Turtles of the Midnight Moon by María José Fitzgerald

Author:María José Fitzgerald [Fitzgerald, María José]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2023-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

After Luna’s rare and unexpected visit, Barana, Tulu, and Abby went back to Bela’s and devoured a tray of baleadas. An early dinner. The soft bean-filled tortillas were Abby’s second-favorite Honduran dish, after ceviche. When she was nine, Papi had taken her to the Bronx for lunch at his favorite Honduran restaurant. She’d loved the baleadas so much that she’d begged to go back the next month. And the next. Until it became a monthly tradition.

If the baleadas in New York City were five stars, Bela’s were a solid six. Her flour tortillas were thicker and warmer, and the refried beans melted in Abby’s mouth. Bela had even arranged sliced avocado all around the plate and decorated the edges with little pink flowers. But there was something else about them, something beyond taste and appearance. Bela had a way with food, and Abby wished she could somehow capture all the flavors in her photographs and keep them in her memory forever.

After savoring the baleadas, Abby suggested they go outside to wait for their fathers. She wanted to curl up inside one of the hammocks and take a nap. The late-afternoon heat and full belly had made her sleepy.

Abby and Barana sat on the hammock together and took turns pushing off the sand to rock it back and forth. Abby’s eyes relaxed with the swaying. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the muffled sounds of men’s voices approached them, waking her from her afternoon siesta.

“They’re back!” she said.

Barana was chewing her pencil nervously when Abby alerted her that the fishermen had arrived. She put the chewed-up pencil back in her tight bun and jumped out of the hamaca. The hammock was so large it swallowed Abby’s body whole when Barana got out. Abby had to roll over and lean forward to finally get her body to defy gravity and cooperate.

She ran to catch up with her friend.

“Hola, niñas,” Papi said. He set down his backpack and hugged Abby. He smelled like the ocean.

Barana’s father put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Dr. Durón is a good teacher.”

“Maybe one day you girls will learn to scuba dive too,” Papi said.

“Yo? ¿Una niña?” Barana said.

Abby was also taken aback. She’d never heard her own father suggest she learn to dive.

“Por qué no?” Papi replied. “Anybody can learn to scuba dive.”

Abby wondered if local women ever took up diving, or if it was something reserved for men.

“Barana, maybe one day we’ll dive together. I could get an underwater camera and take pictures of you in the ocean with Luna!” Abby had never imagined herself scuba diving, but for some reason saying it out loud to Barana didn’t feel scary. If she wanted to be a legitimate wildlife photographer, underwater pictures were a must. Learning to dive suddenly became…important.

Barana stared at her like she’d never considered the possibility, either.

“I think that sounds like something we can arrange one day,” Papi said.

And just like that, Abby could imagine herself taking underwater pictures. It was a before-and-after moment.

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