-Pecayo: the final ascent
Aravac and Truth plummet down Pecayo's pumice mountain.

"Necesito stick! Necesito stick!" the children yelled.
A small girl gave Aravac a walking stick as a gift and we set out. Horseback taxis made the path a treacherous obstacle course of manure and rock. A tiresome trek until the break in the tree line.

The separation of green forest and black volcanic ash signified the immediate changes in climate and landscape. The Earth smelled of Nitrogen and Sulfur. We continued and the rocks grew more and more jagged. Every language was spoken, every country accounted for; a frying pan held scrambled eggs, people passed marshmallows for roasting and we brought something to share with the spirit of the volcano as well.

A dog slept on the warm rocks. If the spirit was calm and the lava was actively flowing underneath, we assumed all was safe. The thin shell of rock cracked under each footstep and the heat became unbearable.

I, who once resented cigars, handed one to Aravac and he withstood the heat long enough to light it against the scalding lava. The sun set on the three volcanoes in the distance and we sat watching it feeling as though we'd never come closer to the edge of the world.

Night fell and we made our way back in the dark...


Ray Charles - Ring of Fire