At a key moment in his life—about to leave the rural environment to attend high school in the city—young Balam will have to confront his fears to defend everything he loves. With depth and empathy, using accessible language infused with poetic echoes, Martha Hernández takes us on a journey into the everyday life of a boy who lives in a small town surrounded by great natural wealth. It is there, in the pond that in his eyes becomes a wishing well, accompanied by the butterflies celebrating his splashes, that Balam invites us to reflect on the loss of natural diversity and traditions, as well as the urgent need to emigrate, situations that have consumed the Mexican countryside and its inhabitants for decades. Soon, the boy will have to confront what the entire town speaks of with fear, the Great Winged Jaguar, to defend what is most important, what is being destroyed by the true predators: loggers, hunters, and human traffickers, the everyday faces of savage capitalism.