Book 1, Chapter 5
Chapter 5 was a fun one to write. Right around half of you chose Option 2, which became our winner. Just 8 percent chose Option 1, and around 40 percent chose Option 3. In case you’ve forgotten, the options were:
Option 1: Alex listens to the audio recordings, which contain conversations Rafael recorded with Pichari locals that reveal the traffickers are moving more than coca through their networks.
Option 2: Alex figures out Jorge’s email address and writes to him. He responds with unexpected information about Rafael’s location after he went missing. Alex gets a response from Deidre, but the conversation stops when Alex brings up the Caminos project. (THIS WEEK’S WINNER!)
Option 3: Alex listens to the audio recordings, which are interviews with farmers in Pichari that give chilling information about what’s going on around Pichari. Alex figures out Jorge’s email address and writes to him but gets an extended out-of-office message.
It felt good for Alex to get some concrete information and make a little progress in this chapter. I’d gotten itchy feet from her staying around Washington (and Knoxville) trying to scrounge up information. All that is about to change with your votes from last time. An overwhelming 92% of you want Alex to head to Peru in the next chapter. Of those who want her to go, 64% want her to travel with Olivia, meaning an exciting, less-lonely adventure up ahead.
Some readers commented that they were ready for that, although others mentioned they liked the feel of her working around DC, getting to know more about her life and the day-to-day. Another expressed a feeling similar to mine—that it was time for Alex to move—and certainly the votes showed most of you were in-line with that.
And special thanks to the reader who pointed out a typo between the options written at the end of Chapter 4 and the form on the Social Constructs page. I’d tweaked the language during final edits, but forgot to make the change in the document. These things happen, so please feel encouraged to tell me if you see an error, typo, or factual inaccuracy. That sort of feedback helps improve the draft so much.
I’ll add here a couple of notes on the details in this chapter. First, the incident that derails Alex’s plans in the beginning, the blinking lights in a trash can shutting down the Pentagon Metro Station, actually happened and seriously messed up my commute home one evening, although it was sometime closer to 2011 or 2012 and it was a Christmas card, not a birthday card. I always thought it was comical that a silly, light-up card (I imagine it with reindeer on it) was the cause of swarms of police and a lock-down of one of the busiest travel hubs in D.C.. I also lament the frustrating waste of resources and time for so many people, but better to reflect on the comedy of life than the tragedy, no?
Second, Calca and Oropesa were towns I knew and traveled through frequently when I was working in Peru. Calca is more famous, being in the Inca’s Sacred Valley and now a major tourist town. Oropesa stands out because it is famous for its bread-making skills and scores of bakeries. The town sits right on the major highway from Cusco to Puno, often called the Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun), and smells like bread for the whole time you are driving through it, at least if you drive through in the morning when the ovens are churning out the loaves. I didn’t choose it for its aromatic qualities, but for another strategic reason that may play out in the coming chapters, depending on what you all choose!
Lastly, the philosophical pondering Alex does in the beginning of the chapter is something I reflect on now and then with little things in life—What if I’d scored lower on the entrance exam and not been placed in the same language class with my now-husband (then just a random guy)? What if I’d accepted that other job offer back in 2017? What if I hadn’t randomly found the website with that creative writing class that got me trying new writing methods? Existence is made up of trillions of little moments where things happen the way they do—or they don’t, maybe with a higher purpose—or maybe no purpose at all.
Oh, and one more thing: Make sure you vote for what happens in Chapter 6!
