Imagining Argentina

Carlos wakes in bed, his head throbbing. To his surprise, his neighbor, Emilia, is perched on his bedside. Suddenly, Carlos hears Teresa’s screams. Trying to rise, he stumbles and again falls unconscious. 

When he wakes again, Esme is beside him, visibly upset. Nurses bustle in and out of the room. Carlos asks after Teresa, and Esme admits that the government has captured her. After receiving an injection, Carlos slips again into a dream. He’s playing the guitar, though its sound is almost metallic. Cecilia beckons him inside the familiar cave, and Carlos discerns Guzman’s voice amongst many others. Carlos turns to see a group of people trapped behind an ice wall, calling his name. Teresa is there, too, raised on a platform. Carlos tries to strum his guitar, searching for the right melody to save everyone. However, he’s too late: Generals grab Teresa and Cecilia and shove them behind the ice wall. As Carlos watches, the wall turns into blue stone, but the captives’ voices still reach him. Frustrated, Carlos splinters his guitar against the ice.

For a week, Carlos’s dream recurs, until it slowly subsides. Esme, Emilia, and Martín continue to visit him in the hospital. One day, after all his visitors have returned home, Carlos escapes the hospital.