Moments That Change Lives

Chapter 3

“Wow this is crazy.” Henry’s voice came from next to her.

“You’ve never been to a rain forest?” Mira asked him, directing her look toward him. His eyes were focused somewhere in the distance before they shifted to his right, to his left and even above. His jaw was also set.

“Never. First time,” he muttered and continued walking as if possessed by black magic.

She cleared her throat. “So, since it’s your first time, I might as well talk into detail a bit. You want that?”

“Whatever suits you,” he mumbled and was obviously still stunned by the amazing wildlife.

“Well, the rain forest we’re in is probably one of the oldest in the world. Here you will find species that you can’t encounter anywhere else and we can boast with that – “

“We?”

“Yeah, we. I’m part of it as well,” she told him, offering him her kindest smile. “Now please don’t interrupt me, will you? So, I’ll start with the flora and that’s the plants or everything green in front of you.”

“I know what flora is,” he said, content that he found the thing that took her up the wall. Interrupting.

“Okay, I’m glad you know that. Memory is the mother of all wisdom,” Mira proudly spoke.

“Socrates?” He asked a crease forming between his eyebrows.

“Close. Aeschylus.”

“What? Who’s he?”

“Never mind that. We’re here for some rain forest lessons. Where was I?” She stopped before the thoughts finally came to her. “Ah, yes. The flora in the rain forest is plenty. There are as many species of plants and trees as there are animals, believe it or not. My personal favorite is ceiba pentandra or you might know it as kapok tree – “

“Why?” His look fell on her eyes again. “Why is it so special to you?”

Mira was suddenly caught off guard. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s a simple question, smart head,” he joked.

She had perfectly understood the question, but for the first time since her employment she was asked something she had no answer to. Her mind raced to find something satisfying as a reply, thinking of lies and possible events that had led her to liking the kapok tree the most. Indeed why that particular tree was her dearest was a real mystery to even herself. It was something that even Sherlock and Watson and Agatha Christie joined together wouldn’t crack. Was it because of all the kapok trees in the whole wide world she was fond of one single specimen standing bold and tall outside the rain forest in her secret place? Was that the logical explanation?

“It doesn’t really matter. How it looks is interesting to me,” she lied.

“Lying. You’re lying. Even a child can see that,” Henry said smiling.

“Oh, shut up, you polygraph on two legs. Now, let’s move to the subject of the fauna and I know that you know that that’s the animals. Follow me here.” Mira suddenly escaped the ground path and went to the right.

“Where are you taking me?” Henry asked evidently distressed.

“You won’t be killed, pampered princess,” she teased him and that made him chuckle nervously.

They walked in silence – Mira stepping with firm feet on the ground, a hundred percent sure of the place she was going to. That’ll probably stop him from speaking a bit, she thought to herself.

The weather was pretty nice for a rain forest. Luckily, they were granted mercy and there wasn’t even a cloud or a drop of rain which resulted in a magnificent scenery of the whole forest bathing in the afternoon sun. The light came in small patches as it fought its way between the branches and leaves to the earth, painting a wonderful picture which astonished Henry. She noticed that he stared in awe and wonder at any ant that passed between and required further explanation of their name, s*x, behavior and other stuff like that. His fingertips often went across the barks of the trees, experiencing the texture and sensing the age.

“It’s amazing. I can almost feel it living, as if it has veins and arteries and blood flowing through them. Unbelievable,” Henry told her.

“Yeah, that happens to me as well. And I often get that from the tourists. Come on now. Just a little more.”

They were walking in silence before Henry stopped in his tracks. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Mira became alert as her ears prickled to pick up some noise and her eyes focused so that she could see much further. What could she possibly miss? And then it dawned on her and her muscles relaxed. “Oh, you mean the water.”

“Maybe,” he muttered, his ego not letting him admit that he was afraid of the sound of running water. Mira giggled to herself. That was how men were, tough on the outside but easily scared.

The loud sound of the nearby river was almost deafening. Mira could see that Henry was talking about something, but she didn’t really mind. Like any other tourist before him who hadn’t been into the forest, he was going to get knocked off his feet.

A huge stone that had once been gray and now changed into a gray-green was covered in moss. She remembered that the first time she had come here she engraved her initials there with a knife. It had been something that made her feel at home, that she belonged there in the perfect blend of greenness and rain and exotic animals. Actually it had been right then that she had discovered the wild river that lay just after it.

“Where are we going?” Henry was shouting behind her.

“Don’t worry. I am definitely not into killing a billionaire and dumping his corpse into the wilderness,” she teased him.

Henry laughed sarcastically. “Very funny, Mira. Hilarious. I may be a billionaire, but I’m definitely not one of the kind that buy their diplomas and are good for nothing. We’re going toward a river, but I have nothing on my mind beside the scenario where you kill me and hide your victim thanks to the water current –”

“This. I’m showing you this,” she said stubbornly stepping close to the river bank. Mira could very well see in his eyes how marvelous it looked to him. And besides her coming for a hundredth time here, it was still spectacular even for her. “The river is one of the fastest in the rain forest running right into the middle of it, which is rather fascinating. However we’re here to see this little fellow over there.”

She crouched down to show Henry a small frog with two overlapping shades of green. One was lighter, but the one around its eyes and across its back was dark.

“What’s that? It’s a frog obviously, but why is it special?”

“It’s a poisonous frog located mainly in South America, but can be encountered in Central America also. What’s interesting is that it contains enough poison on its back to kill off the entire population of New York!”

“Oh my God! Really?” Henry replied in an obvious bewilderment.

“Absolutely. So don’t get near it. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in jail.”

“Amazing. Thanks for sharing that with me,” Henry said.

“It’s my job. I’m supposed to do that.” He was unbelievably pleasant and kind and he had his lessons on how to use charms on girls learned.

He didn’t say anything for a moment. His eyes gazed into hers as she saw her reflection in his black pools hidden by two perfect lines of eyebrows.