Ambush

The sweat impregnated his clothes converting them into a second skin. He preferred that to the mosquito bites. Fernando was opening up a way through the branches doubting if he should be paying attention to the snakes and feel how one escaped from his eyes and bit him under the trouser. He had been there for twenty-seven days and thirteen hours. Five more journeys and would arrive if there weren´t major setbacks. Nevertheless, he had already managed to gain some hours from his estimations and had confidence in himself solving any other unexpected situation.

Those big blue eyes had studied the environment referenced in books for years and was finally exploring for the first time. However, he could just see the little oval picture kept in his pocket where a mother and a son posed smiling.

It had been twenty-three days without seen anyone. Fernando was used to spending long hours in his office without keeping human contact. There, the silence was stunning him; it seemed it was talking, never stopped even in the eternal nights.

It happened so quickly. A distant scream, some branches falling close to him, a delicate prick in his neck. His knees shook and he felt someone catching him from the back. Fernando was aware of someone following him but was always keeping the distance. His view got lost between the leaves that were hiding a clear sky further on. When his eyes could be opened again, maybe the stars would receive him.