10

A Chapter by Bob

They had not been grounded at one place for a long time but this time it wasn’t so bad. They’d been in the village for quite a while. Calling almost a year ‘quite a while’ was a bit of an understatement but time went by quick so it felt like ‘quite a while’. Time was a teensy bit slower with Jim gone but he was due back any time now and John knew things would change when he did. The sub was content and that surprised John almost as much as he enjoyed it. They hadn’t picked up a hitchhiker or let alone come across any people but nonetheless they kept going. The drove past a small desert and up a small mountain pass, hidden not too far from civilization was a small village. It wasn’t that small but compared to the towns we see every day it was small. It was a bizarre sight, unbelievable to be honest. On the mountainside, practically hanging off the edge was brick houses. Some dilapidated, some restored but almost all of them on the edge of the mountain. The sea was raging against rock over the edge of the mountain and these people built houses that looked to be sliding right into it. You could climb further up the mountain and find houses on the upper level of the mountain in the exact same place, in the exact same state. Inland, what the sub called the safe zone were larger buildings that looked like a school and rec centre. This former Portuguese colony was well off. The people stared at them as they slowly entered and two large men approached the truck, one seemed like field worker from his muscular body, the other just looked big build. “Ola estranho” said the man with a smile. Jim immediately looked at John who, to no one’s surprise was somewhat fluent in Portuguese, “We are just travelling; we aren’t looking for any trouble. We’d just like to sight-see then we’ll be on our way.” The two men burst out laughing and the larger one walked away and explained the situation to the rest of the town’s people that were standing around, “Sorry for all that my friend but we don’t regularly have guest here you see.”

