Flora did not know how long she hunched over the fire. She was able to hold back her tears for most of the time since she experienced the horrors of almost losing her daughter. She remembered running from Pablo and then the three sisters before she was helped by Rosa to escape. Then, she thought about Nadi and what would happen to her daughter and herself. She knew that they could not stay in the cave for long and would need to leave island if they were to survive.Flora let her tears flow freely as she realized the hopelessness of their position. Then, she prayed hard that they could survive the night. Perhaps the morning would bring knew hope. Flora wiped her face dry with her dress and resolved to stay awake that night to guard her daughter.“Why are you crying?” said a voice that sounded comforting yet chilling at the same time.Flora looked up and saw a man standing just outside the cave. His skin was smooth and pale while his hair was as dark a

“We tried to dissuade him from coming here,” said Perlita. “When I didn’t receive any messages from you on your first week, I got extremely worried and we did our best to stop him from coming here. We would have succeeded if not for the yacht that moved quickly over the water.”“We can never outrun that boat with our small motor,” explained Gringo. “We really need to go now.”Gringo looked at his wife and gave her instructions. “Perlita, you will have to go back to the boat. Bring Nadi with you. Tell my brother to get the boat ready while Flora and I will go and find the man.”“Mr. Jon,” said Flora. She then gently nudged Nadi towards Perlita who bent down to hug Flora’s daughter.“Hi, Nadi,” said Perlita and Nadi smiled in reply before hugging her back.“Aunt Perlita…” Nadi murmured.Perlita saw Flora looking at Nadi and knew t

A pair of butterflyfish followed an invisible path around a coral outcrop, their colorful interweaving stripes of black, white and yellow making a beautiful display against the backdrop of reddish brown coral. They seemed to caress each other's scales affectionately as they swam away. Nearby, a group of damselfish dazzled with their bright blue scales and orange tails. In a few moments, a small school of bannerfish passed by, flashing their contrasting stripes of black and white with their dorsal fins stretching into long white filaments behind them. The coral garden was home to a wide variety of different colored fishes all intent on feeding on the abundant plankton in the area.The ripples on the ocean surface made a dazzling pattern of light and shade on the sea floor below. It formed waving patterns on a green sea turtle that paddled nearby, its strong flippers propelling it toward a patch of sea grass. Using its curved beak, it bit off the tips of some blades of sea gras

The roosters had hardly started crowing when the four researchers pulled out of the driveway. It was a cool morning and they were all garbed in sweaters. Renz was driving the car that Lisa saw in the parking area the previous day and by his side was Delia who was still trying to catch some sleep.Lisa was at the back seat with Nestie. She tried to stifle a yawn, but was finally unable to suppress it after hearing Nestie yawn by her side. They said that yawning is contagious, it looks like it's true, mused Lisa.After receiving permission from Nestie to take the extra day off, the researchers all celebrated by ordering pizza and planning on what they would do the next day. Renz expressed his desire to go to the beach and practice surfing. Delia was keen on joining Renz and learn windsurfing. Renz told her about his surfer friend who owns a dive shop and also teaches tourists how to windsurf which led Delia to decide to join Renz.The boat going to Cardena was sch

The woman held on to her hat as she and her boyfriend fell backwards onto the deck. The crowd made a collective gasp at first, but upon seeing the couple unharmed, jeered and whistled. One of the crew was quick to help the couple get on their feet. The woman struggled to get up as she held her hat in place with one hand while holding on to her boyfriend. They walked unsteadily towards their seat in the front row amidst the jeering of the other passengers. One of the senior crew held a megaphone and asked the passengers to calm down. He then reminded everyone that staying at the bow could be very dangerous, especially during rough weather and that no passenger was allowed to stay there at any time during the trip.The woman's friends gathered around her to console her, but she ignored them. Her boyfriend tried to console her as well and placed a reassuring arm around her shoulders, but she merely pushed his hand away."Looks like Kate Winslet got her share of the limeli