Bunuel_Luis_My_Last_Breath

Conchita's Memories 39cousins our age, but without our parents' permission. Heaven onlyknows why, but we all got dressed as if we were going to a fancyparty. When we got to Foz, which was about five kilometers awayand where we owned some farm land, we made the rounds of all ourtenant farmers. At every house, they fed us sweet wine and cookies,and by the time we'd seen them all, we were so euphoric that wedecided to explore the local cemetery. I remember Luis stretchingout on the autopsy table and demanding that someone take out hisentrails. I also remember one of us sticking her head through a holein a tomb and becoming so firmly wedged in that Luis had to tearaway the plaster with his nails to get her out.(After the war, I revisited this same cemetery, which seemedmuch smaller and older than I remembered. In the corner stood asmall white coffin which had been pried open, exposing the mummifiedremains of a child, and a huge cluster of scarlet poppies thathad grown up through what had once been its stomach.)After our innocent, albeit blasphemous, invasion, we started backthrough the sun-blasted mountains in pursuit of some appropriatelymagical cave. Still filled with wine, we did crazy things, like jumpingdown a deep, narrow crevice and crawling through another until wefound ourselves in a grotto. All we had by way of speleologicalequipment was a candle stub from the cemetery. We walked as longas the flame lasted, and then suddenly there was nothing-no light,no courage, no euphoria. The air was filled with bat wings, but Luisvowed to protect us from the "prehistoric pterodactyls." When webegan to get hungry, he heroically offered himself for consumption.I burst into tears; he was my idol, and I begged to be allowed tosacrifice myself in his place. After all, I was the youngest, the silliest,and clearly the most tender of the Buriuels!The terror of those hours has long been forgotten, as one forgetsphysical pain the moment it's gone, but I do remember our hystericalrelief, as well as our fear of the consequences, when they finally foundus. Oddly enough, we weren't punished, probably because of oursorry condition. On our way home in the carriage drawn by Nene,