Lotería


 
 
 
 
 
 The following is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in an entirely fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
 
 Copyright © 2012 by Cynthia Pelayo
 Cover and jacket design by Mimi Bark
 
 ISBN: 978-1-957957-24-1
 
 Library of Congress Control Number: available upon request
 Originally published in 2012 by Burial Day Books
 Trade Paperback reissue edition and new material January 2023 by Agora Books
 An imprint of Polis Books, LLC
 62 Ottowa Road S
 Marlboro, NJ 07746
 www.PolisBooks.com
 Table of Contents
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Author’s Note:
 01 EL GALLO (THE ROOSTER)
 02 EL DIABLITO (THE LITTLE DEVIL)
 03 LA DAMA (THE WOMAN)
 04 EL CATRÍN (THE MAN)
 05 EL PARAGUAS (THE UMBRELLA)
 06 LA SIRENA (THE MERMAID)
 07 LA ESCALERA (THE LADDER)
 08 LA BOTELLA (THE BOTTLE)
 09 EL BARRIL (THE BARREL)
 10 EL ÁRBOL (THE TREE)
 11 EL MELÓN (THE MELON)
 12 EL VALIENTE (THE BRAVE ONE)
 13 EL GORRITO (THE BONNET)
 14 LA MUERTE (DEATH)
 15 LA PERA (THE PEAR)
 16 LA BANDERA (THE FLAG)
 17 EL BANDOLÓN (THE MANDOLIN)
 18 EL VIOLONCELLO (THE CELLO)
 19 LA GARZA (THE HERON)
 20 EL PÁJARO (THE BIRD)
 21 LA MANO (THE HAND)
 22 LA BOTA (THE BOOT)
 23 LA LUNA (THE MOON)
 24 EL COTORRO (THE PARROT)
 25 EL BORRACHO (THE DRUNKARD)
 26 EL AFROAMERICANO (THE BLACK MAN)
 27 EL CORAZÓN (THE HEART)
 28 LA SANDÍA (THE WATERMELON)
 29 EL TAMBOR (THE DRUM)
 30 EL CAMARÓN (THE SHRIMP)
 31 LAS JARAS (THE ARROWS)
 32 EL MÚSICO (THE MUSICIAN)
 33 LA ARAÑA (THE SPIDER)
 34 EL SOLDADO (THE SOLDIER)
 35 LA ESTRELLA (THE STAR)
 36 EL CAZO (THE SAUCEPAN)
 37 EL MUNDO (THE WORLD)
 38 EL NATIVO AMERICANO (THE NATIVE AMERICAN)
 39 EL NOPAL (THE CACTUS)
 40 EL ALACRÁN (THE SCORPION)
 41 LA ROSA (THE ROSE)
 42 LA CALAVERA (THE SKULL)
 43 LA CAMPANA (THE BELL)
 44 EL CANTARITO (THE WATER PITCHER)
 45 EL VENADO (THE DEER)
 46 EL SOL (THE SUN)
 47 LA CORONA (THE CROWN)
 48 LA CHALUPA (THE CANOE)
 49 EL PINO (THE PINE TREE)
 50 EL PESCADO (THE FISH)
 51 LA PALMA (THE PALM TREE)
 52 LA MACETA (THE FLOWERPOT)
 53 EL ARPA (THE HARP)
 54 LA RANA (THE FROG)
 FIFTY-FOUR
 Acknowledgements
 
 
 
 Lotería was largely written between 2008-2010 and presented as my thesis at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago for my Master of Fine Arts in Writing.
 The version of Lotería today includes several updates, including a new short story, poems, and a novella. The new works added were intended to maintain the spirit of the original collection.
 I hope you find glimmers within these pages of the writer I was and the writer I’ve become.
 Thank you
 -Cynthia Pelayo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Night blanketed the arid Sonoran Valley. In bed, Señor Julian listened to the rooster outside crow. He massaged his gnarled hands, which throbbed from latching together the heavy barn doors. Closing those doors became more and more difficult with each passing day, but it had to be done alone as there was no one out here to help him. The closest town was thirty miles away, as was the closest neighbor.
 A warm wind blew in through the inch open window; the widest he ever allowed at night for fear that it would come 
 
 
 
 
 
 “I can hear them scratching,” the chubby-faced, little boy says as he searches through a large box of Crayola Crayons.
 The doctor sits directly across from him with his hands on the metal table. “What do you mean, Sebastian, that you can hear them scratching?” The doctor’s voice is soothing, hypnotic.
 The room is yellow with pictures of the Looney Tunes characters hung around the walls. There is Bugs Bunny on one wall, Daffy Duck on another, Tweety Bird on the third, and the fourth wall has the Tasmanian Devil, which is directly behind