Ledigos
Walking through the tiny town of Ledigos, it seemed deserted. It had to be populated, I thought, as it was well kept and clean, but there was not a soul about. I half expected tumbleweed to blow down the center of the street. The day was bright and bone dry. The midday sun was sweltering. Off to my right an open doorway beckoned. Within was a dark, dusty barroom with a television hoisted over a long wooden bar. The TV was playing a western at full volume. The saloon was mostly abandoned except for one toothless old man stooping over a shot glass, and the bartender, a weathered beaten woman of about forty with short chopped blond hair. She was friendly enough though and gave me a can of Coke with a smile.
I left soon after into the bright sunlit hamlet to find the end of town a few feet away. Continuing down a lonely stretch of road toward Terradillos de Templarios, halfway point on my journey, the countryside stretched out around me unbroken in all directions. Neatly groomed fields of crops and wild stretches of tall grasses glowed like a brilliantly lit chartreuse carpet. And there, off in the far distance, sat an old farmhouse.
From far away you could see the dilapidated state of the place. It looked like a house made of stucco cards that could cave in upon itself at any moment. Yet something about it’s defiant stance in the middle of that vast emptiness spoke of a beauty and strength that was hidden beneath its rough exterior. I wanted to own that farmhouse. I wanted to live out my days fixing it up, ever something else to improve and modernize. And when I wasn’t doing that, I could wander the dreamlike fields; eat magnificent banquets of cheese, ham, olives, and bread; drink the purest, clearest water from the well; raise pigs, and milk a cow or two. My days would be spent kindly overseeing the farmhands who would work the fields (with whom I would naturally share the profits), and at night I would hold grand fetes for all the townsfolk. Money would be no problem as I had just won the lottery, and soon the small, affable village of Ledigos would ask me to be mayor and raise a statue in my likeness in the center of town.
I tripped, jammed my toes that were covered in blisters, and cursed like a sailor.
Damn it, I thought, I was thirsty again.