Belize Belayed

This was going to be one great story. Adventure, suspense, humor, maybe a little romance, fun characters. A real edge-of-your-seat tale everyone would enjoy.

Here it goes...

*

Timothy was drowning his sorrows in a bottle of tequila at an open-air, beachside bar in Dangriga, Belize by his hotel. That's when a slinky brunette in a bikini and sarong grabbed him and kissed him full-on. She pushed her body against him like they were long, lost lovers, but the thing is, he'd never seen her before. He couldn't have been more shocked had he been told he had won the lottery without buying a ticket.

After a long two minutes, she pulled away and said, "Thanks, handsome."

Tim's mouth dropped open briefly. Then he scowled, "What the hell was that?"

She shrugged. "A cover-up. Sorry... well, not really." She winked. She glanced towards the beach on the right and said, "Shit! Come with me. They're looking for a single woman, so just maybe..." She grabbed his arm insistently.

"Wait!"

She tugged with surprising strength.

Tim grabbed the bottle and followed.

Finally, she slowed down and announced, "My name's Katrina. My friends call me Trina."

"Well... Kat, it's been interesting, but I'm going back now, so I can pass out in my room after I finish this bottle."

He held up said bottle and turned, but she grabbed him again.

"Please, don't call me Kat." Then, she pleaded, "Just stay with me for a while." She looked at him with intense, nearly black eyes. "What's your name, handsome?"

"Timothy. You can call me Tim, Timmy, whatever."

"How about 'Mothy'?" she smirked.

"Maybe not that." He turned away with his head down, not expecting nor wanting any mirth.

She touched his arm gently this time. "Why do you seem so sad? This is one of the most beautiful places on the planet."

"If you must know, this was supposed to be my honeymoon, but my fiancée took off with my brother. Now, leave me alone."

"Wow! That's a whole lot of shit. No wonder you're drinking." Ignoring his request that she leave, she took the bottle from him and drank a mouthful. "What do you do, Mothy?"

"Not that it's any of your business, Kat, but I'm an investment banker. Mostly boring stuff." He took the bottle back.

She leaned in. "Sound fascinating to me."

"What do you do?"

"That's classified."

He chuckled, "Right, that's why you go around kissing strangers in foreign countries."

Her hand went to her waist, and she said, indignantly, "I do not make a habit..." Her expression changed from argumentative to alert as she looked back up the beach. "Come on."

Once again, Tim found himself being dragged by the hand. Trina found a beach quad and yelled, "Jump on!"

"Why would I..." That's when bullets started flying in their direction.

Some very big men were running towards them, shooting wildly as they approached. They stuck out like soar thumbs in the full-length pants and sleeves. They weren't wearing black, but they might as well have been. People scattered, not screaming as Tim would have if he hadn't been lost for breath. It was as if it was commonplace for men to roam the beach with guns. For all he knew, it was.

He jumped on the quad just as Trina successfully hotwired it and took off away from the beach. She veered around another beach bar, ducking under low-hanging branches, which promptly smacked Tim's face.

He yelled, "Ouch! Slow down."

She yelled back over her shoulder, "Not until we're far from here."

That's when the quad died... or maybe ran out of gas.

"Shit!" Trina smacked the seat as she vaulted off.

"You like that word, don't you?"

"Not particularly, but it IS appropriate for this mostly shitty night."

This time, Tim grabbed her hand and led her towards a market area he had visited during the day. He assumed the market would be closed, but that there may be places to hide.

Sure enough, the tables were empty, but some of them still had cloths hanging to the ground, held in place with rocks. Tim chose one in the middle of the row on the right, and they ducked under.

They hadn't been there two minutes when they heard rapid Spanish, followed by the sound of tables being roughly tipped over. The men with the guns were coming their way.

Trina whispered, "Come," and ducked between two buildings. The minute they stood up to run, they heard shouting and more gunfire. Bullets nicked the building on the right, causing plaster to rain down on the two of them.

"Faster," she shouted, putting on a burst of speed. Tim passed her. He went left. She went right.

...and then...

...and then...

*

That's all I've got.

I've toyed with the idea of Tim getting grabbed at gunpoint and Trina coming back for him, or vice versa.

I thought about them getting separated and her finding him the next evening back at his hotel bar.

Should I make them come together romantically? Would it be better if they part ways, never meeting again?

I also entertained the notion of making Trina a villainess. Was she trying to elicit sympathy in order to drain his bank account, or the account of one of his wealthy clients?

I even thought about having the whole situation be a set-up by Tim's best friend, trying to get him out of his funk. This best friend– never introduced– could have hired Trina and the goons. I realize if I took that route, I'd have to give the goons blanks and remove the rain of plaster.

My issue is that I have too many ideas running around in my brain. I like all of the options above, and that's why I'm so bogged down with the end of this story. It's a form of writer's block that I'm happy to say I haven't experienced until now.

I usually live by the rule, "Know your conclusion." I should have had the ending scoped out in my mind, but I was perhaps over-confident in my ability to make it up as I went along. Instead, I got bogged down with choice after choice.

This is going to sound crazy, and maybe it is, but I could let fate make the decision, by literally spinning the Belize Belayed Story End wheel. If you click on this link, you, too, can try it out.

I doubt I'll actually choose my ending that way, but it was fun to set up.

Now, I'm faced with going back to finish this story that's "Not Quite There."

I may try it multiple ways to see which one catches my fancy. I know I'll end up with something I'll be proud of.

It will just take time.

.