Conversion Chapter 1

Chapter 1                 
          From a moving vehicle, peering through the forest to find creatures was like playing with a zoetrope, one which dizzied the mind and made any fallen tree or boulder indistinguishable from a bear or deer or whatever terrible creature the mind could imagine. Still, Rodrigo kept staring out into the wilderness, hoping to find something and be certain of what it was.
          "Mira! Que bonita!" Mama said as she lowered the radio, "Where else can you have snow in the mountains during a heatwave? Rigo, get a picture."
          He reached for the camera bag in the back of the trunk, twisting his back and stretching every inch of his arms and every centimeter of his digits to barely pinch the edge of the shoulder strap between his index and middle finger like an alligator clip. He did this all while staying technically in his seat and buckled up. His younger brother Dante meanwhile, sat comfortably behind the driver's seat entranced by his tablet.
          "Maybe we can go sledding before you leave. What do you think about that, Dante?" asked Mama.
          Dante was busy.
          "Dante?" Mama turned from her rightful throne in the passenger seat. She shook the tablet saying, "Turn off that iPad. You're missing out on some beautiful scenery."
          "It's the same as it was back there," he protested.
          Mama raised her eye-brow. 
          "Can I just finish this video?" 
          "You're using data," Rodrigo said while taking pictures of the snow-capped mountains.
          At this, papa broke his silence. "I do not want to buy more data again this month."
          "You won't," said Dante. "Rigo's not even gonna be able to use any of it while he's gone and I downloaded this video. It's offline."
          "iPad. Now." she extended her hand.
          "Let me finish this video please."
         A brief staredown ensued. The mom surrendered.
          "Finish that video. But after that no more." She turned to Rodrigo. "Make sure he doesn't watch anymore after that."
          After the treaty was made, Dante put his headphones back on to watch the rest of the video. Rodrigo meanwhile checked the camera roll to make sure the pictures weren't blurry like they so often were when he took them.
          "Mijo," Mama said as she locked eyes with Rodrigo in the rear view mirror. "Promise me you will try your best when you're over there. I believe in you, but you need to give it your all."
          "He doesn't need to try at all," said Papa. "I have no doubt you're gonna come out of this confident and calm. You're gonna attract all the ladies."
          "But please be respectful to them still. Confidence does not mean you get to disrespect them. And that means you wait until after marriage. Ok?"
          "I know, mama."
          "I know you know, mijo. It's just, I know this camp is gonna fix you, but I don't want it to make you swing too much in the other direction either. I didn't raise you to be like that."
          "Would you relax?" Papa said. "He's gonna turn out fine. These people know what they're doing."
          "I hope so." Mama looked back into the mirror, "I'll just pray a lot for you, mijo. You pray too. Ok?"
"I will."
          He turned back to the forest. There were times when he swore he saw something. Something like a wolf or an elk. If he stared long enough and let his eyes settle, he could almost see a mythical creature of his imagination. A beast with antlers, tentacles, and a long scorpion tail.
          "When ants turn into zombies, are they aware of it?" Dante asked from his seat like a philosopher in an armchair. Everyone laughed.
          "What?" Mama asked.
          Dante elaborated, "There is a mushroom that infects ants and makes them turn into zombies. They start acting crazy and thinking they're mushrooms too, so they leave their colony and seek out a place that the mushroom would grow well. Once it finds the perfect place, a mushroom shoots out of its brain and attracts the next ant victim. And then the cycle continues. Do you think the real ant is still inside the ant zombie, suffering silently as the zombie ant controls all of its actions?"
          "Hopefully not," said papa.
          "That doesn't even make any sense," Rodrigo said.
          "The only way to know for sure would to be that poor little ant," said Mama.
          "Well good thing I'm not an ant," Dante replied. "In my opinion, that's worse than dying or even being eaten alive slowly from the inside like some caterpillars."
          "Ok, this is why you should limit Youtube." Mama reached out for the iPad as Dante willingly surrendered the device.
          "Another cool thing is that apparently the fungus is really picky about the ants it chooses to infect. There is one species of fungus for every species of ant."
          "Wow. Nature is kind of messed up," said Rigo.
          "But it's also beautiful." Mama said, "I mean look at the snow on the mountains, and the waterfall. It's like God's painting."
          "A bear!" Rodrigo shouted as the family turned their heads toward the right side of the car.
          "Take a picture!" shouted Mama.
          "I'm not gonna take a picture of that." The bear was feeding on a young elk, tearing apart its insides as if it were nothing more than a pumpkin on Hallow's Eve.