On the spur of the moment I had decided to drive to Chihuahua, Mexico and meet Donna. We had met in person once before in Chihuahua, and I now wanted to see her again. I had already contacted her, and she had agreed to meet me in three days. I was a little concerned because I had been having transmission problems with my car and I was uncertain the car would make it all the way to Chihuahua. But I didn't have time to fix the transmission, so I was just going to go anyway.

At the moment, Carolina and I were sitting at a rickety wooden table in a dumpy little greasy oriental restaurant. Carolina was aware I would be leaving and she didn't seem to mind. She even seemed in particularly good spirits, and she was mostly interested in having a meal.

For myself, I suddenly remembered the trip to Chihuahua was going to be difficult for another reason: I had decided I was going to fast for three days, beginning that morning. However, it seemed as if I had already had a bite of something that morning (it was still morning), so if I wanted to fast, I should begin right then. Of course fasting was going to be extremely difficult if I were driving. It would probably take three days to reach Chihuahua, and it would be difficult to drive and fast at the same time. I was becoming uncertain I would be able to fast.

Carolina, of course, was only concerned about her meal. She told me she wanted to order the same thing she had ordered the last I time we had been there, and she asked me if I would order for her, especially the white mouse. Now I remembered the last time we had been there, along with Carolina's regular food, she had been cooked a white mouse, still completely in its skin. The mouse had apparently been cooked alive. To my utter astonishment (although I hadn't actually witnessed it), Carolina had eaten the mouse. Now, although she was anxious to have another, she didn't want to be the one who actually ordered the mouse. She wanted me to do that. So when the oriental woman, wearing an apron, came over to ask us what we wanted, I gave her Carolina's order. But I didn't say anything about a mouse until right at the end of the order. Then I casually asked the waitress if they had any more white mice because Carolina would like one.

Right next to me stood an old-fashioned white stove. The woman opened up the door to the stove and pulled out a round metal pan about 30 centimeters in diameter. The pan was filled with a score or more of cooked white mice, all neatly arranged in the pan, all having obviously been cooked alive. The woman pulled out two mice by the tails and dropped them on a plate. Apparently this time Carolina would receive two mice instead of one. Carolina seemed anxious to be served her meal.

I decided I was going to walk outside and wait there for Carolina to finish her meal. I needed to take a look at my car to make sure it was ready for the trip. I walked outside onto what appeared to be a rural gravel road. Several people were walking around. Just as I headed for my car, something caught my attention. On the horizon I saw a huge black cloud and it took me a moment to realize it was actually a gigantic flock of black birds. I had never seen such a large group of birds. They were so far away I couldn't distinguish any single bird; but I watched as the flock rose high into the sky straight over my head, higher than the clouds. The sight was awesome and I decided I couldn't miss it. I fell straight back on my back right in the road and continued looking up at the enormous irregularly-formed cloud of birds. I wondered what other people would think about my lying in the middle of the road on my back, but I didn't really care. This was too important to miss, and if anything the other people should stop what they were doing and also look.

I recalled that in ancient days, seers used to look at birds in flight and seek portents from them. I knew there was nothing to such superstitions, yet the whole event did somehow seem more than just interesting, somewhat portentous in some strange way. Gradually I saw that the cloud was beginning to evanesce like a puff of smoke. I could just barely make out small specks of black going in all directions. Soon nothing was left.

When I finally stood back up, I saw Carolina walking out of the restaurant, heading toward me. She was smiling and seemed happy. Obviously she had finished her meal. It was still hard for me to believe she would eat those mice. I would have to ask her how she had done it. Had she started with the head or the tail? And how could she swallow the whole thing, including the fur and the innards? It was hard for me to imagine that she had actually done it.

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