which led them to safety. They stayed with relatives, in a nearby village. Later, that village had to be evacuated.
Eventually, over a period of months, Miguel and his family rebuilt their home on the slopes of the smoking volcano. Their home had burned down, when hot sparks rained down from the sky. They harvested their bean crop, which was largely unharmed by the eruption. The bean harvest was always excellent in the rich volcanic soil.
Miguel read in a newspaper that the same day as the eruption, there had been a multiple car collision in Los Angeles, and 15 people had been killed. He wondered why anyone would live in Los Angeles.