Benito looked at the empty huts. There stood his mothers hut which was the biggest of them, where he had spent his early years with his parents and his two brothers. Then there was Araujo's hut, where he spent many happy hours during the first year of Araujo's marriage to Maria, and where he spent many sad moments with Araujo during his last days. Benito's bachelor hut stood apart, for it was a noisy one, as expected of youth existence. Time was when they were all bustling with activity, with life. Now, they stood empty, derelict, bereft of all warmth. They were tombs without caskets! He moved over to the burial ground, where three graves, bearing the remains of his late father and his two brothers stared at him - a store loaded with unutterable questions. He had offended them, he knew, but knew not how to appease them. This was a haunted place, with angry ethereal ghosts roaming the compound, seeking revenge. Dare they reach Linda, his love? He retreated, step by step, several timid steps. Then turned and ran.
