An old man sat with his best friend on the crest of a hill overlooking his home. The sun was setting behind him, warming his back as the river gurgled happily toward the falls that you couldn’t really hear from this spot. That was why he liked it. He’d seen a lot of changes in his life from electricity, to cars, to his homeland finally finding some peace. He wondered if there would ever truly be peace for all Colombians. The Encanto had remained just as remote and difficult to reach as it had been seventy years ago. Probably why the pandemic of 2020 had had little impact. It did put a temporary stop to the celebrations in Casita, but things were slowly getting back to normal.
Casita was quiet and still since Mira’s passing, five years ago but Antonio knew the Madrigal’s didn’t need a magical house to survive into the future. The Encanto was now a thriving town of several thousand souls and he was the last of the original grandkids. He’d traveled all over the country learning about and writing his books on the fauna of Colombia. Through it all Parce had remained with him, as the magic that had brought the jaguar to him in the first place had kept Parce alive far longer than a normal jaguar. But time and age were catching up with both of them. Even though his gift had faded with the miracle, he understood the jaguar without it.
He stood and together they walked to the river. Sitting on a large rock near the bank he watched the river otters teaching their young ones to swim. Poachers were extremely wary of this area, more than a few went ‘missing’ after making the attempt. Antonio regretted nothing, and was a little sad to know the otters and other creatures would soon be without his protection.
Parce growled and Antonio looked to the west and sighed. There was a tendril of smoke above the trees in an area not frequented by people. Well, that was going to be a good long walk so he hopped off the rock and started in the direction of the smoke and said ruefully as Parce came to walk along beside him, “Let’s hope they’re not here to do mischief, eh Parce?” The jaguar chuffed and together they disappeared into the forest.
Pulled off the highway when I saw something in this pond; imagine my delight at finding four river otters! On national otter day no less! I love this planet