Aurora(Al Osorio) Aurora Jimenez Cuellar lay panting in the cool darkness, amniotic fluid running down her thighs. Perspiration beaded her forehead, trickling down her face and dripping onto the desert floor. Her green eyes stared at the moon as she thanked the Blessed Virgin. Her son would be an American!

The Humane Borders volunteer heard it again as she finished restocking the water station. Stronger now. A baby crying. Mouth slightly open, the woman slowed her breathing and listened. Yes! She ran toward the sound, nearly tripping over the woman. A girl, really. Dead eyes gazing sightlessly upward, hands cupped together as if in prayer. Lifting the woman’s skirt, she scooped up the crying newborn and raced to the jeep.

Aurora still lay in her supplicant position hours later, yet not alone. Streams of ants now joined her, their columns advancing across her face and under her skirt as the sun rose in the desert sky.

Adam woke abruptly, tugging on the covers. He felt a chill though the room was quite warm. He’d dreamed of the woman again. A girl, really. It was late at night, and she was walking thru the desert. Stopping to pray, in Spanish. The dreams coming more often now, almost every night. Always the same dream, ever since the incident with the old man.

Only this time she’d turned and looked directly at him, whispering “Me howe“.


Sitting in the passenger seat with his mother as they waited for the light to turn, Adam sensed someone watching him closely. He turned and gazed into green eyes set in a weathered brown face, eyes which widened as their owner whispered “Aurora”, then with urgency “Aurora” . Harshly now, as if his throat was parched with thirst “Aurora!”

Puzzled, he stared back at the old man as the car pulled away, watching him begin to run after them. He faltered, finally stopping in the middle of the street.Cars honked but he paid no mind, only watching the car recede till it became but a speck in the distance.

School came easy to him, the dreams didn’t affect his studies. In his spare time he had begun to look at maps, maps of the Sonora desert along the border with Mexico.


She would turn and look directly at him, whispering “Me howe”.

One Saturday he packed a lunch and took the car out, telling his mother he’d be home before dark. He drove several hours, taking dirt roads and finally getting out and walking. He was surprised at how easily he found the water station.

He walked a little further, stopping to listen to the wind. It seemed to whisper to him, it whispered “Me howe“. He knelt and dug a small hole, placed something inside then covered it up, smoothing it over with his hand. After a while he rose to his feet, retracing his steps to the car.

Somewhere between Bisbee and Benson, Adam stopped to fill his tank. A young Mexican woman and a small boy sat in the shade, between them a cooler filled with sodas.

Purchasing one, he handed her a five and indicated she should keep the change. Adam got in his car, smiled at her and drove off, heading north.

Such a nice young man, she thought. And so handsome. Green eyes! She hoped her son would grow up to be like that nice young man. Leaning over, she kissed his head. “Mi hijo”. My son.

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