Victoria walked like a hawk with open wings. The heat and humidity were unbearable. Even though it was already December, the weather remained as ignorant as most of the people of Porosocomo. That was one of the reasons that had driven her to be a candidate.

She left the kitchen and stepped onto the polished cement floor of the corridor, which, regardless of the ambient temperature, was always cold. She took off her sandals and enjoyed it for a few seconds.

"One... Two... Three..."

She descended the steps to the inner garden of the house and passed under the small churuata in the middle of the patio. It was silent and dark. Before, it was filled with laughter and gossip when her father, a gringo she never met, sent them money—at least that's what her mother told her. It had been the center of family entertainment. Now it looked more like a cemetery of old customs, with two faded hammocks spilling languidly onto the columns; the coffee table, which had served for coffee, dominoes, or truco, cluttered with things that weren't important enough to be given their place; chairs facing different directions with invisible occupants who couldn't look each other in the face, and a television that hadn't worked in a long time.

Dodging a few indifferent hens, she walked quickly to the main room where her mother awaited her next to several fans: the air conditioner compressor had been damaged by the power outages, and it was too expensive to buy another. But today, at least, there was no lack of electricity, thank God and a special operation that had been carried out for the Election.

If it weren't for the Election, we'd be sweltering in the corridor. You see how it's already bringing changes for us," she said optimistically to her mother.

"Yes, my dear," replied Mrs. Sonia, her mother, with a hopeful smile and a look that expressed what her limited vocabulary couldn't.

"Then, let's begin. We're going to finish getting me ready."

Victoria's spirit was unbeatable. She had prepared for this day since she was very little.

It all started when Teacher Teresita had gotten sick and they had sent a young pedagogue from the Capital to fill in for her.

From the moment she entered the classroom, she had impressed Victoria: she had beautiful, shiny, and well-cut hair. How elegant she looked, even though she dressed informally, in fashionable jeans. Her hands were well-groomed with long, red nails. She was beautiful. And then, when she spoke to them, she finished captivating her: her voice was melodious and cheerful, with the accent of the Capital. Her words conveyed wisdom, even though Victoria didn't understand many of them.

At that moment she realized how much she had to learn and change to reach the level of a woman like The Teacher —that's what they ended up calling her, after she taught them some words in English. Victoria's first in another language.

The Teacher was different. She had never seen women like that in Porosocomo, who could serve as an example. Not even Teacher Teresita, who was also from the Capital, different and educated. She had always been like a grandmother to Victoria. At 8 years old, everyone over 20 already falls into the adult category, and those over 50 into the old category. The only women she had seen like The Teacher were on television, and that was like a distant fantasy.

'How many things must change,' she realized at that moment. She immediately clung like a tick to the new teacher. She had to try to learn everything she could from her in the short time she was going to be in the town

.

Mariana, as The Teacher was called, received her with affection and tried to guide her. There wasn't much she could teach in a few days to an 8-year-old girl. The only thing she could do was encourage her not to stop her learning. 'Don't stop learning or dreaming that you can achieve great things,' she told her.

Since Victoria didn't have internet and access to books was very limited in Porosocomo, she recommended that she go whenever she could to the house of Don Matías, the most important cattle rancher in the town. He had a computer connected via satellite. There she could watch fantastic television channels from which she could learn many things. That she should approach Corina, Don Matías's daughter, and maybe they would make good friends.

And that was the first project Victoria took on. It wasn't easy to accomplish: she didn't like Corina. She was always off doing her own thing, separated from all the people of the town, as if she felt different and superior. Her mother, Clotilde—who used to work at the grocery store—spent her time showing off all the things she bought, displaying them to everyone, saying how special her daughter was. And Mrs. Sonia, Victoria's mother, had also had something to do with her opinions about Corina, to be honest.

But Victoria knew there were ways to achieve her goals. She treated the people of the town well. She knew María and Antonia, the cook and the housekeeper at the Hacienda, very well.

She thought it was going to be simple: she just had to go to the Hacienda after school. It was far, but worth it. Her plans were dashed when faced with reality. She realized it took her 45 minutes to get there, and when she did, Corina was sitting in front of the television, after her snack, watching what she liked. Mission: Impossible, she said to herself—referring to the impossibility of watching television, not that Corina was watching the series of films of that name, which she didn't even know at that moment.

But she was patient. She studied Corina's customs and schedules. She learned that on Tuesdays and Thursdays she had private lessons in Peresequeme, a nearby town. And on Saturdays, all day, she went with her mother shopping in the state capital, Parasacama.

