BAPTISM by FIRE

Two months after my near-death experience, I sat calmly practicing the alphabet on my favorite wooden log in front of the catholic church. Suddenly, my concentration was distracted by the shadows of two tall figures standing in front of me. Looking up annoyed, I confronted those brave enough, who dared take the rays of the sun away from me. My gaze shifted from one person to the next in silence, letting the strangers know that I was not one to mess with.

Upon recognizing the encroaching strangers, however, I mentally ordered my invisible soldiers to cease firing their weapons of destruction. The two men standing before me were recent arrivals to El Paraiso, from somewhere in North America. I'd seen them before handing out religious literature around town, and those who could read accepted their propaganda without question. Later, to the dismay of the local Catholic priest, these same people became disciples to the new evangelical sects. That movement spread peacefully but with fervor in that remote corner of the world.

Addressing me in perfect Spanish, one of them handed me a religious pamphlet saying, "Hola, muchacho . . . Como estas?"

Accepting the pamphlet, I answered the tall stranger as eloquently as I possibly could, "Estoy muy bien, gracias."

Although my gaze remained fixated on their congenial faces, from time to time, I moved my eyes just enough to study in awe the two tall evangelists. Their avid efforts hit pay dirt with new additions to their flock.

Almost twice my size they were, and their tallness made them look like gentle roaming giants in our midst. They wore distinctive clothes distinguishing their class, white shirts and black ties, black loafers and black trousers, and thick black-rimmed glasses which completed their uniform of the day. I beheld that sight temporarily. Then, my eyes shifted to the pamphlet. Something, some force, compelled me to mentally form a cocoon of invisible light which immediately surrounded me. After that, I just totally ignored them.

Through some other sense besides the five that'd served me well on planet earth, I perceived that the missionaries wanted to stay and chit chat with me, but for some strange reason they left my space quickly. Out of the corner of my eye, I observed how they did a double-take in my direction, then proceeded down the street.

Feeling like the devil's advocate, I looked at the pamphlet and scanned the writing. Although I knew that the individual letters were part of the alphabet my mother was teaching me, I really couldn't make out what the words they formed meant. Suddenly, scary mental images flashed inside my head while looking at the groups of letters. I had never experienced that before, and it really spooked me. Then, in a heart beat, a vivid three-dimensional scene of a heavenly constellation superimposed itself in front of me, surrounding the entire park like a hologram. Through it, I could discern the coconut trees and benches. I became horrified. It was as though my feet were on planet earth and my upper body was somewhere in the heavens above.

At once, I closed the booklet, then ran maniacally around the park touching trees and benches, looking for anchors to hold my little body on terra firma. Scared and shaking, trying to force screams that wouldn't vocalize, I cowered next to a tall coconut tree. I wrapped my arms tightly around it and closed my eyes praying that the hellish panorama would disappear, but that had no effect. I continued seeing the imposing phantasm before me, even through closed eyes and despite ardent praying.

A few moments later, the vision vanished and I partially regained my composure. Still shaking and scared to death, I immediately ran home clutching the pamphlet tightly in my right hand. I wanted to tell someone about my delusional experience. But I was afraid that in doing so, it would land me in the confines of the manicomio, a place for the mentally deranged. So I opted for silence. "I hope," I thought, "that nobody saw me run around like a crazy lunatic in the park."

When I entered my house, the smell of delicious cooking hit my nostrils. The enticing aroma emanated from the dining table where my siblings were already eating scrumptious morsels of "arroz con pollo," chicken and rice.

Still disoriented and shaken, I joined my brothers and sisters for lunch. I sat next to my half brother Anibal who was two years younger than I. My other half brothers and sisters were a year apart in birth. Marta and Adolfo were twins, a year younger than Anibal. Cesar was born after the twins, and Emerita came to this world after Cesar. Vilma, the baby of the family, sat on a high chair while being fed by my mother.

I placed the pamphlet on the dining table, then served myself a portion of the delicious food. As I devoured the tasty morsels, my glance went to the closed pamphlet. As soon as I did that, the memory of that superimposed image came back to haunt me. But thank God that the fear I'd felt earlier was totally gone. Somehow, I felt safe. Something or someone whispered in my ear that all was well, and I had nothing to fear.

After lunch, I asked my mom to help me with the pamphlet. But, what I really wanted was to learn to read it, so as to make sense of what I saw earlier in visual form. Being a teacher, she was pleased with my request. My mom took me to the patio and began tutoring me, her first born and favorite, on the meaning of the words contained therein.

Religiously, after that lesson, I read the pamphlet every day, taking in the meaning of every word literally. Whatever symbols or pictures manifesting inside my mind didn't scare me as much anymore. I concluded, in my naiveté, that certain kids learned in that fashion, except that they never shared their secret with anyone for fear of ridicule and a quick trip to the nuthouse in Danli. Therefore, I told no one about the weird phenomena I experienced at times.

Whenever a geographic area was mentioned in the booklet, a vivid image flashed in my mind as if I were physically there. That fascinated me. After that, I looked forward to the display of moving images that played inside the theater of my mind.