Plants are not fun, or that’s what most
people think about them. They just think flowers are nice because of the colors
but that’s it, they don’t see anything beyond it. Patricia did. She had always
seen something in the botanical world that had attracted her. Maybe it was
because those creatures didn’t have a voice, they weren’t able to scream and
say what they felt or what they wanted. Mysteries wrapped them and made them
something that was so near but also very far.
So Patricia studied botany for years and she
travelled the world getting masters degrees and doctorates, studying with the
greatest scientific minds in order to learn more and more about her favorite
living things. And then, it dawned on her, that she couldn’t just investigate
and look at the plants from afar. She really needed to spend time in the field,
discovering new types of plants and designing ways to better protect the one
that people knew about. She thought about this day and night, for a long time.
That was, until she met the person that could
help her achieve what she wanted. Her name was Hayley and she also had a
special love for plants. They met in a conference about roses and other flowers
and were surprised how much the other one knew about those creatures. They even
had fun quizzing each other about their favorite species and telling very
interesting tales about the discovery of some plant or flower. They enjoyed the
conference more than anyone else that year.
They promised to be in touch and it was very
soon after that when Hayley invited Patricia to a trip to the Philippines.
Apparently, a team of many scientists would visit one of the country’s most
remote islands, one were many people said an incredible number of new species
of animals and plants could live. The island was relatively small and was
protected by the government because it was one of the many islands forming a
very large protected area. But this was the first time they would allow people
to go in.
Patricia had her doubts. If she had to be
honest with herself, she wasn’t the kind of person to love dirt and hot
temperatures. She didn’t even like taking transportation in order to go
anywhere. She got annoyed in taxis, as well as in planes or boats. It wasn’t
only that she got dizzy; it was also that she disliked having to interact with
people that she didn’t particularly care about. Hayley had been a real
exception and she finally decided to go only because she thought having Hayley
around would be a good thing if she felt she couldn’t stand anything anymore.
Before departing for the Philippines, both
women met and had a blast together. Not only they enjoyed discussing plants
again, they also went shopping for appropriate clothes for the trip and even
had time to eat, drink and watch a movie together. They really got along very
well. The only difference between them was that Hayley loved people and was,
apparently, a big partier. She would sometimes talk about it but, as she soon
learned, Patricia was not of her same perception so she limited those subjects.
The day before departing Hayley promised
Patricia that she would take care of her and that if she had any problems with
any other person, she could come to her and tell her all about it. Patricia was
so thankful for that kind attitude that she decided to buy a nice little
present for her trip companion at the airport. She gave it to Hayley on the
plane, hours after take off. It was a nice little pendant with a rose pendant.
Hayley was so surprised; she just gave Patricia a big hug, which surprised her.
But she didn’t push back.
In Manila, they met the rest of the team,
mostly composed by men. Some were going to the island to look for minerals and
others were biologists hoping to find the creature that would put them in
history books. Also a couple of geologists joined them, intrigued by the many
tectonic faults plaguing the island. Patricia got nervous when she heard about
that, but tried to remain strong because everyone else seemed so put together
and committed, and she didn’t wanted to be the only one freaking out.
On the next plane, Hayley sat far from her, as
the seats had been assigned prior to them getting to the airport. So she had to
sit with a big guy that sweated a lot and loved to talk about rocks and not
much more. They only chit chatted for a bit before the man turned to the other
side and decided the person on that side was much more interesting and willing
to connect than Patricia. She felt really bad but thought the best thing to do
was to try and sleep a bit before having to board the boat, the final leg of
the route to the island.
When they got off the plane, the heat was
incredible. Patricia tried to refresh herself with some wet towels but that
wasn’t enough. Actually, it made no sense to spend any time trying to get rid
of the sweat because each step anyone took on that tarmac meant at least a
hundred drops of sweat would roll down their foreheads. So they just followed
their guide to the terminal, then to a van than took them to a pier and finally
into a boat that was much too tiny to carry so many people. Patricia was really
having second thought about coming on that trip but she couldn’t say it out
loud.
As the sun would set soon, their guide told
them they would not be going to the actual island that day but to the one just
in front of it, were their cabins had been built by the government. Of course,
when they got there, the rooms had no air conditioning and the beds were into
precisely meant for hotels and resorts. The bathrooms were also awful and they
didn’t have much to cook, as provisions had not arrived from Manila.
So dinner that night was made of cold
sandwiches with water. Everyone was so happy that night, around a big table,
eating and joking and telling stories. Hayley sat by Patricia all the time but
she seemed so much more into the whole interacting thing. Patricia would just
sit there and stare at people as they said whatever it was that they said and
then she would attempt to laugh or at least smile, but most of the times it
just seemed as if had some kind of stomach pain. So she soon left for her room.
Sleeping was impossible. Partly because of the
noise the rest of the people were making but also because of the heat. She had
attempted to cover herself with a very thin sheet but even that made her feel
she was going to get stuck to it. So she decided not covering herself and
sleeping only in her underwear. It was the most comfortable, even if she wasn’t
very keen to sleep like that with so many bugs floating around. A couple of
hours later, she was finally able to fall asleep.
She knew she wasn't sleeping to well because she
had one of those vivid dreams, when you’re very aware of everything that’s
happening. She moved around a lot in the dream and also imagined she was in the
middle of a jungle. Weirdly enough, the jungle was less humid and hot, so she
felt cozy and a bit less uncomfortable. She felt watched by something, or maybe
someone, but no one was around here and that’s when she woke up and realized
she was not inside her cabin anymore. She was outside.
As in her dream, Patricia was deep in the
jungle, where it was colder and nicer in general. But she was scared. Why was
she there? Had she walked in her sleep, away from the compound? She stood up
and started running, hoping to be just a few meters away from everyone else.
But she ran to the beach and realized,
horrified, that she could see the lights of the compound across the water, on
an island across it. Somehow, Patricia had ended up in the place where they
were supposed to discover new species. But maybe the biggest discovery would be
something much less easy to explain or understand.
