Episode Seven: Miguel's Flight

Barcelona, Spain, 1547

Miguel jumps on my stomach just as the sun is coming up, so of course I am not completely awake. "Papa, get up! I want to fly the Golden Condor!" he exclaims. "Can you show me how?"

Now I'm completely awake. "You want to what?" I ask.

"Fly the Golden Condor, just like you," Miguel says.

Zia slowly wakes up beside me. "Esteban, what does he want to do?"

"He wants to fly the Golden Condor. I'm sorry, Miguel, but you're still too young. You need to wait quite a few more years."

"Not that many, Papa. You were twelve when you started flying it," Miguel protests. "And you're really good at it and fly so high, Did you always enjoy being up really high, Papa?"

Zia laughs. "No, darling. Your father used to be afraid of heights," she says.

"Well," I say quietly, "I wouldn't say that, Zia, darling. I wouldn't say I was AFRAID of heights. They just made me dizzy." We all laugh. "All right, Miguel. Go back to bed. It's still pretty early. Just wait until you're a bit older, all right?"

Miguel goes back to bed, and Zia and I go back to sleep. When we wake and go to have breakfast, we notice something surprising and frightening: Miguel and Conchetta are nowhere to be found! Tao, Zia, and I search everywhere. Then Tao looks outside. "Esteban, Zia! The Golden Condor is gone!" he exclaims.

Zia and I look at each other and suspect the truth. I burn with anger because my son has disobeyed me. We look all around the house and city for them but have no luck finding them. Panicking, we decide to go and notify Mendoza when we finally see the Condor heading back toward our house. We run as quickly as we can back to our house and actually get there as the children are arriving. When Miguel and Conchetta come out of the great golden bird, I take Miguel by the arm furiously. "Miguel, what do you mean by disobeying me? What if you had gotten in an accident? You could have been killed! You had us worried sick! I can't tell you how angry I am right now! Tonight you will go to bed without supper!" I shout, sending him to his room crying.

Conchetta runs into the house, too. Zia touches my shoulder gently. "Esteban, you know, Miguel may not know WHY what he did was dangerous. You never explained that to him. Maybe you're being too harsh on him by punishing him."

I sigh. "You're right, Zia. I'll go talk to him," I agree. I go into the children's bedroom and find Miguel sitting on the bed crying. "Miguel, I'm sorry I lost my temper. I should have explained to you why it was dangerous for you to fly the Condor when you were so young, so I'll explain right now. You're not coordinated enough yet, because you're still small, and you need to have some training to do that. Flying the Condor requires major skill, and I don't want you or your sister to get hurt. I love you two so much." Miguel and I exchange an embrace.

"Does this mean I can eat supper, Papa?" Miguel asks excitedly.

I smile at him. "Of course, Miguel."

Los Angeles, CA, 2011

Stephanie and Ben were eating at the Macaroni Grill while Stephanie read the book. "Sounds like Esteban is a really concerned parent," Ben remarked.

"That's how I want us to be," Stephanie agreed, "but let's not send our kids to their rooms and tell them they can't have dinner as a way of punishment."

Ben leaned close to her. "How do you propose they be punished?"

Stephanie thought for a moment. "Forcing them to watch TV and eat sweets," she said. Knowing she was joking, Ben joined her when she laughed.