A Gift of Gracias (2 page)
María stared in wonder. “What are they?”
“Oranges, like the ones your mother and I used to eat in Valencia, Spain.”
María had never been to Spain. Her parents often talked of their homeland. But they had never mentioned “oranges.”
“A merchant gave them to Quisqueya and me for helping unload them at the market.” Papá peeled off the golden rind. He handed María a piece.
It smelled sharp and fresh, like tickling inside her nose. It tasted like a sweet sunrise, tingling inside her mouth.
While they ate the oranges, Papá told stories of the wonders he had seen in the city.
“Would you like to live there?” Papá asked María when he had finished.
“You mean, leave the farm?”
Papá nodded sadly. “The farm is not prospering, as you know.”
María bowed her head. Tears fell on the seeds she had collected in her bowl.
Quisqueya whispered.
We will find a way to stay.
His golden face glowed like an indoor sun.
That night, María dreamed that she was holding a bowl of orange seeds. One by one, she was planting them in the ground. As she did, she heard Quisqueya’s voice whispering in her ear,
.
“Thank you,” María obeyed.
As she said so, María felt her heart fill with sweetness.
she whispered, more sincerely. Many thanks.
Suddenly, as if these were magic words, trees burst out of the ground full of leafy branches heavy with oranges. Under the grove stood a beautiful lady with golden skin and a crown of stars.
“Who are you?” María gasped.
“I am called Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia,” the lady said. Our Lady of Thanks.
In the darkness, the lady’s robe twinkled with hundreds of stars.
Above her, the branches had woven a roof hung with hundreds of small suns.
The next morning, María woke up early. She wanted to catch Papá and Quisqueya before they left for the fields.
“I know what will grow on the farm!” María recounted her dream of the beautiful lady in a grove of orange trees.
“Oranges?” Papá murmured thoughtfully, and looked over at Quisqueya.
The old man nodded. His eyes shone with a special light.
That very day, the family began planting. They put seeds in the ground and said
And those seeds sprouted into shoots that grew into trunks that spread into branches filled with oranges that glowed like little suns.
In a matter of months, trees that would normally take years to grow yielded a large crop. Papá and Quisqueya were ready to carry a load to the city.
