The weekend niece. from the book, Searching for treasures

     As time went by, she began to listen to the rumors spread through the city. They insinuated; they said that at nights, Juan Gonzalo Arango forgot his role as a father, spending his nights in those crowded bars of the downtown district. In the end, Dora skipped classes; simply, because it became customary and normal for her to do so! Nobody, except Miss Rosario, remembered to say the contrary. Regrettably, Miss Rosario had no say in administrative matters…

     So, as it happened, come Friday Dora would only attend half the day to classes, but quite often, since early hours on a Thursday, she’d be leaving the terminal on her way south, like a lost Red Riding Hood, searching for one of two grandmother’s houses. And each time that she did so, in spite of the circumstances and how many times she’d done so before, the little girl would tirelessly admire the landscapes of the way. It may have been in her blood, or perhaps it was a personality trait, but for whatever reason, she loved to be on the road.

     Of the two longish hours of the journey, a little more than half belonged to the Chicamocha National Park. The impressive precipices as you left the city and climbed up the slopes of the canyon, the snaking highway would turn back on itself during those fantastic ascents, and those: fascinated the little girl! And the steeply inclined walls of the canyon, densely covered with the cactus growth of so many and so different kinds, these stout bulwarks of the abysmal precipices: delighted the child. The faraway clouds that in the distance appeared to be resting on the mountain tops, these: never lost their magic. Sitting in her seat at the window, always thinking, always dreaming awake…

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