A Boy Becomes A Man

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Chapter 3 - Julio, the Goat Herder
One day before the school year was to begin, my two younger siblings were eagerly talking about and preparing themselves for school when my mother took me aside and told me, “Julio, you are already ten years old. I think you are old enough to help us with the support of the family. I don’t like the idea of taking you out of school, seeing how much you like it. But I will have to do it. Mr. Pedro León is looking for someone to take care of his goats. I’ll talk to him about giving you the job. Is that okay?” “I guess so. But I don’t know anything about goat herding or herding anything!” I answered. “You will learn on the job after Mr. León gives you some instructions. Don’t worry. You’re a fast learner. Besides, we still don’t know if he will give you the job,” she told me. I was kind of apprehensive about any kind of job. Not only was I totally unprepared for any kind of job but I was also a cowardly child. The only place I had ever gone by myself was to school and that didn’t take much bravery. “Will I be able to do the job if I get hired?” I asked my mother and myself repeatedly. Visions of mountain lions eating me and the goats danced in my head. Mother assured me, “Everything will be all right. Your goat herding will not take you to places where wild animals are found.” Two days later, I found out that Mr. León had hired me, despite my lack of preparation. A creek that comes down from the mountains nearby forks into two creeks as it hits our town. One creek runs south while the other one runs west, thus cutting our town into three parts. During the rainy season, this creek creates havoc on the villagers by flooding the houses situated between the two parts of the creek. But the rainy season was still months away so I didn’t have to worry about it.
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Our grazing plains were separated from those mountains by a low fence. “Try to keep the herd away from the fence at all times,” Mr. León warned me as I set out on my first herding assignment. “Mountain lions have been known to come down as far as the fence. I’m afraid to think of what would happen if the goats find a hole in that fence,” his words rang loudly in my ears the closer the herd got to the fence. I got to my chosen grazing area without any of my goats wandering away from the herd and they grazed calmly for hours. A few hours before sunset, I rounded them up and began the trip home. Though my body was somewhat tired, my heart swelled with pride. “Thank you, Lord, for helping me through the day. I think my goats and I will be all right,” I whispered as we started for home. Singing has always been a pastime of mine so I began to sing a tune to the rhythm of my steps.
“Come on, my herd, Join me in my singing I think I heard The church bells ringing
We’re almost there I hear some talking Time let’s not spare Let’s keep on walking
Hurray for us We’ll soon be resting That’s why…………..
I stopped singing suddenly because I spotted a man and his dog in the distance walking toward us. As they came closer, his dog

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began to bark at the herd. The man tried hard to calm his dog but he failed. Frightened, the goats began to run away in all directions.
Soon, they all headed straight to the fence. To make matters worse, they found a break in it and they disappeared from sight. “Look what your dog has done!” I screamed with anger. “Why didn’t you hold him back? What am I going to do now?” I asked “I’m terribly sorry. I tried to hold him back but I couldn’t,” he apologized. “Listen, I can help you round them up if you want me to,” he added. “Go away and leave me alone! Take that stupid dog with you! I don’t need your help!” I blurted out, not realizing what I was saying. My head was spinning. Common sense had deserted me. By the time I calmed down, the man and his dog had disappeared. Fear and anger swelled within me again as I realized that I was in deep trouble. I thought, “If I had not let my emotions run away from me, I would not be in this predicament. I should have let him help me round them up. But no! I let anger rule the moment!” For a while, I stood there bewildered, not knowing what to do while the entire herd disappeared. When my anger and my fear subsided, I began to climb up the mountain in search of my goats. This search continued for hours without success. When the sun set, my fears multiplied as I realized that soon, darkness would cover the area and my job would become even more difficult. I decided to speed up my search before total darkness arrived. My search soon took me to a small creek whose clear, sparkling water offered me relief from the terrible thirst I had begun to feel. As I drank, a thought crossed my mind. “If I am thirsty, the goats must be thirsty, too. I am sure they are somewhere near this creek.”
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For miles I walked up along the creek but I didn’t see any of my goats. As darkness began to fall upon the area, fear, hunger, cold and hopelessness gripped my heart. Fear now more for myself than for my goats. After what seemed like a very long time, I came to the source of the creek. By this time, I was hungry but the only thing left in my lunch sack was a chocolate bar and a little box of matches. I built a small fire near the spring, sat down and munched on the chocolate while the sounds of frogs, owls and crickets kept me company. How alone I felt in that darkness, despite the noisy company! After eating, I decided to follow the creek downward, hoping to run into my herd. I thought this creek ran through my village and I hoped it would lead me back home. Moments later, I heard mountain lion roars. At first, I was not worried as they sounded too far away. Soon, though, the roars became louder and I quickened my pace as my heart began to pound faster and faster. I found a few goats resting by the creek and happiness began to take hold of my heart. Soon, I found what I hoped was the rest of my goats. My fear could not completely disappear, though, because growls could still be heard along our route once in a while. Each growl sounded closer and closer. “Could some mountain lion be preying on us?” I asked myself fearfully. To drive away that fear I began to talk to the goats. “We do not want to become a banquet for some hungry lion, do we? Soon, you will be safe in your pen and I will be safe at home with my family. Come on, let’s hurry it up!”



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