Chapter 13: Shadows in the Storm
August brought the heavy rains. In Jalisco, the summer storms were legendary—sudden, violent tempests that rolled in from the mountains, turning the sky the color of bruised plums and unleashing torrents of water upon the city.
It was late afternoon when the storm hit their suburb. The wind howled, rattling the windowpanes and whipping the branches of the mesquite trees outside. Inside, the family was gathered in the living room, listening to the rain hammer against the roof.
Suddenly, a massive clap of thunder shook the foundation of the house, and in the blink of an eye, the power went out.
The house was instantly plunged into a thick, suffocating darkness. Jimena let out a sharp cry, dropping her toys. But it was Emiliano who reacted the worst. The sudden darkness was a visceral trigger, pulling him back to the claustrophobic terror of their old life. He scrambled backward into the corner of the sofa, pulling his knees to his chest, his breathing shallow and rapid.
"It's okay, it's okay!" Laura’s voice cut through the dark, soothing and calm.
A moment later, a beam of light pierced the gloom. Mateo stood in the center of the room, holding a heavy-duty yellow flashlight. He aimed it at the ceiling, casting a soft, diffuse glow over the living room.
He immediately saw Emiliano trembling on the couch. Mateo didn't rush him or coddle him. Instead, he walked slowly to the wall opposite the sofa and sat down on the floor.
"Hey, Emi. Watch this," Mateo said.
He held his hands up in front of the flashlight beam. On the blank wall, a large, dark shadow appeared. Mateo moved his fingers, and the shadow transformed into a bird, flapping its wings.
Jimena giggled from the floor. "A birdie!"
"Exactly," Mateo smiled. He shifted his hands again, creating a barking dog, then a clumsy, lumbering elephant. "You see? The dark isn't here to hide monsters anymore. It's just a blank screen for us to put on a show."
Laura caught on immediately. She knelt beside Mateo and used her hands to create a rabbit that hopped across the wall, playfully chasing Mateo’s shadow dog. Jimena ran over, trying to make her own small, chaotic shadows by waving her arms frantically in front of the light.
Mateo looked over at the sofa. Emiliano had stopped hyperventilating. He was watching the wall, the tension slowly bleeding out of his shoulders.
"We need a dragon, Emi," Mateo called out gently. "My dog is losing to your mother's rabbit. I need backup."
Emiliano hesitated, looking around the dark, noisy room. The thunder crashed again, but this time, he didn't flinch. He slowly uncurled his legs, slid off the sofa, and walked over to his father. He raised his hands into the beam of light, interlocking his thumbs and spreading his fingers. A massive, jagged shadow appeared on the wall.
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"Roar," Emiliano whispered, a genuine smile finally breaking across his face.
The storm raged on outside, loud and furious. But inside the small, creaking house, the darkness had lost its teeth.
