Ships on the Paraguay River at Asunción, Paraguay © Ilkov Filimonov/Dreamstime.com
Juan’s flight from his native Briviesca to Asunción in Paraguay was grueling, especially after two layovers. He was grateful to find a cab to take him the sixteen miles into the city.
“Senor wants to be taken to the river? No particular place?” What passed for Spanish in this country seemed almost barbaric to Juan.
“Yes, it doesn’t matter.”
The cab driver thought it odd that the Spaniard had no luggage, but Juan wasn’t planning a lengthy stay, or not one the cabbie would understand. As his mind and existence was cast backward, the cab, the buildings, the city itself became increasingly alien.
By the time he found himself standing on the bank of the Paraguay river, in his soul, he was once more the conquistador Juan de Ayolas. He and his company had been murdered by the Payagua in 1537. Today, the resurrected man would begin his quest for revenge.
I wrote this for What Pegman Saw. The idea is to take a Google Maps location/image and use it as the inspiration for crafting a piece of flash fiction no more than 150 words long. My word count is 150.
Today, the Pegman takes us to Asución, Paraguay. I did a quick and dirty Wikipedia read, along with a brief sampling of the article 24 Things to Know Before You Go to Asunción. I discovered Juan de Ayolas‘ life and death and thought I could capture a brief tale of revenge.
To read other stories based on the prompt, visit InLinkz.
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Nicely written, James. Glancing at your main character’s history, it’s probably just as well he and his company were killed. I hope he’s powerless as he comes seeking revenge.
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Well, given that I’m up against the word count limit, I guess we’ll never know. 😉
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Great story. The Conquistadors were exactly the sort of men that the Mayans would have worshipped, from what I know of their society. Cruelty incarnate.
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I always enjoy a walk through history with you, James. Conquistadors have never been my favorite because of their cruelty and lust for more and more. Well done.
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Evil is always to be feared and it never seems to go away.
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It’s really amazing how you get so much knowledge while reading the stories! Thanks for giving such a nice glimpse on the past.
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You’re welcome, Dragon Warrior. Thanks for reading.
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Dragon Warrior, one of your comments somehow ended up in my spam folder. I clicked “delete” a second too fast and can’t get it back. Can you please make your comment again? Sorry about accidentally getting rid of it.
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