Rain on Chichén Itzá

by Emma Wenger

I was crying when they took my little sister, though I knew why.

I should not cry for her. It was a great honor to be an offering, but I still loved her. She was only six.

I watched my sister be led up those steep, treacherous steps. My mother shushed me, scolding me for being sad. Mother was right, my sister was doing an important thing.

Silently, I watched as she was placed at the altar and the axe was raised. I smiled as her head rolled down the stairs.

Thank you, sister. Thank you for bringing us rain.

Emma Wenger is a small child raised by a gang of vaudeville moonshiners deep in the inner city crevices of Bedford, Virginia.