Silhouette

Landing

The plane landed with a thud, and she woke up with a jolt.

Charity looked around the small plane, big enough for only about five people, trying to remember where she was.

She looked out the window and remembered.
'That's right,' she thought, 'I'm supposed to be going on a journey through the Daintree to find the... What was it called again?'

She looked out the window trying to remember the name of the plant, rumoured to cure schizophrenia.

"The ruticlon," she said aloud, a bit louder than she wished.

Her husband looked up at her. "Is that what the plant is called? Ruticlon?" he asked her.

"Umm..." she looked at Shawn for a moment, then realised he probably heard her say the name of the strange plant. "Yes," she said after hesitating for a second. "I'm looking for the ruticlon plant."

Shawn looked at his wife, who would soon be alone for several months or even years in the Daintree, searching for something that wasn't even confirmed to be real. He knew he would miss her, but she had promised him that she would have a safe journey. After all, she had taken expeditions like this before.

"I can go with you," he offered. Secretly he knew that one of the reasons she went on these searches was to get away from life. In Sydney, they had quite a few issues. But when she was on a mission, she was happy.

She looked at him with fear in her eyes. "No, I don't want you to get hurt. I'm a professional, with training on survival and everything I'll need to know. You don't have training, you're just an engineer." She knew it would hurt him, but it was the truth. As a scientist with vast knowledge of how to survive in the wild, her job was to go to remote places and find rare or difficult to obtain things. This was just one of her missions.

Shawn looked at her with blank eyes. He was used to her saying no to his company. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the pilot of the small plane, which had just stopped moving.

He walked from the cockpit to the seating area, saying, "Alright you two, time to say goodbye." He reached over and grabbed a large backpack, likely filled with things like a very small tent, a few jars to collect specimens, a bottle of water, and other things needed for the journey. "Here's your bag," he said, handing it to Charity.

She took the bag and kissed her husbands cheek. "I'll miss you," she said, but her eyes were filled with happiness.

He looked at her with sad eyes, and whispered, "I'll miss you too. I love you."

She looked outside the plane, and hopped off. She began walking away, then she looked back. "I love you too, Shawn. Take care, okay hon?" She turned back towards the forest and walked deeper. She kept walking until she heard the plane taking off.

She watched as the plane lifted itself up, then flew away back to Sydney where Shawn would be safe.

"Goodbye," she whispered, before turning away from where the plane had landed and running deeper into the forest.

'I'm ready,' she thought. She didn't know how wrong she was.