Santa Ana, El Salvador | Lopez Lopez, Google Maps
It was here we prayed. Rosibel held the infant, while the boy clung to my chest. The older children sat solemn upon the bench.
We’d come so far, but there were miles more to go. Miles of jungle, of desert, of plain. Catching trains when we were able, walking when we couldn’t, and every day facing bottomless hunger, endless thirst, and the banditos that preyed upon the desperate such as we were.
It was still better than what we risked by staying in San Salvador. Ivanito shifted in my lap. He was but three, but he would never know a gang initiation, or to have to murder another man just to stay alive. Our kids would live a good life.
We were hard workers, Rosibel and I. We’d keep them safe. I breathed the scent of Ivanito’s hair and pressed my lips to his head.
Let nothing come between us.
—
150 words
This has been an edition of What Pegman Saw. To read more stories inspired by the prompt, click here.
k. Rawson 
Ouch. That pains the heart to read. And that’s just the one story amongst the many.
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It is indeed! Thanks so much for reading, Crispina.
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Lovely and sad story. I really enjoyed the voice. The human cost of civil war rarely makes the headlines. Well done.
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For sure, the human cost of civil war rarely makes the headlines, especially in a poor nation. Thanks for reading!
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A very touching story, and especially heartbreaking given how real the problem is for so many families. And yet – as Josh says – these individual families are rarely heard in the tumult of the headlines and the political rhetoric.
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What a delightful comment. I like how you put that about the individual families/political rhetoric. Thanks so much for reading, and for playing Pegman!
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I love to “play” Pegman, it’s my favorite! Always inspires something interesting.
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That’s a very poignant story, especially the last line when you think what has been happening at the border between the USA and Mexico. Well written, Karen.
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Thank you Penny! Indeed, many of the people trapped in this manufactured border crisis are the poorest and most desperate of El Salvador and Guatemala. Thanks for reading.
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Gorgeous writing, Karen, right from the heart, expanding into the readers’ heart.
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You are most kind, Kelvin. That means a lot! Great to see you.
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