1492: The year the gods came to visit

I see something in the horizon, not sure what it is yet but looks big. Not like a normal boat that we use and far too big to be a shark. It is approaching fast; it is a boat – definitely. But not one of ours, never saw one like this. Maybe it is a boat from the gods, but why would the gods come visit us? Oh, NO! I know exactly why they are here! It is all my fault, they are not here to visit the village, they came to get me and give me my punishment for lying to my mother yesterday about not drinking the cane juice. It was me; I could not resist – cane juice is the best food ever.

Mom always said that the gods punish us for doing bad things, but I never thought it was going to happen so fast. There is still a chance they are coming for somebody else’s bad things, maybe if I hide, they will forget about me and just let me be. I have never seen a god, I wonder what they look like, maybe I should hide near by just to watch them. The boys will never believe when I tell them, my mom might even forgive me for lying about the juice when she hears that I know the format of the gods; now that I think about it, if they look nice, I could take the punishment from them. Should not be that bad plus my mom will not punish me for lying if the gods have already done it. Yes, I will hide and then decide what will be the best thing to do.

Behind the trees is a nice place but these boats are more than just big, they are weird. They stopped way too far from the beach, will the gods come swimming all the way? They are throwing something in the sea! What is that? Ah, those look way more like boats. I bet the creatures inside are the gods! But from here they look quite similar to normal humans; no, they do not. Now that they are getting closer, they have arms and legs, but they have weird hair and a skin so white it looks like they could be already dead. And they dress weird: too much clothing for this time of the year, they must be cooking inside those. Maybe the gods really are already dead and that is why they are so cold and must wear that amount of clothes.

I guess I cannot expect the gods to dress or behave like normal humans but they seem happy to be on the beach: they are throwing themselves at the ground, waving their arms up, smiling – although they do not seem to have teeth and, when they do, the teeth are really weird. Or maybe they are just performing some type of ritual I have never seen before because I do not understand a thing they are saying; maybe it is the language of the gods but it sure sounds like a curse, they seem to speak with their nose although the sounds for sure come from the mouth. And they are quite small as well, I thought the gods would be big, imponent, strong. Not ugly, small people – what a disappointment.

Now that I think about it, maybe they are not even gods; would gods look this pathetic? I guess the best thing will be to ask mom about this, I will go home. Oh, my arm got stuck! No, it is not, it is one of the gods. Looking closely like this they look like a very ugly person and I swear I have never thought someone could smell this bad.

- Let me go! I do not have anything to treat with you!

Not sure this god understood me, he is speaking their weird language.

-Please let me go! I will never drink cane juice in secret again, I promise. Real promise, I am already a man now, I do not go back with my word! So please, let me just go home.

More random sounds that probably have a meaning although I do not get it. He is taking something from inside his clothing, it is a yellow disc. I have never seen this material before, probably something from the land of the gods. But, now that I think about it, looks like a very shiny disc made of corn; I cannot think about any other thing as yellow as that. Maybe this is god’s food, who knows. I think if I give him corn, maybe he can also eat it and just let me go.

-Here, I have some corn my mom gave me to eat for lunch. You can have it; my mom does cook very well, just try it. You will like it.

He seems to be calling a friend, this friend does smell worse than the one that is holding me. I think I got it, he was looking for food for his friend. But why is the friend crushing the corn instead of eating? He probably does not know how to eat it.

-I can teach you! You are supposed to just put it in your mouth, crew and then swallow. Like this, see?

Why are they laughing? Are the gods retarded?

-You are hurting me, no need to hold me this strong! And please stop yelling, I do not really understand your language!

His tone is aggressive, maybe he thinks I am trying to bribe him to run from my punishment for lying.

-I know what I have done wrong, I will take the punishment and then apologize to my mom, I promise! But please stop holding me this strongly, it is hurting me!

He is now taking something off his clothing again, but this time is something bigger. I do not know how to describe this, it shines like copper and has a hole in it – maybe to fill with water! I guess the gods are thirsty, I can take them to the river. Why is he pointing this instrument to my head? This is very cold, for sure has the texture of copper. He is still yelling; I cannot understand a thing.

-Mister God, please stop yelling, I do not speak your language!

Maybe the priestess at the temple will understand, I can take you the - What is this sudden sound?