The life of a piñata may be poor, nasty, brutish, and short. A camera pans slowly down from a blue sky and a fluffy cloud to a tall leafy tree. Hanging from one branch is a piñata, a bright yellow donkey. The donkey opens its eyes when it hears children approaching. The donkey is pleased to see them until, to the strains of "La Cucaracha," five children start to whack it with sticks. The donkey is bewildered, and after a while, figures out how to pull itself up by the teeth out of the children's reach. Then an adult enters the frame, with a big stick. The donkey is frightened, and, involuntarily happens on a solution that just may save its life.
—<jhailey@hotmail.com>