So she made arrangements with María and Antonia to watch television on those days.

And it had indeed been very instructive. From the first moment, she became aware of a world of things she didn't know, which excited her and set the course of her life. The Teacher had been right.

She attended assiduously and educated herself, discovering things about which she later tried to research in the town, despite the many limitations.

"Done," her mother said, bringing her out of her reverie after finishing her hair.

"Well, Mom, I'll see you downtown. Manuelito will take you there. I'm going to walk to stroll through the streets like a normal person. I don't plan to arrive in a luxury car with one of the ranchers. I want the town to see that I'm one of them, that I haven't sold myself for advantages. That will be decisive in receiving their support, and also when the results are given. That way it will be harder for them to try to cheat."

Victoria was already savoring her name.

"Go with God, my dear. We'll see you there," her mother said, admiring her with her wise eyes.

And so she went: alone, greeting the neighbors, and remembering everything she had gone through to get to this day.

She passed Miguel Cadenas's house. Victoria knew that Miguel had always been in love with her. But his vision of the future was to get married, have children, and remain tied to a town and a past she didn't want. Today she didn't see Miguel in front of his house. He was probably downtown waiting for her arrival.

She continued her walk. She revisited her childhood and adolescence. She strolled through the tedious moments, without electricity or breeze, that seemed endless in Porosocomo; through the town square, which had no heroes; through streets of red dirt that ended in the same places. But none of that stopped her. She had goals. Thus, between her memories, greetings, and smiles, time flew by. She was already arriving downtown. A large group of people could be seen gathered at the site. She stood taller than she was and put on her best smile. People were already pointing her out from a distance.

On her way in, to one side, she could see Corina. As always, dressed in clothes that didn't fit her; that made her look plain, even though she had a very pretty face and was almost as tall as Victoria. Her eyes, which were also green, streaked with brown, were hidden under glasses that looked like an old teacher's.

Victoria was surprised to see her around. She never cared about events in the town.

But she noticed that she was handing out leaflets.  When she saw Miguel Cadenas at the entrance of The School, which was a polling place, everything made sense. She remembered that today there seemed to be an election to give autonomy to the town's leadership. She had heard something like that.

"Politicians are so dumb," she thought. "How do they come up with the idea of organizing elections to change some laws on the same day as the Miss Porosocomo election? That's why nobody votes.

People began to greet her, and Victoria forgot about trivialities, a word she had learned alongside her two television tutors watching the soap opera channels. Because, of course, when Corina left the house, Antonia and María were in control of the television, and the special channels they watched were E! Entertainment, the soap opera channels, and, on gala days, Hola, with specials about the Spanish royalty.

The tutors with the most "curriculum vitae" were The Kardashians—no: the Kardachans, as Antonia and María called them. Her contact with the Far East was through Arab and Korean soap operas. There Victoria understood that the important things in life were the same everywhere: unrequited loves, the poor girl who marries her prince, long nails, and salon hairstyles.

If she had let go of her prejudices, she would have talked to Corina. She would have been delighted to have a friend. Then Victoria would have been influenced by Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Disney Channel, and the history channels, which were the favorite of the girl of the house. Even Corina would have convinced her father to let Victoria accompany her, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to the English classes she received because she wanted to understand the channels that were not translated, like CNN or Bloomberg Channel. And her father would have been very happy to help his daughter.

She also would have understood that Corina wasn't unfriendly. She was simply shy. She tried to hide her mother's excesses.

In short, if things had been different, the present would have been different. But Victoria hadn't learned about the imperfect subjunctive, "would have," and would never know the future subjunctive, "were to have.

At the same time as Victoria, her main opponent in the contest was arriving. She did come in the luxury car of one of the ranchers. Everyone already knew who owed whom favors, or vice versa.

Victoria enjoyed it. She knew she was burying herself. "What a limited vision," she thought. "Staying tied to the town, even if they win the contest." Not her. She had never associated with anyone. She had waited and prepared to win this election. That way, the pageant would take her to the Capital, and she would be famous. There, she could meet a real millionaire to set up her hair salon in a cooler climate.

"Victoria!" she and the town shouted at the end of the contest.

Among the people was Mrs. Sonia, proud of her daughter. She thought that, without a doubt, Victoria had taken the best: her brown skin and her curves mixed with the will, the height, and the green eyes, streaked with brown, of Matías.

Some Spanish words carry a double meaning or connotation that is lost in English. In this short list, I explain each of them, including certain proper names: