The morning sun made the salt flats shine like diamonds. Joaquín's truck bounced across the white desert floor while Polly held onto the roof. She looked at the strange patterns in the salt that stretched everywhere.
"Look there," Joaquín pointed ahead. Several pyramid-shaped hills rose from the flat ground. "Those are salt pyramids we build when we harvest. But something is different."
As they got closer, Polly saw what he meant. Some pyramids were white, but others had green and pink colors running through them.
"Lithium brine," called a young woman's voice. She came out from behind one of the colored pyramids. "It's making the salt dirty. I've been taking photos all morning."
"Elena," Joaquín said. He sounded proud but worried. "I thought you were at the processing plant."
"I was," she said, wiping her dusty hands. "But the new drilling sites are closer than the company told us. The underground brine is coming up through the salt." She showed them photos on her phone. "The traditional harvest areas will be ruined in just a few months."
Polly flew down to sit on a white pyramid. "Can't the salt and lithium work together?"
Elena laughed, but she wasn't happy. "The mining executives say yes. But lithium extraction needs huge amounts of water in this dry place. It leaves toxic pools that poison flamingos and ruin our salt."
"You supported the mining project," Joaquín said quietly.
"I wanted jobs for people," she replied. Then her shoulders dropped. "But not this destruction." She looked at Polly. "You're the traveling parrot who helps people, right?"
"I try," Polly said.
"Then help us stop this before it's too late," Elena said. "If we don't act soon, there won't be any salt flats left."
The wind carried a chemical smell. In the distance, pink flamingos flew away from their home.
