The town has changed a lot, eight years ago when Rodolfo left there it was a small village with just a few houses, connected by a muddy path. Now there is at least a small cement path that ascends the hill.

Some of the neighbors have improved their houses and now there are modern constructions. His grandmother has also improved the house, now it is a two-story building where she can comfortably accommodate the entire family that visits for Christmas and New Year.

Rodolfo left to study high school far away eight years ago and since then he only arrives on the 31st and leaves on January 1st in the afternoon.

He eagerly awaits this date, he likes to visit his grandmother but the reason his heart beats fast and nervous is another.

Rodolfo arrives at the house at noon, as usual he finds the men of the family already drinking and the women busy in the kitchen, trying to have at least six dishes served in large pots for dinner.

He sits with the men to have a beer and talks to his uncles about his work in the Capital and the things happening in the City.

All the uncles and cousins gathered there come from different places, as the town has not provided for them for a long time so they had to emigrate leaving the grandmother alone with some aunts, the same happens in every little house in the town.

Rodolfo impatiently drinks a couple of beers almost in a row, his parents have not traveled from the United States since they left, ten years ago, he hasn't seen them since then but there are news that they will soon have their residence and will be able to return. The news has everyone happy, including Rodolfo.

Midnight approaches and Rodolfo can't stop looking at the clock, at eleven o'clock he gets up and goes to the back of the house where there is a bathroom with a shower, he fills a bucket with water and puts in a heating coil, the mountain is very cold and at night fog and dew fall making it worse.

Seven years ago, when he returned for the first time to spend New Year's Eve with his grandmother, it was around nine o'clock and it was already very dark outside, he missed his parents and got bored with the drunken conversation of his uncles, he approached the kitchen to help his grandmother and the grandmother was outraged - the man in the kitchen smells like chicken shit - she said and kicked him out to go drink with the men.

He roamed the winding and overgrown terrain behind the house, sat down to look at the stars that there in the mountains are seen by thousands, of all sizes and some brighter than others, he lay down on the ground to look at them better, it was a completely dark and lonely place not far from the house but difficult to access.

He felt a kick in the side and stood up a bit nervous. There was Nicolás, the son of the neighbor next door, dressed in denim pants, a good brand suede jacket, and a white hat, from down below it looked quite imposin...