The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya

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The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya 6turned to look back over his shoulder. They had walked far enough that he could not really see themachine guns. The covered objects, of which Jose could now see there were several, were little morethan light-colored humps. He then noticed that the lieutenant's mustache was really rather thin andsparse, not at all like the captain's, and then noticed the butt of the lieutenant's pistol arcing down tomeet his skull.Some time later, Jose slowly opened his eyes. He was on his back in a very slight depression inthe ground, where he had fallen at the hand of the lieutenant. His head throbbed fiercely. The colors ofthe sky and the earth did not seem right to him. He found that he could not move any part of his bodyother than his eyes, which he tick-tocked back and forth like the pendulum of a clock.It was at this moment that artillery began to fire on the defensive position around Agua Prieta.It took Jose a few moments to figure out that, as whispered, Villa had come. He could hear the thumpsas the guns fired, and feel the ground tremor slightly under him. The shells arced over his head, andthen from his other side he could hear and feel the explosions as they landed among the trenches. Hehad never heard artillery before. He had never considered that it would move the earth itself. Heswung his eyes back and forth.The shells continued to fly over his head, one after another, in their relentless search formeaning. Although the explosions themselves weren't drawing any closer, it seemed to Jose that eachone was shaking the ground a little more violently than the last. He wasn't panicked. He was only alittle afraid. But with every violent shake he felt the connection to his own body grow a little moretenuous, until at last he felt as if his body were nothing more than so much meat in the butcher's shop,with his mind draped over the top like one of the canvas shrouds he had seen earlier.At last, one final violent upheaval of the earth lifted him up and propelled him several feetthrough the air. He dropped back to the ground, but didn't feel the impact. The first thing he noticed
The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya 7was that he could move again, and he cautiously sat up to look around. The next thing he noticed wasthat it had somehow grown dark, and even though he could now see the explosions, he could no longerhear them. The final thing he noticed was his body, still laying in the small depression where it hadcome to rest after he was struck by the lieutenant. This he found more disconcerting than frightening.He could see himself breathing, so he knew that he was not dead. In any case, he thought that if hemust die, El Dia de los Muertos would be an auspicious day to do so.After a moment more of thought, he supposed that he must be both awake and dreaming at thesame time. This seemed like the best solution to him, since as far as he knew one did not normally seeone's own unconscious body lying in the midst of an artillery bombardment. He then supposed that ifhe was dreaming he should be able to do extraordinary things, since reality in dreams hangs upon adifferent framework than it does in everyday life. Then he realized that watching himself sleep was infact just such an extraordinary thing, and by this circular path he won his own argument.Time seemed to be slowed down. The explosions from the artillery bombardment on the AguaPrieta trenches each took many seconds to throw their dirt and fire into the air. Jose looked up.Overhead, he could now see each individual artillery round traveling its path from gun to ground. Ofeven more interest were the children that seemed to sit astride each shell. Jose could see each oneclearly, for all that they were in various stages of semi-transparency. Some were smiling and laughingand waving arms around like they were in a rodeo; others seemed much more intent and serious. Onelittle girl even leaned over to look down at him and blow him a kiss as she passed over his head. Hesmiled and waved back. He watched each round fall, but couldn't make out what happened to thechildren. He didn't feel like they were hurt by the explosions. How could they be? He supposed thatthey were going home to visit, and had found a novel way to sail through the air.A short while later the artillery bombardment ceased. Jose thought that it must be aftermidnight, but he really had no way to be sure. Time still seemed thick and syrupy. The night sky was
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The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya

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