Salt & Pepper — Part 4

After a long and tricky voyage, our travellers finally docked in the Yucatán Peninsula. It was time to say goodbye to their newest friends. The massive door of the ship slowly began to open, like the huge mouth of a sea monster. The first rays of the hot Mexican sun beamed into the cargo area. The six friends exchanged meaningful glances one more time, and then Pepper and Salt headed onward to their next adventure. It fascinated them to think about how far they were from the Horák’s apartment right now, but at the same time, it scared them a little.

“Do you think we can get home from here?” Salt asked her companion.

“I really have no idea. But we have plenty of experience and new knowledge to share. Maybe we’ll come up with a way to go back,” said Pepper. They were both in a good mood as they set out to explore yet another place on Earth. From crossword puzzles and other games, they had learned that Mexico was a land of celebrations and tasty food. And they were very much looking forward to discovering new flavours and making more friends. However, from the port it was a few kilometres to the nearest city. Since there was no means of transport in sight, they decided to try going on foot.

On the way, they admired all the different sorts of cacti — their shapes resembled figures or objects and they had fun giving them names. Interestingly, the lazy porcupines they came across had prickly spines and looked like slowly-moving cacti. The Mexican sun was extremely hot and everyone seemed to be moving very slowly. Even the rattlesnakes were almost motionless. They completely blended into the surroundings, too, using only their tails to draw…