No One Writes To The Colonel

A 12-year-old girl and her mother ride on a train as the only passengers in the "lone third-class car" (65). The train heads through the stretches of "interminable banana plantations" (65) and tiny rural seaside towns. With them, the girl and her mother have a plastic sack with some food and a bouquet wrapped in newspaper. The two eat lunch and the mother dozes as the train rolls on through the heat of the day. As the train pulls to a stop at a small town, the girl's mother tells her to comb her hair and not to do anything, especially not to cry, once they get off the train.

The two walk from the station to the small town "almost floating in the heat" (67). It's siesta hour and all the townspeople lounge, dozing or eating. The girl and her mother approach the parish house. The mother scratches at the metal door and a woman's voice answers through the door's metal grating. The mother says they need to see the priest. The woman tells the mother that the priest is sleeping now but the mother says it's an "emergency" (68). The woman lets the girl and her mother inside the parish then goes to rouse the priest.