Nightmares

I've been in Chile for less than two weeks now, and already the experience has provided some good stories. Today is the second time the electricity has been cut and the water stopped flowing. To have the two things happen concurrently makes this one slightly more uncomfortable than the previous incidents. I can't help but think how my mother would disapprove if she knew I was brushing my teeth like Scarlett O'Hara might: by candlelight and with still water. I like to think I'm a strong lady, but I've never much liked sleeping in a house alone. With Manuel gone, walking through the dark isolated building is not the adventure it might be if he was here. To amplify the nightmares already forming in what remains of my childlike fear of the dark, the packs of stray dogs outside are barking nonstop. No, not barking, howling incessantly. If old musclebox Bauza wasn't here, I might use Scarlett's refrain: it is not to be borne. But I will bear it. My fluttering heart will eventually find peace as I drift to sleep with the comfort of b's snores. Sometime in the night I will hear the inevitable chirp signaling that the power has come back, and in the morning I will wake up to a new day.