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“Chick!”, said a melodious voice high above our little feathered friend. “How nice to see you again!”.
Still jittery and disoriented on the dark streets, Chick squinted up into the darkness. The voice sounded familiar, but was it anyone she knew?
“It’s Doris Rodgers, from Tio Lucas”, said the woman kindly. “Whatever are you doing out here so late?”
“Oh, Doris!”, Chick breathed with a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad to see you! I’m……I, I think I’m lost!”
“Oh, it’s very easy to get confused in this maze of streets. The same thing happened to me when I first arrived. Now,what’s your address?
Chick gave her Emily and Sharon’s address. “Why, we’re practically neighbors!”, said Doris. Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
In half an hour, Chick was safe and sound, in her jammies, teeth brushed, climbing into her cozy bed. Another crisis averted, she thought as she dozed off. I truly do lead a charmed life for an old bird.
The next day, Emily felt well enough for an outing, and the friends piled into the Prius to visit Em’s new horse, Little Blue. Chick was less than thrilled, envisioning herself the object of an ill-placed kick, but Emily assured her that their horse was polite and well-mannered. And Blue was a sweet horse, but simply enormous next to Chick. She declined an offer of a ride, without divulging her secret, that she had never been on a horse and never intended to be, unless one counted merry-go-rounds.
Soon only three days of Chick’s trip remained and she wanted to make the best of it. I want to do something meaningful, she thought as she perused Atencion!, the English weekly. There! Mattress making. St. Paul’s Church 10AM. Volunteers needed and welcome! Early the next morning, our dear chicken trudged across town, arriving right on time. Toni, head of the project, explained what was involved. One would twist up a clean plastic shopping bag, trapping a bit of air in a loose knot. The bags would then be stuffed into a sturdy fabric cover. One thousand of the plastic knots made a child-sized mattress. The comfy beds were distributed to children out in the compos (country) and in orphanages, who would otherwise be sleeping on a dirt floor.
“What a worthy project”, said Chick as she sat working with other helpful souls. “I’m so happy to help”. And lo and behold, one of the other volunteers was a bilingual goose named Francine, who had recently moved to San Miguel. Oh, how Chick missed Goosey Loosey! She and Francine hit it off right away and, when the group had finished, headed out to Cha-Cha-Cha’s for a tasty lunch of cheese enchiladas with mole sauce. It was wonderful for each of them to have found a comrade, another farm animal who had assimilated into society. Their kind were few and far between. And indeed this was to be the start of a lifelong friendship.
The next day ,the new friends were able to book a day trip nearby city of Guanajuato, the charming town some thought the most beautiful in Mexico, with every house a different brilliant color. Still, they were both agreed, San Miguel was their favorite place. All too soon the day was over and Chick squeezed back tears, as they said their good-byes. “Come to Melrose, Francine! I’d love for you to meet my friends. You’d fit right in! E-mail me soon”.
Chick’s last day was full. She finally connected with a friend of Turkey’s from Palm Beach, who took her out to another delicious lunch of chile rellenos and over to visit her condo, rather too fancy,in Chick’s humble opinion. “Stay with me anytime, Chick. This would be your room”, said Sheila, opening the door to a lovely room overlooking the manicured lawns. How generous, thought Chick, though privately she viewed these huge condo complexes as part of the creeping Americanization of San Miguel.
Chick packed late that evening after a quiet dinner with her wonderfully helpful friends, who by their generosity, had saved her from those undesirable lodgings. She left many of her clothes for the maid, Lupita, to give to her children, and filled her suitcase with souvenirs, metal nichos, coconut dolls, and a kilo of milagros. At OneAM, Chick sunk her head deep into the memory foam pillow and settled in for a few hours sleep before her airport pick-up at 5. Images of San Miguel and the faces of her friends, old and new, flitted before her eyes as she sunk into a peaceful slumber. Now it’s Mexico I’ll be missing was her last thought before she drifted off. She didn’t hear the mosquito buzzing around her ear. Nor did she hear the gentle rain that fell for hours, polishing the stone streets to a shiny new.
Nor did Chick hear her alarm. She awoke with a start at 4:30AM, and had to hurriedly scramble bleary-eyed and half-asleep down three flights of stairs with her suitcase and no coffee. Chick put the house key on the hall table, said a silent farewell to Emily and Sharon,quietly shut the front door, and stood waiting outside for her ride, for the dawn of a new day, and the next chapter in her life.
Next: Back In The U.S., Back In The U.S.A.
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