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| (visual by Abel Briquet via this license) |
dispatch ten
Mule Factory
by Steve Goerger
debuted 15 August 2009 | kept 1143 times | click to keep
With two more births, the holding pen bursts at the seams. And there are six more births scheduled for the first half of August. Rudolpho sees that he needs to sell and orders Inez to put ads in all of Mexico's major newspapers. "We’ll undersell even the steepest competition!" he says. "Even those guys in Mexico City! Sell, sell, sell! Two-for-one, free coffee, a juggling clown!"
In the desert, in a hallucinogenic trance, Florian attempts to climb the flat face of a small mountain, to be closer to God. Halfway up he loses his grip and falls fifty feet. Shaito, who has trailed Florian without his knowledge, catches his hand and pulls him back to the rocks.
"Don," Florian says to him, and they begin to climb again. A while later some shadows play tricks on Shaito’s eyes, and he slips and falls into the deep canyon below. Florian summits, beats his strong breast, wails deep and sad and true.
Rudolpho takes Rico aside. "Friend: I must let you go," he says. "Business is bad. I know you understand."
"How do you know that?" Rico asks. He is offended; he thinks again about taking a swing at his already-tipsy boss.
"Listen–we are both Mexicans!" Rudolpho says. "Brotherhood is all we have. Can you juggle? Do you mime?"