I dug my toes into the soft white sand, leaned against my pack and closed my eyes. I was part of a group now, and even though I had no idea what they were saying, I was no longer a single woman wandering in the middle of the night, so I felt safe.
Arturo, the only one who spoke English, pulled out a bag of peanuts and passed it around. I took it from Sol and passed it to Kheyrabad, whose eyes were bouncing around his head like fishing bobbers.
“I’m renting a place down the street. You can stay with us.”
Sol glared at me.
“Umm, thank you, Arturo, that is kind but I can find something.”
Arturo and Sol walked away and I was left alone with Kheyrabad. With my pack on my back, I headed to the nearest hotel. Similar to the places I checked earlier, there was no vacancy and the front desk man kicked me out when I tried to stay inside. I was waiting for Kheyrabad to go away. I ran to the street and hailed a taxi back to the airport, where I slept that night, dreaming of the sparkling Mediterranean Sea.
Jenny Perich [Woodland Park, CO] was born in Danville, PA and raised in Woodland Park, CO. She studied Environmental Biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder where she also enjoyed the music courses History of Jazz, African Music, Amazonian Tribal People and Music of the 21st Century. After earning her B.A., Perich moved to San Francisco to work for Environmental Defense Fund's Ocean Program for nearly 5 years. In October 2008 she traveled to India and became a certified Ashtanga / Vinyasa yoga instructor and learned about kirtan, the tabla and other sounds of India. Jenny is currently pursuing work and further education in music, travel and writing. She is based in the Denver, CO area.
© 2009 Jenny Perich. Original for CCF. Perich grants CCF first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology.
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