Flaco Author:Dorothy W. Andrews The Lopez family, who lived in the beautiful city of Oaxaca, Mexico, had a happy custom of talking together after the noon meal about the things that had happened to them during the morning. Usually they enjoyed their talks together, but one day Papa Lopez had bad news. He had lost his job and they could no longer rent the house in which they li... more »ved.
It was Flaco who had an idea to solve the family problem. At church he had seen pictures of a new colony where people could work and earn land that would become their own. He told Papa, "We could have a new home, and you could have a new job."
Papa was not sure he wanted to leave Oaxaca. Neither was his sixteen-year-old sister Margarita, who was afraid there might not be a nice young man for her to marry in the Colony. But at last they made up their minds, and the whole family left for the new home.
Even Flaco was disappointed at first. The homes in the Colony were not pretty like those in Oaxaca. The Colony seemed bare and ugly. When Flaco tried to make friends with Chico Gonzales, he said and did the wrong things, and they quarreled.
But after a while, things began to straighten out. Flaco and Chico became friends. Little brother Pedro made friends, too. Mama became busy and happy making their home chherful, and Margarita found a nice young man who was just right for her.
Best of all, Flaco was given the important job of keeper of the ant powder. When the warning bell on the fig tree rang, Flaco ran quickly with the powder the colonists needed to fight armies of ants that tried to destroy their crops.
Only Papa remained unhappy, and until Papa was happy, the family could not be sure he would not take them back to Oaxaca, away from the new home they had learned to love. It took a wedding, a fire, and some good neighbors to change Papa's mind. But at last, to Flaco's joy, he said, "We are not leaving. This is our home."« less