nayagua

xi. hadesSometimes a journey makes itself necessary.SPIRIT RULES SECRETLY ALONE THE BODY ACHIEVES NOTHINGis something you knowinstinctively at fourteen and can still remember even with hell in your headat sixteen. They painted this truthon the long wall of the high school the night before departing for Hades.Herakles’ hometown of Hadeslay at the other end of the island about four hours by car, a townof moderate size and little importanceexcept for one thing. Have you ever seen a volcano? said Herakles.Staring at him Geryon felt his soulmove in his side. Then Geryon wrote a note full of lies for his motherand stuck it on the fridge.They climbed into Herakles’ car and set off westward. Cold green summer night.Active?The volcano? Yes the last time she blew was 1923. Threw 180 cubic kilometersof rock into the aircovered the countryside with fire overturned sixteen ships in the bay.My grandmother saysthe temperature of the air rose to seven hundred degrees centigrade downtown.Casketsof whiskey and rum burst into flame on the main street.She saw it erupt?Watched from the roof. Took a photograph of it, three P.M. looks like midnight.What happened to the town?Cooked. There was a survivor–prisoner in the local jail.Wonder what happened to him.You’ll have to ask my grandmother about that. It’s her favorite story–Lava Man.Lava Man? Herakles grinned at Geryon as they shot onto the freeway.You’re going to love my family.97