Colán

In front of the Church of San Lucas in Colán, drums, flutes, and wooden sticks clattered together. Colorful ribbons fluttered over the festival grounds. Between the market stalls, men and women danced with small horses made of wood and fabric around their hips.

"The Danza del Caballito," Perusina explained. "The dancers move as if they were riding a horse."

Franz tilted his head. "That's supposed to be difficult? I have four legs."

At that moment, a dancer jumped out from behind a curtain.

"My Caballito! Where is my Caballito?"

Right next to Franz stood a brightly decorated wooden horse. Red, yellow, and green ribbons protruded from its back. Franz curiously poked his head through the opening.

"Just to try it out," he mumbled.

Perusino tugged at his tail. "Franz, that's not a fox costume."

Too late.

Two helpers grabbed the Caballito and carried it, along with Franz, onto the festival grounds.

"Participant number twelve!" shouted the announcer.

The drums began.

Franz shot off. First to the left, then to the right, then simultaneously in both directions. The wooden horse spun around him. Franz stumbled over his own paws, bumped into Perusino, and pushed him backward into a basket full of lemons.

The audience laughed.

Franz picked himself up. His ears twitched to the beat of the drum. One step, two jumps, a turn. Suddenly, his paws clattered exactly in rhythm.

The Caballito hopped, galloped, and reared up. Franz jumped over a broom, ducked under a garland, and slid on his belly between two dancers.

"He can really do it!" shouted Perusino, placing a lemon on his nose.

In the first round, participants had to follow the rhythm. Franz made it to the next round.

Now it was through a course of baskets, poles, and fluttering cloths. Franz raced around the obstacles, jumped over a basket, and made such a quick turn that the ribbons of his Caballito flew horizontally through the air.

Franz was in the lead.

Only the grand final round remained.

Then a gust of wind swept across the square from the sea. The garlands clattered. A sunshade ripped from its fastening and slammed into a cart where the eliminated participants' Caballitos lay.

The cart started to move.

"It's rolling!" shouted Perusina.

With a loud rumble, it sped down the sloping path. In front of it stood several children who noticed nothing of the cart.

Franz jumped out of the dance line.

"Hey! The competition is here!" shouted the announcer.

Franz no longer heard him. He galloped after the cart. The wooden horse around his hips crashed against boxes and market stalls. A melon flew through the air. Perusino caught it, lost his balance, and landed on the sunshade.

Perusina ran to the other side of the path. "We need a rope!"

She tore a line from a fishing boat and threw one end to Perusino. Together, they stretched the rope across the path.

The cart sped towards it.

"Too fast!" cried Perusino.

Franz jumped onto a low wall, ran three steps across it, and pushed off. In mid-air, he turned the Caballito. The wooden horse's nose hooked onto the cart's handle.

Franz was dragged along.

His paws slid over the ground. The Caballito groaned. The cart slowed down, broke through the stretched rope, and turned sideways.

The children jumped aside.

With a final jolt, the cart stopped.

Franz hung upside down in the wooden horse. The melon sat on his head.

"That," he gasped, "was exactly the plan."

The festival square cheered. But Franz looked at the dance floor. The closing music was already playing.

"I lost!"

"Not yet," said Perusina. "The music isn't over yet."

Franz raced back. Perusino and Perusina ran beside him. As they reached the square, the drum played its last, fast rhythm.

Franz leaped into the center. He demonstrated the cart's wild ride: the rumbling, the skidding, the jump from the wall, and the emergency stop. Perusina and Perusino danced behind him, portraying fluttering garlands and rolling melons.

On the last drum beat, Franz landed on all four paws.

For a moment, it was silent. Then the head of the jury rose.

"The Danza del Caballito requires rhythm, courage, and attention to the community. Participant number twelve has shown all three today."

She presented Franz with a small carved Caballito.

Franz examined his prize. "Can you eat this?"

Perusino took the melon off his head. "No. But we still have this."

As the sun set over Colán into the Pacific, the three shared the dented winner's melon.