From a distance down the stream come voices. Children. Men and women. Their words and laughter, splashing and bouncing through the trees, cause Jack and Matías to smile, move a bit quicker, even feel a little spark of hope. Pain subsides and is forgotten. Birds singing in the trees become audible. And as they make their way around the zigzag of the curving stream bank, passing large smoke-colored river boulders that block their view, they behold the figures of men and women and scampering kids. All eyes are on Jack and Matías.

The people are spread out along both sides of the stream. Washing. Bathing. Seated, their feet in the water, cooling off. There are piles of clothing. Wheelbarrows. Buckets and tubs. Jack is still amazed at how people live in such low-tech simplicity. But rising up through all his doubts and misgivings comes something he has not felt in some time: Joy. Hope. A surge of relief.

Matías leads the way up the stream, limping and waving at a man. Off to Jack’s right, he sees a snake basking on a rock, its beige-and-black pattern unmoving, eyes watching their movement. Feeling revulsion and fear, Jack moves quickly—he despises snakes. But for the first time, he actually wonders about the snake’s experience of the encounter. Did it fear him as much as he feared it? Or did it even deign to consider his existence at all?

Matías is approaching a man in a tattered Maradona T-shirt and stained dungarees. They shake hands. Exchange words. The man rests his hands on his hips. He has a potbelly and bony limbs. Pursing his lips. Nodding his head. The man then waves Matías and Jack to follow him. Leads them from the stream, where kids stand watching. Taking them into the jungle, where they follow a trail that opens up to a village. A woman hands them a bucket of water. It is the sweetest, most delicious thing he has ever tasted.

All that struggle to get here. Jack will never again take painless walking for granted. All his hurt starts to ease when he bites into a mango. Feels the juice that runs down his chin. Savoring the sweetness. The sugar. His mother’s words play through his mind. Run. Run away from all of it. And he didn’t, instead contenting himself to earn more and more. But more wasn’t helping him, and he got weak. And now the only thing that will help Jack is pure will.