Seven Survivors

Quatro

Once we arrived back at the hotel, James and I went back to ignoring each other. I guess after talking to him civilly for a while, I didn't dislike him as much as I used to? Either way I felt a shift in our relationship, which confused me, so I thought it was better if we just avoided contact, and fortunately, he seemed to have the same idea. I finally had my shower before dinner at the resort, spoke to my family, and had some down time to sunbathe and swim in the pool afterwards. Luckily, Chip's suitcase had arrived, but Mr Blake and he had to travel back to the airport to collect it. That evening we had tickets to see a production of The Lion King at the Amazon Theatre (natively called Teatro Amazonas). The theatre was a charmingly picturesque opera house with a delightful pink and white exterior, enchanting you from first sight with its elaborately ornate appearance. It was designed in the Renaissance style, with spectacular pillars, columns and immaculately carved sills to create the Amazonian glamour.

We walked to the theatre as it was only fifteen minutes away, capturing a glimpse of the nightlife in Brazil. There were quite a few people around the town, out for the night or huddled in restaurants. When we arrived, there were mostly tourists like us queuing to enter. I sat in-between Kimberly and Liam, and in the interval, we all went to get some ice cream. It was sweet, whipped and delicious! The play was spectacular and very well put together, and the actor's voices were amazing! You could easily be mistaken and imagine you were watching the musical in Broadway! Afterwards we all pitched in to get taxis home, as it was pitch black with a chill wind and drizzling rain. I was pretty tired by the time we arrived at the hotel as we had had a long day and I hadn't slept well the previous night.

It felt as though I had fallen asleep as soon as I hit the pillow, and I was blessed with a quiet, dreamless sleep. The weather hit a sharp turn the next day, with a deep gray sky and drizzling clouds. Unfortunately, we had planned to explore the markets and do some souvenir shopping that day, which relied on the weather being dry. One of the hotels staff offered for us to join an educational talk he was delivering, so we spent some time learning about the rubber boom in Brazil and its effects on the history and culture of the city Manaus. Luckily, the weather started clearing up around eleven, so we headed into the town wearing any waterproof clothes we had. I was glad my mother made me take a rain jacket! We saw the Negro River Palace and went to the Adolpho Lisboa market where rows of vendors sold local produce and traditional handicrafts.

Unfortunately, the weather only got worse as the day went on, so we were rained off and had to return to the hotel. It was still warm, but being soaked to the bone is never fun! We all headed to the dining room for lunch, and this time Kimberly and I sat with Persephone and Ira. Ira had actually been my next-door neighbour for five years, and we used to be close friends but we grew apart when we hit high school. I think that because she, Persephone, Abi-Mae and a few other girls became best friends contributed to our distancing though. However we are still pleasant to each other, and sometimes sit together on the bus to school. Persephone is the captain of our schools cheer team, and very athletic. I heard that she goes swimming at five every morning before school. Some people baffle me.

Whilst we were eating lunch, I noticed Miss Willow heading outside to take a phone call, which I thought was odd. Persephone told us all that apparently her cousin Daniel heard some of the hotel staff talking, and a big storm is expected to hit in the next 24 hours. I started to wonder if this would affect our plane ride to Pantanal at all, when Miss Willow came back in and asked us to finish our food quickly and meet her in the lobby. Intrigued, I slurped the rest of my black bean soup down and headed over with the others.

"Hello everyone, I just received a call from the airport saying that bad storms are arriving here tomorrow evening, and are expected to last for a few days, meaning that our flight to Pantanal will have to be cancelled as it is too dangerous to fly." Groans of disapproval sounded throughout the group. "But, we do have the option to travel tomorrow morning instead, meaning we will arrive a day early, but we will get there. If we don't take the flight tomorrow then there isn't another available plane for our large party for five days, meaning we won't get to Pantanal. You will miss out on an extra day of sightseeing and the canal ride down the amazon tomorrow though. Now students, it is up to you. Would you like to fly tomorrow morning or stay here?"

I put my hand straight up in order to fly tomorrow, as Pantanal was the main highlight of the holiday for me, and I definitely wanted to see some jaguars. When else would I get the chance to?

"Ok, apart from Matthew and Aaron everyone wants to go tomorrow. Do you mind terribly if we catch the plane tomorrow boys? We would probably have to cancel our exertions if the weather is as bad as predicted anyway." The boys glumly nodded, a little sad to be missing the chance to see the aquatic animals in the river.

"Ok that's great! Obviously, this will incur an extra cost, but I believe it will be worth it as Pantanal is where most of the action is happening. Your parents will also have to be notified and agree with this change first." Miss Willow warned us.

Everyone agreed and the teachers started ringing everyone's parents to confirm that it was ok, whilst everyone else was instructed to pack back up for tomorrow. It was safe to say we were all excited for this change in development, but as I looked outside and was greeted with the bitter rain raging against the windows, I couldn't help but have an uneasy shifting in my gut.

'Oh well, something probably just didn't agree with my stomach.' I thought.

What could possibly go wrong?

Edited