"Flight" is a short story by American writer John Steinbeck, first published in his collection The Long Valley.
The story opens on the Mexican-Indian Torres family, who live on a poor farm beside the ocean 15 miles below Monterey, California.
The two youngest children help their mother by fishing but Pepé is lazy; he amuses himself by throwing his father's folding knife into a post.
His mother sends Pepé into town to buy some medicine and salt; he can eat and sleep at her friend's, Mrs. Rodriguez's, house for the night.
Although he removes the projectile, his hand swells and hurts – the wound has badly infected his arm.