Doh, that was indeed a typo. What can I say? I studied French in high school and not Spanish.

I consider this great writing, and in my minds eye, i could easily evision the scene, but character developement seemed to be left up to standard trope cutouts. So I’m flummoxed on whether you meet the challenges requirements by relying heavily on an Indiana Jones type trope insearch of a long lost MacGuffin.

Debes recordar el ‘ñ’ de la palabra ‘señor’.

Besides that, one of the biggest things that stood out to me was your decision to incorporate the lines of dialogue into the body of the paragraph. I expected it to bother me, but it didn’t, which was nice.
Also, if you want to show a greater sense of impatience from el señor in his first line, I suggest separating the name Ortiz and the following question into two sentences rather than one. Something like:

“Ortiz! What are you…” etc.

Otherwise, interesting piece. Out of curiosity, where did you envision the setting?
I’ve never commonly associated canoes and Cyprus trees and the Spanish language with each other.

@Krulltar: You’re absolutely right. It’s a horrible attempt at the challenge and quite fair to completely DQ me from winning. The scene popped into my head, though I wasn’t picturing Indiana Jones…but I can see where that is a possible interpretation of what little I could fit in here.

@memento: Since you asked, as usual for me, it’s set in the South. Ortiz ain’t a local boy, to be sure…and neither is the senor.

Curiosity sated. Thanks.

great character development here. Ortiz draws my attention and leaves me wanting to know more.

This is indeed brilliant writing. I agree that it doesn’t highlight a specific character but I like Ortiz. And I love the piece overall. Some specific phrases that just amazed me:
‘The silence of a wet dawn’
‘Precipitation somewhere between a drizzle and dew’
‘Ghost-men should pray and seek the forgiveness of the Lord’
These really are brilliant!

This is one of those pieces of writing that plays through your head like a film – with every detail in fine HD. I can even hear the accents!

Thanks for entering. Sorry I’m so late with reading and commenting!