Page 44 of Beautifully Wild

Believe me when I say, I’ll think of you every day.

You’re the best thing that’s happened in my life for many, many years.

I hope you’ll still want to be friends when I visit Monte Hotels on the esplanade of Glenelg in another year or so…

Yours truly,

Samuel

Tears fall, blotting the paper.

He knows where to find me.

Yet it means nothing because my heart hurts with more than the pain of an ended holiday romance and knowing they are just words. He has one thing right. So much can happen in a year, and I’m not going to live with the hope that maybe he’ll come find me.

Liar.

Ugh, I’m frustrated he believed leaving quietly would be best for both of us. I shake my head. I know what we had was right, and we could have worked through anything.

Why doesn’t he want to be found?

Work commitments—I won’t accept it as a reason we can’t be together.

My father always said,if there’s a will, there’s a way.

And I have the will.

I need to find the way.

Before boarding the plane to Canaima, I check my yellow fever vaccination certificate is in the back of my wallet. After sending apologetic messages to my friends, I turn off my phone.

Apart from not joining them on Margarita Island, I broke important group rules. I’m traveling alone to somewhere unknown and not on the itinerary inVenezuela. In the current economic and political climate, we made rules about staying safe. The risk is now intensified with limited internet and poor communication channels.

No roads lead to Canaima. You can only travel there by plane. And it’s the smallest plane I’ve ever traveled in.

I take in a deep breath and blow air out slowly.

Who the hell am I?

If my father taught me anything, it’s to follow through with a plan.

The texts I sent him and my sister are unread—a message informing them I’ve changed my travel plans and won’t be with the girls for a few days. I know exactly what he’ll say before hearing or reading his response.

This is the most erratic decision I have ever made. My heart is thumping hard in my chest, and it’s not at the sight of the small aircraft as we walk out onto the tarmac with the sun rising on the horizon, ready to board.

At least my friends know where I’m headed if I don’t return.

Hell, what am I saying?

I’m following a strong instinct to visit a remote area on the edge of the Amazon jungle. Shit, my father will freak. At least he doesn’t know details—only that it’s a national park.

I remind myself it’smyjourney.

“Este camino por favor.”This way, please. A uniformed woman smiles at me. “We’re boarding now.”

I nod at her before taking a step forward into the unknown.

My sole resource—courage.

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