perceptive the two of them were, those conclusions were correct, which made it even harder to convince them to slow down and review the evidence.
Carol and her dad, on the other hand, took their time when making decisions. Perhaps they even took too much time. They listened carefully to other points of view, read all sorts of material about a subject before slowly synthesizing a response. Carol understood, of course, that there were situations in which time just didn’t permit that sort of thoroughness. And that’s why we were such a good team. Our family balanced itself. If Johnny and I are going get mom back, we’re going to have to find that balance again.
Before she knew it, they had made it across. Xolotl’s broad paws stepped carefully onto the shattered gray stones that lined the river bank. After a few minutes, they found themselves on a sandy plain on which strange, stunted trees twisted like palsied hands. Before them lay low, rocky hills that built gradually toward a steep mountain range whose slopes glittered blackly in the eternal gloom.
“Obsidian.” Johnny muttered, slipping from Xolotl’s back. He stood on one leg, pulling off his other sneaker. His white socks contrasted starkly with the slate-colored sand. “That is just freaking great. We’ve got to scale mountains of sharp volcanic rock, and I’m in my stupid socks .”
“Well,” Carol said, trying to follow Xolotl’s advice and inject a little humor, “the Hobbits crossed Mordor in their bare feet, so you’ve got to keep perspective, no?”
“ ¿Qué? Did Carolina Garza just make a funny?” Johnny rolled his eyes, but smiled.
“Excuse me, but…what is a, ‘Hobbit’?”
Carol dropped to the ground and patted the hellhound reassuringly. “Literary allusion. A sort of big-footed elf.”
“Dude, that’s sacrilege! Hobbits are not elves!”
She waved him away dismissively. “Whatever. You never even read the books, Johnny. Just watched the movies obsessively.” She leaned toward Xolotl. “You know what movies are, right?”
“Certainly. I visited several nickelodeons in San Francisco and Los Angeles before I left the realm of men.”
“Huh?” The only nickelodeon Carol knew was the cable station.
“Whoa, that was a long time ago,” Johnny muttered. To Carol he added smugly, “Nickelodeons were the first movie theaters, way back in the early 1900s.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.” She gave an exaggerated sigh, but was inwardly happy. We can still josh around. Good sign. “But, yeah, going back to your footwear problem…”
Xolotl walked away from them and shook himself vigorously, sending a spray of cold water in all directions. “I keep telling you,” he growled once he was dry enough to stop, “that you don’t need shoes. You need to learn how to shift. You won’t make it through the Nine Deadly Deserts otherwise.”
“But the truth is,” Carol insisted, “that we can’t control the transformations. I mean, the last time I was sort of half aware of what was going on. I was asleep, and then I felt this pressure build up inside of me, and I just, you know, let go, let it remake me. I was able to sense through my tonal and stuff, but I wasn’t the one that caused it to happen, you see?”
Xolotl nodded his enormous head. “Of course I see. What you are failing to realize is that your animal self is always there, waiting, anxious to step forward. There’s not much you have to do to convince it. Simply look for it, just beneath the surface of your conscious mind, and call to it. It will respond eagerly, I assure you.”
The hellhound looked at her with an expectant gaze. When she did nothing, he scuffed his right front paw against the sand.
“What…now? You want me to try to transform here ?”
“No time like the present, Carolina. You, too, Juan Ángel.”
Carol closed her eyes, attempting to focus, searching for that glowing, vital, hungry part of herself. But her mind kept snapping back to
Carol and her dad, on the other hand, took their time when making decisions. Perhaps they even took too much time. They listened carefully to other points of view, read all sorts of material about a subject before slowly synthesizing a response. Carol understood, of course, that there were situations in which time just didn’t permit that sort of thoroughness. And that’s why we were such a good team. Our family balanced itself. If Johnny and I are going get mom back, we’re going to have to find that balance again.
Before she knew it, they had made it across. Xolotl’s broad paws stepped carefully onto the shattered gray stones that lined the river bank. After a few minutes, they found themselves on a sandy plain on which strange, stunted trees twisted like palsied hands. Before them lay low, rocky hills that built gradually toward a steep mountain range whose slopes glittered blackly in the eternal gloom.
“Obsidian.” Johnny muttered, slipping from Xolotl’s back. He stood on one leg, pulling off his other sneaker. His white socks contrasted starkly with the slate-colored sand. “That is just freaking great. We’ve got to scale mountains of sharp volcanic rock, and I’m in my stupid socks .”
“Well,” Carol said, trying to follow Xolotl’s advice and inject a little humor, “the Hobbits crossed Mordor in their bare feet, so you’ve got to keep perspective, no?”
“ ¿Qué? Did Carolina Garza just make a funny?” Johnny rolled his eyes, but smiled.
“Excuse me, but…what is a, ‘Hobbit’?”
Carol dropped to the ground and patted the hellhound reassuringly. “Literary allusion. A sort of big-footed elf.”
“Dude, that’s sacrilege! Hobbits are not elves!”
She waved him away dismissively. “Whatever. You never even read the books, Johnny. Just watched the movies obsessively.” She leaned toward Xolotl. “You know what movies are, right?”
“Certainly. I visited several nickelodeons in San Francisco and Los Angeles before I left the realm of men.”
“Huh?” The only nickelodeon Carol knew was the cable station.
“Whoa, that was a long time ago,” Johnny muttered. To Carol he added smugly, “Nickelodeons were the first movie theaters, way back in the early 1900s.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.” She gave an exaggerated sigh, but was inwardly happy. We can still josh around. Good sign. “But, yeah, going back to your footwear problem…”
Xolotl walked away from them and shook himself vigorously, sending a spray of cold water in all directions. “I keep telling you,” he growled once he was dry enough to stop, “that you don’t need shoes. You need to learn how to shift. You won’t make it through the Nine Deadly Deserts otherwise.”
“But the truth is,” Carol insisted, “that we can’t control the transformations. I mean, the last time I was sort of half aware of what was going on. I was asleep, and then I felt this pressure build up inside of me, and I just, you know, let go, let it remake me. I was able to sense through my tonal and stuff, but I wasn’t the one that caused it to happen, you see?”
Xolotl nodded his enormous head. “Of course I see. What you are failing to realize is that your animal self is always there, waiting, anxious to step forward. There’s not much you have to do to convince it. Simply look for it, just beneath the surface of your conscious mind, and call to it. It will respond eagerly, I assure you.”
The hellhound looked at her with an expectant gaze. When she did nothing, he scuffed his right front paw against the sand.
“What…now? You want me to try to transform here ?”
“No time like the present, Carolina. You, too, Juan Ángel.”
Carol closed her eyes, attempting to focus, searching for that glowing, vital, hungry part of herself. But her mind kept snapping back to
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