THE RIVER AS A LIVING BEING
As a child Isaac Macedo had an imaginary friend, a little girl who brought him fish and played with him on the sloping banks of the Marañón River. Or so his mother thought. Isaac grew up into a strong young fisherman who supplied his mother, Marta Luz, with plenty of stock for her food kiosk overlooking the river in their small community of Santa Rita de Castilla. One day Isaac came back from fishing with happy news: his childhood friend was not make-believe; she had become his wife and they were going to have a baby. Marta thought it was strange that she had never seen this woman, but was eager to meet her and Isaac promised they would soon be introduced.
Shortly afterward Isaac disappeared in one of the river’s swirling whirlpools while fishing near their village. His canoe and fishing gear were discovered intact but his body was never found and his family had yet to meet his wife and son.
Two weeks later Isaac visited his mother in a dream. ‘Don’t cry Mama,’ he consoled her, ‘I’m not dead. I’m alive and with my wife and son. Look at me!’ Marta saw that Isaac had transformed into a river spirit and was living with his wife,
