Stories of Lotería

The dozen or so crescent-moon shaped cantaloupe skins waded lazily in the neighbor’s otherwise pristine backyard swimming pool. The ruthless midday sun penetrated the heavily chlorinated water, inciting a lively concert of glistening and sparkle that only water and gemstones can orchestrate. Despite the intrusion of cantaloupe skins, the swimming pool flaunted its allure like an oasis in the desert, or to children specifically, like a rainbow-sprinkled-frosting-covered-cream-filled-something on any day of the week. If it wasn’t for the shared feeling of accomplishment, the three young girls would have acknowledged their envy of those discarded, half-eaten fruit peelings. *********************** By 10am the temperature had nearly reached 90 degrees. Arlene, Lorrie, and Christina, three cousins almost in their pre-teens, fended for themselves upon waking that Monday morning. All of the adults were at work and the designated babysitter was Arlene’s teenage sister who scarcely removed her