ONE

The silence that covered the streets was disturbing. Shouldn't there be people out running errands, walking in this beautiful sun or something? Summer was coming to an end and the breeze blowing made the sun bearable. No cars passing through, okay one or two. But that's beside the point.

Click.

Click.

Nala blew a frustrated breathe, taking shots of the old buildings. Slow steps to the one diner that seemed to be outshining all the other eat out places in the small town. Taking one deep breathe, she turned the handle, slowly swung the door open and got in one foot after the other. All heads turned to the door and the talking seized. She cursed her red hair, that had to be it. No black skin people had red hair but she did, maybe it was dye or henna but it was still red. And it always attracted attention to herself. Her shoulders stiff, she closed the door softly, tightening the grip on her bag pack and rolled her small suitcase with her to the bar with her, a tight smile on her face, trying to avoid the judging eyes.

On the other side of the bar, brunette hair, almost matching eyes and a smirk, the name tag written, Marco, the man grinned, "Hola! What can I get you?" Her brows shot up in surprise, she hadn't expected him to talk to her in English, nor did she expect the rough voice with the Spanish accent. She had been told the population of people speaking in English was very minimal, on a scale of zero to one. He grinned even harder when he saw her flustered. "Ummh a burger, fries on the side and a lemonade. Thanks."  He looked around and shouted some words in Spanish. The conversations went on, though she still got weary glances her way.

She didn't have to wait long for her order to be served right in front of her. She took a bite and moaned, her eyes closed, "this is hands down the best burger I've had in ages, what's in it?" Marco grinned and  changed his posture to upright, his smile tight, his accent newly thick in Spanish, "only ze best cheese from the Rodriguez Farm!" he laughed and she giggled, "did you actually practice that line? How many times have you said it?" he chuckled, "not many times unfortunately, we don't usually get tourists in this part of the country, especially people of colour?!." She grinned, "you can just say black people, I promise I won't start a hell fire. Not with this burger on my plate anyway."

He put his rag down and stared at her fully, "well, what brings you here?"

"Adventure. Work. I heard about the wines in this area, so I want to try them out," she shrugged. He gaped, unless you were working in a farm or an office really in these parts, you are basically jobless, "so you're a photographer."

She shrugged, "photographer, blogger, content creator, whatever floats your boat really." "Can you take me to work with you?" he asked almost excitedly. She grinned, "I'll definitely need a local to let me in on the secrets of the sleepy town, so yes."  He looked like a kid on Christmas, even for his twenty one years, but he scowled on the second part. "For your information, beautiful lady of color, our small town isn't sleepy." She shrugged and told him to prove it.

After her meal, she asked him for directions to get to the Alvarez Ranch, where she would be staying at the bed and breakfast like always. But this time she wanted a feel of everything that surrounded her, so she opted to take a spot not in the bed and breakfast in town but the one in a ranch. He smiled and gave her directions to the bus stop. Thanking him, she picked her bags and got out, taking the left turn to the bus stop. She waited for what seemed close to an hour, seated on the bench reading a story from one of her favorite authors, when the bus stopped in front of her. She grabbed her things and got in the bus, "Hola!" the driver nodded with a small smile, "Hola senorita. ?A donde ?" she hummed trying to shuffle through her pocket booklet, "aah, the Alvarez Ranch." He nodded and gestured for her to find a seat before he drove off. He was curious though, like everyone else, why a red head black girl was doing in their small town.

She looked through the window of the empty bus except herself and the driver, the buildings started becoming scarce as they went further and further away from the town center. She was fascinated with the grape vines she saw that went for miles and miles, untouched land and nature at its most peaceful moment. The bus finally came to a stop on one dusty road. And she was back down on her feet, "gracias!" she waved at the driver as he drove back towards the town. She lifted her camera hanging from her neck and took a shot of the retrieving bus.

Click.

She knew better than drag her suitcase on the gravel, carrying it she cursed why she had to bring so many clothes on this trip, she just didn't know what to expect and her hair? It was a curly mess. She walked deeper into the private property and found a good looking woman in her early sixties maybe, seated, knitting. Click! It seems the woman heard her and looked towards the direction where the sound came from. She rose to her feet, her blue eyes twinkling in delight, a smile took over her face as she went closer to Nala. She immediately smiled back, she liked the woman from the few times they had talked, she was kind to her, unlike others she met during her travels who shunned her for the color of her skin. "Hola Nala. Come stai?" she grinned at the older woman, confident enough to say, "sto bene, senora Alvarez. Como estas? " The woman matched her grin teasing her Spanish and helped her inside, "how was your flight? I'm sure you're very tired." She asked if she could freshen up before coming back down to share a cup of coffee with her to talk about her trip.

Nala looked at her room, which would be hers for the next month, the old fashioned interior, the light bulbs put in lantern shaped glass and the window that overlooked the fields that had the cattle grazing. She got into the bathroom attached to her bedroom and took a quick cold shower, washing away her fatigue and the heat on her skin. She went back and changed into a pair of tight fitting black leggings, a baggy sweatshirt and put on her Nikes, grabbed her camera to take some shots of the place. Her cell chimed some irritated ringtone and she already knew who it was. "Hola amigo!" her sister's always chirpy voice came from the other side of the phone.

She groaned, taking one step at a time, she waved at Olivia Alvarez, mouthing that she would be back in no time. "Nal, are you ignoring me?" her overly dramatic twin sister gasped. She rooled her eyes and said she was talking to the owner of the place she was staying. "How is life in the middle of nowhere?" her sister asked.

She snickered. She always asked that everytime she went to some unknown place, they shared the same passion, writing, except, Adiah was in a relationship columnist in one of the biggest magazines in NYC and she was just a blogger, who seeked one adventure after the other. "I'm in Spain, that's somewhere, don't you think?" she answered, walking out of the door to the almost empty grazing field, "Adiah, this place is beautiful, you should see it," she told her sister, raising her camera with her free hand to take a shot. "Is there electricity there?" again, overly dramatic, just because in one of her adventures she ended up in some part of Japan where there was no electricity, her twin sister thought she was dead or kidnapped or sold because she hadn't contacted her in a couple of days. She rolled her eyes, "yes, i'll have you know there's also paved roads and running water, oh and a lot of fresh food direct from the farms."

She heard her sister curse her and make a sarcastic comment quietly so her sons couldn't hear, she threw her head back and laughed. "Watch out!" she heard over suddenly close powerful hoofs. She turned around and stood rooted to the ground, her eyes wide as she awaited her death. Two sharp, extra large horns on the head of the largest animal head se had seen apart from the elephant of course but that's beside the point. Black fur with black shining eyes on the biggest bull she had ever seen and was charging towards her. Her face paled. "Nal!" her sister's voice was distant.