“What Pegman saw” is a weekly challenge based on Google Streetview. You can read the rules here. You can find today’s location on this page, from where you can also get the Inlinkz code. This week’s location is Patagonia, Chile. The prompt photo is in the city of Punta Arenas.
Warning
The news that Ignacio was missing electrified our community.
“Dear God, not here,” I prayed.
Ignacio’s wife was frantic, visiting his usual haunts, interrogating his many trade union friends, calling at the police station daily. And then, abruptly, she stopped searching. She wouldn’t talk about him, or answer my questions about whether she had news of him. I saw terror lurking behind her dark-brown eyes.
There were second-hand reports of others who had disappeared, teachers, social workers, even a doctor. We all knew they’d supported Allende, but they weren’t Marxists, for goodness sake, just ordinary people who cared for others. We’re in Punta Arenas, not Santiago; not even Valparaiso. That was where resistance to the military was centred, not here. We’re a peaceful people.
Ignacio turned up after a few months. He’s a solitary man now. He shakes constantly and refuses to go out.
His fingers are twisted.
Autumn Leaves 
What a scary story. Nobody thinks this will happen to them, until it does. Well done.
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It could happen in the UK or USA within a few years unless we keep struggling to retain sane, humane values in politics and life. In the UK, the NZ shootings have prompted an upsurge in anti-Islamic hate crime ffs. And our mainstream politicians are moving further and further to the right.
Thank you for reading and commenting!
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I thought Ignacio was a goner. A chilling tale no matter what his fate.
I like to think the media amplifies discord, but we do indeed live in interesting times.
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Dear Karen
Thank you for reading and commenting. Many people died in Chile under Pinochet, but many survived and were eventually released. I suspect that the tales they brought back were a powerful incentive for people to comply with the military junta. Dr Sheila Cassidy, who subsequently played a leading role in the hospice movement, was held and tortured for several months during 1975. Her account of her experiences raised awareness of the human rights abuses in Pinochet’s Chile.
With very best wishes
Penny
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A revealing account of a hidden horror. Only the the foreboding “oh no, not here,” and the after-effects “his fingers were twisted” suggest the capture and torture that lay between. Well done.
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Dear Andi
Thank you for reading and commenting so thoughtfully. I’m glad you thought the story was done well.
I really shall have to try and write an upbeat Pegman story next week!
With best wishes
Penny
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