Atlantis Burning

Chapter 17

Bea's excitement to take her daughter on an adventure in the city was curtailed by the girl's reticence. In Atlantis, people traveled on foot. Annia had never seen anything as fast as a car except dolphins zooming past the boat. This was different. Monstrous hunks of metal racing towards them made the girl practically jump into Bea's arms. Bea tried to get into a cab, but Annie began crying when Beatrice opened the car door. Bea resigned to walk to the Jose do Canto Botanical Gardens with Annia in her arms. They peeked in the church near the entrance, and then Bea paid the fee to get inside the gardens. Annia calmed down and was willing to walk around the peaceful gardens. Bea marveled at the roots of the ficus macrophylla. She positioned Annia in front of one of the taller of the long, wavy roots that jutted up out of the ground. The complex root system protruded from the ground coming out from the tree in every direction. Annia wouldn't smile for a photo, which left her looking lost in the maze of roots. They moved on and looked at giant palms and bamboo forests. Bea took several photos along the way, but could not get the girl to smile, not even with the pink azaleas. They went into the fifteenth century Chapel of Sant' Ana. Bea never quite understood religion. The cold stone walls, the frozen statues all seemed dead after being in the magnificent garden. They left the church and found that in the garden life burst forth at every turn, smiling as sweet floras and earthy moss. Life looked like leaves blowing on the breeze. Life sounded like birds singing with a chorus of insects working in harmony. Annia held Bea's hand, always wanting to keep her new mom close. They took a selfie with the one lone sequoia. Beatrice sat them in the dirt and held her phone near the ground in an effort to get the top of the tree in the picture. Frustrated with Annia's persistent frown, Bea settled for planting a kiss on her cheek. Bea stopped to show the girl the photos, Annia touched the screen, confused by their tiny self images.

They continued walking until they reached the waterfall. The tall rock face had a long ribbon of water, which appeared to have carved it's own place in the rock cliff. Beatrice took off their shoes, and they got their feet wet listening to the peaceful sound of flowing water. Bea thought that this place had a transcendence not found among the icons of the chapel. As they enjoyed the sounds of nature, they heard a rustle in the leaves. They looked in time to witness a family of quail come out from the forest making gentle cooing sounds. They were here to drink from the pool. Annia pointed, "Those are quail. Mommy likes quail, too." After they had their fill, the birds scuffled back into the forest. "Can you say, quail?"

"Quell."

"Qway-ell."

"Quail."

"That's right, Annie. Quail!" As Bea said it, she kicked up her feet, splashing water into the pool. Annie laughed and kicked up both feet. She watched as the water went flying into the sky and back down into the pool. She continued kicking up her feet, so did Bea and suddenly Annia started laughing. The two kicked water and giggled. Bea quietly picked up her phone and captured as many photos as she could of the girl smiling. She sent one to Edward. He responded saying they were already in the garden. Bea and Annie were still splashing around in the water when Edward and Henry came into the clearing. Annie let out a loud shout, "Daddy!" They ran to each other and Edward picked her up and threw her up in the air.

"That smile is cute as a button! I love hearing you laugh, baby girl."

Beatrice was shedding tears of joy, they finally found the sweet girl that had been hiding away behind the fear and confusion. They gathered together and took a selfie of them all in front of the waterfall with every one of them smiling.