‘Returning’ Archives
Returning: Epilogue
By PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL Patrick Cabello Hansel So our little family is on a bus to Guanajuato Mexico, a town steeped in Mexican history and their families’ own history, a town none of them have been to. If you don’t understand exactly what all has happened in “Returning”, fear not! Luz, Angel, Angelito and Lupita don’t either. As to whether the author does or not…In the meantime, a body was found, an adult female, in a field near the intersection of I-35 and Highway 19, not far from what used to be called The Big Steer restaurant (or “The Bum Steer” by denizens of St. Olaf and that other college in Northfield). The body showed signs of foul play, and a life lived hard. It merited a brief notice on page 4 of the B section in the local papers, and the investigation petered out shortly after it started. Was it the body of Amethyst, the granddaughter of Agnes, who had been used as a pawn in the plot to kidnap Lupita?There will be a break in our story for a while. [...]
Returning: The Final Chapter
Chapter 34: GET ON THE BUS! By PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL Patrick Cabello Hansel The bus station for the flight of Angel and Luz and family is not a station per se. It’s not a building, but a stop, where people make passage to a new life, or return to an old one. If you’re thinking: Like Platform 9¾ in Harry Potter? You’re way off. Or maybe, you’re right on. It’s a stop that is visible to everyone but is accessible to few. Put that in your recently legal pipe and smoke it!To be less cryptic, it’s the corner of Bloomington and Lake Street, where you can board a bus to Des Moines, Kansas City, Dallas, the two Laredos, Monterrey and all points south. It’s the bus of dreams and broken dreams. When our family arrived there, they were met by people they knew: Angel’s father Augusto, Luz’ abuela, Dolores, Luz’ boss, Angel’s boss and Mr. Bussey, recently retired from Roosevelt.Of course, there were hugs and tears, and the parents asked everyone if they had seen [...]
Returning and Searching: Pre-Postlude
By PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL Patrick Cabello Hansel Searching…Returning…what’s next? Finding? Becoming? Next month’s chapter will be the final one in this second novella. We will—or will we?—find out what happens to our little holy family. Will they find Lupita? Will Agnes save them or betray them one more time? What will happen to their nemesis Brian Fleming and the forces he represents?A little recap is in order. In the first novella, “Searching” set roughly in 2006, Angel and Luz meet under trying circumstances. An immigration raid, an assault, the uncovering of family secrets. And the mystery of their shared ancestor. Mateo Kelly Hidalgo, who lived in the swale (East Phillips)—a hundred years ago, and who may still haunt the place. Luz and Angel battle evil from the present and the past. They traveled through many parts of Phillips: Maria’s Café, In the Heart of the Beast Theatre, Mercado Central, and ended up underneath the baptismal window at St. Paul’s [...]
