The Plaza

I get out of my car and walk on to the little plaza in the middle of town. I hear children screaming out of joy as soon as I approach the plaza. There are 3 kids Kyle, Maria, and Ricardo playing tag on the gazebo. Kyle appears to be about 9, Maria about 8, and Ricardo about 6 years old. I take a seat on a bench on the plaza to further observe. Ricardo clearly seems frustrated with Maria. Maria isn’t playing by the rules. Despite this, Kyle and Maria continue to play happily. Out of the corner of my eye I see an elderly Hispanic couple, Mr. and Mrs. Fernandez walking slowly in the plaza. I hear them speaking in Spanish as they approach me. Once they are near, I greet them good evening in Spanish and they answer back in Spanish and smile. They pass me and continue walking in the plaza. The plaza is really quiet now. The kids seem to be tired and are sitting in the gazebo talking to each other. The only other sounds I hear are passing cars and the voices of a group of 5 tourists in the distance. They are taking pictures of the buildings and exploring the town square. They talk continuously but I cannot make out what they are saying. Soon after, they disappear into a small shop on the corner. I see Mr. and Mrs. Fernandez again walking around the plaza once more. It seems as if they are doing laps, very slow laps. They pass me and they smile once more. They reach a corner of the plaza and they begin to hold hands as they leave the town square. They cross the street and continue walking on the sidewalk until they disappear behind a building. The kids on the gazebo resume playing, but now it seems like they are playing “duck-duck-goose”

I continue sitting in the plaza watching people shop in the small shop beside me. After a few minutes, a middle-aged couple, Robert and Delia walk out of the shop holding hands. They walk into the plaza and sit on a bench across from me. They appear to be the kids’ parents since Delia told Ricardo to not hit Maria’s head so hard when it’s her turn to become the goose. Ricardo and Maria apparently have a feud going on so Ricardo hits Maria on the head really hard when it was his time to determine the goose. Maria begins to cry and Delia calls all three of the kids over. She scolds Ricardo and a few seconds later the couple gets up and they begin to walk towards their car. They leave and the plaza is left quiet with just me, parked cars on the street, and the sound of alternative rock music in the distance.