“We’ve been going around in circles for half an hour, and I don’t see we’ve gotten anywhere. Just more mangroves. ”
“That’s what I said, they all look alike.”
“I remember when Mono Harris brought us here from near San Nicolás, it took about twenty minutes.”
“Because the motorboat was towing the canoe.”
“You’re right. ”
“That’s why I think we’ll get out of this bay soon.”
“I hope, because the sun is rising. My mouth is dry.”
“Mine is, too. And rowing is making me even thirstier.”
“You want me to help row?”
“No. We’ll be out of here in no time. ”
“Listen to my guts churning from hunger.”
“Must be here to the right. ”
“Everything looks the same to me, Jimmy. How will Mono Harris find his way?”
“He said he knows it by heart, and if he didn’t he’d get lost, he said even some fishermen prefer not go into these swamps because they’re afraid of getting lost, they say they’re haunted. ”
“I thought he was just boasting to scare us.”
“Now this way. ”
“I don’t see any way out, Jimmy. It all looks the same. Mangroves and more mangroves.”
“I’m even starting to worry now.”
“We should have made some exploratory outings a few days ago.”
“Mono Harris warned us not to budge from that canal or we’d get hopelessly lost. That’s why we didn’t.”
“Isn’t this the canal we were in for ten days?”
“What are you talking about. ”
“I’m sure it is, Jimmy!”
“You’re kidding. It can’t be. ”
“Bring us around to this side!”
“It looks different to me.”
“Because the tide has risen. Come up close. That’s the tree you left me on!”
“How do you recognize it?”
“Because you left me there for more than an hour, you bastard. The worst hour of my life.”
“But it was night, it was dark, how can you possibly recognize it now?”
“Here, underneath, look, level with the water. ”
“I think you’re wrong.”
“No. I pulled off those twigs and shoots so I could lean against the trunk!”
“I don’t see anything. ”
“Right here: look carefully! That part’s underwater now! This is the mangrove! We’ve gone in a circle, Jimmy! We’re right back where we started!”
“It can’t be!”
“But it is! What are we going to do now?”
“We’re going to try again.”
“We’re lost! We’re in a labyrinth!”
“It’s okay, we’ll get out of here. ”
“How?!”
“You row now. Maybe that’s why I got lost. I was rowing so I wasn’t paying enough attention.”
“Let me sit there. Give me the oar.”
“Don’t capsize us, Clemen, or we’ll really be lost. ”
“Not a chance in the world.”
“With you rowing, I’ll be able to focus better, try to remember how we got here with Mono Harris. Go this way. ”
“Okay. How do you change direction?”
“You move the oar that way. That’s right. ”
“It’s hard.”
“Come on.”
“. ”
“. ”
“My hands are burning, Jimmy. I’m going to get blisters.”
“You really are useless.”
“I don’t see that we’re getting anywhere.”
“Let me row. My turn. ”
“Now what?”
“We keep trying. We’ve got no choice.”
“I’m dying of thirst, Jimmy. ”
“Try not to think about it. ”
“How can I not think about being thirsty?! My throat is so dry. The sun is already up. If we don’t get out of this labyrinth soon, we’re going to die of sunstroke and dehydration!”
“Don’t say that.”
“But it’s the truth!”
“I’m also extremely thirsty. Let’s rest for a while in the shade. The worst thing is for us to get desperate.”
“All these mangrove trees look alike.”
“They look alike to us, but they aren’t all alike.”
“I hate being here! This is like a nightmare, Jimmy!”
“It is a nightmare.”
“We have such bad luck!”
“I wish we could wake up. ”
“We’ve been wandering around now for about two hours in these canals and we haven’t seen a trace of a fisherman. Nothing, zilch. ”
“We can’t lose faith.”
“There’s not even a current, look. The boat barely sways.”
“Maybe the tide is changing, maybe it’s peaked and soon it will start going down.”
“We’re worse off than we were before, Jimmy: even if we do manage to get out of the swamp, we won’t be where Mono Harris will look for us when he gets back!”
“I know. You don’t have to shout at me!”
“I’m not shouting!”
“You’re letting despair get the better of you, Clemen. Calm down.”
“We managed to escape from that motherfucking general of yours just to come here and die like this! I can’t believe it!”
“Calm down, already! If you get desperate and keep shouting, you’re going to get even thirstier. At least we’re out of the sun here. ”
“We should try to go back to the canal where we were, Jimmy, where Mono Harris left us. ”
“Right now we need to conserve our energy. Not start rowing like crazy.”
“You think Mono Harris will come?”
“He’s got a motor on his boat. We’ll hear him if he comes anywhere near.”
“You’re right.”
“And if he doesn’t find us in the canal, he’ll look everywhere in the swamp for us.”
“God willing.”
9:12 a.m.
“Hey, Jimmy!”
“What? What happened?”
“We fell asleep.”
“We did.”
“How long has it been, you think?”
“Let’s see. ”
“The sun is pretty high.”
“It’s about ten.”
“I think it’s past eleven, Jimmy. I’m so hot.”
“No, it’s not that late.”
“Damn, this thirst is unbearable!”
“Look where we are. The current has carried us, Clemen.”
“That’s why I woke up, the sun was blasting me in the face.”
“Are we in the same canal?”
“I see the same mangroves everywhere. ”
“I’ll row into the shade. ”
“I feel kind of dizzy, Jimmy.”
“It’s the sun. It was more on you than me. Good thing you woke up. Otherwise, you’d have gotten sunstroke.”
“The water is twinkling.”
“We’re in the shade now. You’ll feel better here.”
“Where are we?”
“I have the feeling there’s a way out of this swamp close by, just around the corner, but we’ve just had bad luck.”
“I need some water, Jimmy. Really. I’m feeling terrible. ”
“I’m going to try once more. ”
“What?”
“To find a way out. ”
“You’ve still got energy to row?. I can’t.”
“We’ve got to make the effort. Anyway, we should take advantage of the current. It’ll have to carry us out to sea. ”
“Let’s stay under the trees, Jimmy, out of the sun.”
“It’s impossible. Look. Some are too low, the branches touch the water. We’ll have to go down the middle of the canal.”
“Shh. ”
“What?”
“You hear?”
“What?”
“Stop rowing and be quiet. ”
“. ”
“It’s a buzzing, Jimmy! It’s a motorboat!”
“I don’t hear anything. ”