Pacha-Mama

Deep in the Peruvian Amazon, an illegal mine has been set up to extract gold from the river using elemental mercury. As the operation ramps up, the workers extract the gold and burn off the poisonous mercury into the sky. Meanwhile, on a desert peak high in the Andes, a storm brews. A hooded figure sleeps on the peak of Llullaillaco neither alive nor dead, victim of an ancient sacrifice. Thunderhead clouds gather and lightning strikes the peak, bringing Qantuta back to life. Now awake, she senses something is amiss. A feeling summons her off the peak and down into the smoking jungles lying in the distance. There is still a chance to make things right, but she—and the world—are running out of time. “Pacha-Mama” first appeared in Scarlet Leaf Review in February 2020.