He was one of the few English-speaking people in the village, Jim quickly charmed him with that cheery nature of his, and just like that, they were getting a tour around the village. They hiked up the roads; some of them paved others just made from the constant traffic that ran through there. From a nice vantage point at the higher parts of the mountain/village, they had a wonderful view. To one side was endless field, some cultivated and growing different fruit, vegetables and other vegetation. To the other side were the ocean and other paths for them to follow that would probably lead to better views for sightseers. The altitude and fear of falling was something they would probably have to get used to but either way both of them immediately loved this bizarre village, in its own way it was beautiful. There wasn’t a government in place here in this secluded village so the man that had first approached them and that now gave the tour was the town mayor in some way but they referred to it as more of an elder, the person they turned to. After the tour, the two visitors took their own tour and as usual relaxed on the grassy hill overlooking the ocean for a smoke break. “Jimmy I don’t know how to explain it but I love this village.” “I know what you mean. It’s untainted from western influence, its beautiful man.” “Even the sub loves it, this place must be special.” They made their way back to the centre of the village, the elder asked them to stay for a town feast later that night, and they could not refuse, not that they would. In the meantime, they played soccer and another local game with the kids. The kids were quite adventurous themselves and encouraged a nervous looking Jim to try a new type of Kiteboarding in the not so calm ocean. John went first and by the time Jim started enjoying this Kitesurfing he’d already made his way back to the truck. John was on his way to get one of his many books from the truck when he saw a group of young children around it. Some of them were inside pretending to drive, there was two other rusted vehicles parked at the rec centre and he assumed the kids were not allowed to play in them. He stood and watched them and as a parent came to reprimand them, he interjected. “Seu bem deixa-los jogar,” John quickly said to the woman before she spoiled there fun. They saw him and as the woman left they continued, he approached them and they became hesitant, John quickly told them they could continue and they did. One of them was playing with the guitar, which was a gift from a group they travelled with for a while. Young people against pollution were their name and they were on their way to try to stop more devastation to this wonderful planet from greedy corporations. The two travellers quickly joined their cause but left not too long after because of their need to keep moving. They camped out anywhere while they travelled and John was one of the musicians that played music around the fire so when they went their separate ways, Pete (The other musician) gave John that guitar as a parting gift. John told the little boy to be careful with that and took his bag as he left them to carry on with their games. He sat on the rocks watching Jim and the other boys play in the water, and started reading where he’d last stopped. A small group of kids had followed him from the truck and was paging through one of the other books he had in his bag. The mystic had given John that book about some tales from his homeland that had pictures in them which greatly interested the children. None of the children spoke English but John’s Portuguese was not rusty. “You can’t read?” John asked, “Only our own language sir” answered a little girl politely “Do you want me to read that story.” They had stopped at a picture of a lion stuck in the mud near the river. John read the story to them and their wide-eyes expressions brought him endless joy, and the same went for the sub. More kids joined and John kept reading stories until it was time for them to head back the village. In the village centre, long tables were spread out that were filled with food. A large fire was in the centre and two smaller ones at the side and a group of young men were beating on drums while some women sang, at some point the elder joined them in song. There was merriment all around, the little feast seemed more like a festival and Jim already joined in the laughter, dancing and eating of course. At some point in all the revelry, a lamb was slaughtered and John saw it much later on the fire. Some older men were playing cards and after hurriedly learning the rules, he joined them. There was young couples holding hands and jumping over fire and people telling stories around the other fire. “How do you like all of this?” the elder walked over and put his arm around John’s shoulder “If it’s for us, I think it’s too much to be honest but I still think it’s amazing.” “You see how much fun all these are having and it’s no problem this season has been good to us,” He said with a big smile on his face, “You two enjoy and tomorrow you can be on your way with a wonderful memory of our village.” He drank some locally brewed concoctions; he didn’t know what else to call it because if that was alcohol then he didn’t know what he’d been drinking all this time. “I see you like our drink.” John sat down next to the elder who looked to finally be tiring. “Yeah this is something else.” “I heard you were reading stories to the young ones, they really enjoyed it.” “They really seemed to enjoy it. Although it may be hard to believe I think I may have enjoyed it more than them.” The elder laughed heartily, “Whatever the case may be I just wanted to say we appreciate it. They are by the fire waiting for more stories if you feel like it.” John smiled at him and made his way over to them, the little girl from earlier immediately jumped up and ran to him. John sat down next to her and the listened to the other stories until they pulled John up from his seat to tell his. He told children’s stories he’d heard when he was younger and other stories from his time on the road. They loved every tale, as it was different from there usual tales also it was a different perspective. Some parents left and John wanted to keep entertaining them to the best of his abilities so he asked them, “Do you want to hear scary stories?” they yelled yes, some jumping up screaming from excitement. John started the horror fest but didn’t want to scare them too much. These kids, some much older did not scare easy so he stepped it up a notch. His theatrics was impressive and as told the tale he acted out the scary bits frightening some of the young. Jim did not understand or speak the language but he knew which story John was telling and played his part in scaring them too. John did the build up and when the time came Jim sprang out from behind them with a bent piece of plastic in the place of his hand, it was in the shape of a hook and Jim snatched at them with it. The tale of The Hook was his go to story and yet again it showed it’s worth, “Works every time bud.” Other people laughed as kids jumped up and enjoyed themselves with the glee of their young children. Time didn’t fly but they sure were having fun and at the end of all the festivities they were offered a room and a pad to sleep on which they did as soon as they laid down. When they got up the next morning, mothers were hanging up clothes, children were playing in the street and everything was already cleaned so well that the events of the night before seemed like just a dream now. They packed there things into the back of the truck and after John was bombarded by a herd of children they prepared to make their way. The elder met them at the truck, “Farewell friends, you are very special people to make such happiness here.” “That was all you man.” Jim quickly replied. They laughed and John said, “Thanks for everything.” They got inside and everyone dispersed to go and do their own thing, “I don’t have a reason but I want to stay for a while.” “I saw your face last night Johnny, you really love it here and I get it I’d stay too but every night isn’t going to be like last night.” “Yeah I know but that’s not it.” Before he could say one more word, Jim interrupted him, “Say no

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