Inca Land

They back-tracked up the street, following their noses, until they found the vender that was selling the kabobs. Yes, it was alpaca meat, skewered with potatoes, onions, and large sweet peppers. They all bought two kabobs each, and took their lunch over to the river wall that served as a guard-rail from falling into the river. They bought soft drinks from another vender, and went to sit on the wall and eat, as the chocolate-colored river raged just a few feet from them. There were no tables here, so they put their food on the wall, as well as their cameras, and back-packs. “Wow, these kabobs are really good!” Chris said. “Even the onions, and I usually don’t eat onions!” “Delicious!” Linda said. “I wonder if they marinate the meat in some kind of special herbs and spices?” Rose wondered. “No,” Travis said. “I think they just put salt on it, and then smoke it with some kind of really aromatic wood! I don’t taste any kind of spices,…just the really good tasting smoke.” “Well, then we need to find out what kind of wood it is!” Rose said. “This is great!” As they ate, they were watching the river roll by, and also people-watching. Up the river-walk, they saw a crowd of locals, doing the same thing they were doing, eating their noon meal at the river wall. They had several children with them, and not all of the children were being closely watched. Travis elbowed Chris, and nodded toward them. “Looks like our clan, when we used to go on an outing!” “Yeah, and little or no supervision!” “Well yeah, that’s what makes it look like us! Look at that little 3 year old girl! She’s climbing up on the river wall! That’s not good! Someone needs to get her down from there!” Another child came up and tried to get on the wall beside the little girl, and in the process, he bumped into the little girl. She cried out, lost her balance and off into the river she went! The girl’s mother screamed, and ran to catch her, but she was already gone! “Dad, she fell!” “What?” “The little girl! She fell into the river!” Travis put down his kabob, and climbed up on the wall. “She’s going to come right by us! Maybe if we hold hands, I can reach out and grab her!” “I don’t know,…it looks too far down! I don’t think you’ll be able to reach her!” “Okay then, you hold on to my ankles, and I can reach farther! Here we go!” “No Wait!” Chris dropped his Kabob, wiped his greasy hands on his shirt and grabbed his dad’s ankles, as he cautiously extended out over the river. “Push me farther out, or I’m going to miss her! Hurry, Chris, here she comes!” Chris held tightly to his ankles, as he shoved him farther out toward the river. He knew he was going to have to hold on tight when his dad reached the water, because the current was going to grab him. And it did. He held on with all his might, as Rose and Linda watched in horror. “Here she comes! I’m going to have to lunge out to reach her!” Chris was straining too hard to say it but he was thinking, ‘no, you can’t do that!’, and when his dad lunged out toward the girl, Chris lost his grip, and his dad went head-first into the turbulent river, and disappeared! The little girl’s family was running down the river walk, trying to keep up with their child. Women were crying and men shouting as they lost sight of her. Rose yelled, Do you see him, Chris?” “No! He’s gone! Probably down there by now!” “I see his arm!” Linda yelled. “He’s way down there!” They ran along the wall with the girl’s family, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of either of them. Chris was hoping that his dad could grab onto a rock, but as violently swift and turbulent as the water was, there was not much hope of that. His fear was that his dad was going to bash his head against a rock, and then drown. But every time he was ready to give him up as lost, he saw his head pop up somewhere down stream, and was still struggling. As fast as they were running along the river walk, his dad was quickly outdistancing them down the river, being swept along by the force of the river.