Saison des pluies

Saison des pluies is the wet season that brings rain to Comala and its surrounding fields, briefly renewing expectations of abundance before leaving the landscape to the winds. Its changing weather recurs alongside private distress and approaching danger, giving the season a presence that is at once agricultural, atmospheric, and narrative.

Rain and the Promise of a Harvest

At dawn, large drops strike the loose dust of the plowed fields. Fulgor Sedano smells the earth, steps outside, and watches the rain fall into the furrows. He draws in the scent and laughs, welcoming what he takes as the promise of another good year. His address to the water recalls the labor spent opening the soil for it: rainfall is not merely a change in weather, but the answer to work invested in cultivation.

The Valley After the Downpour

In another scene, rain still falls on Monday as the valley of Comala is overwhelmed by it. The wind has blown for days and brought the rain; when the rain passes, the wind remains. In the fields, maize plants shake their leaves and bend against the furrows to shelter from the gusts. By day the wind rattles climbing vines and roof tiles; at night it groans for long stretches, while clouds move silently low across the sky. The season is therefore more than a single shower: its effects continue after the rain itself has gone.

Weather, Unease, and Night

The season's weather surrounds scenes of emotional and physical vulnerability. Susana San Juan lies awake listening to the wind strike her closed window. When the wind abruptly stops, a door opens, a draft puts out the lamp, and she hears murmurs and the irregular beating of her heart. The change from relentless weather to sudden stillness intensifies the disturbance without explaining it.

On another calm rainy-season night, Damiana Cisneros opens a window after hearing blows at the entrance. Though she can see nothing, she senses the earth as if it were stirring with worms after rain and feels a warmth rising from the presence of many men. Frogs croak and crickets sound before the blows come again. A lamp briefly illuminates several faces, then goes out; Damiana decides the matter does not concern her and shuts the window. Here the season's soil, night sounds, and darkness frame an intrusion whose human cause remains only partly visible.