Endangered

"He's coming! Now's your chance!" hissed my best friend Rocky in my ear as I spotted my boss heading my way. His suit was perfectly fitted to his short stout body, his hair was gelled back in the usual clean-cut style, his clean shaved face was immaculate and his dart-like eyes looked around the room.

I quickly approached him. I had to talk to him, I had to get my idea out there before anyone else decides to take it.

"E-excuse me, sir," I stuttered, well we are off to a great start.

"What did I say about the stuttering Carly?" he said.

"First off, it's Cara and I am sorry. I have a great idea for this month's issue," I blurted.

"Shoot," he said as he signed a few papers that his assistant was holding and trying to keep up with him as he walked through the floor of the office.

"The Macaw's are endangered and I'd like to write a piece on that, but I would need travel plans and a way to get to Belize," I said quickly.

"Macaw? Belize? have the draft by next Monday morning. Do not disappoint me, Carly," he said.

"Thanks, and it's Cara by the way," I corrected him.

"I really don't care," he said and he slammed his office door in my face.

"He gave it to you?" asked Rocky.

"Can you believe it? we are going to Belize!" I exclaimed and Rocky grabbed my hands and we both jumped up and down like little school girls.

"Sweetheart, we going to kill it," he said and with a wrist flick of his pen, he went back to his desk.

We got aboard the plane and the plane ride was long, I mostly slept until Rocky was shaking my shoulder to wake me up.

"Honey look at that!" he said pointing out the window. I looked out and sure enough, there was Belize with beautiful and lush greenery that I have never seen in my life. The plane landed and we got off and there was our driver holding out a sign for Nature Magazine. The driver took our belongings and we followed him to the cab. He dropped us off at the hostel we were staying at. It was not much, the fan was rusty and the bedsprings creaked as we set down our stuff. The tour guide met us there.

"Okay, you guys ready for some bird action!" he said with a heavy foreign accent.

"Yes, we are!" squealed Rocky as he grabbed my arm nearly pulling it out of its socket.

We proceeded in the thick rainforest, I had my notepad and started scribbling down what our tour guide was saying about the Macaws and how they are endangered.

"These beautiful birds are being hunted and are a large part of the illegal pet trade, especially the scarlet Macaw, there used to be so many of them, but their population is dying," he said with a sad face. "Some are now on the brink of extinction...we might be able to see some today if we are lucky," he said and once in a while we would pause and I would take out my binoculars and gaze around, spotting different birds and the occasional monkey but no Macaw in view. We went deeper into the forest. Rocky sprayed himself with so much bug repellent that my eyes watered. The sky started to get dark, we had to start heading back with no pictures of the Macaw. I was never going to get this piece finished in time. I did not have many days left. The next day we proceeded to a different area.

"Thousands of endangered birds get injured or killed - as they are trying to protect their babies that poachers take from their nests, or as they are captured themselves, or some die in transit, as they are cramped into tight spaces that are designed to conceal them from authorities." the tour guide mentioned. Then suddenly I spotted something colorful fly above us, I let out a gasp and both I and Rocky fumbled for our cameras. I snapped a picture of something but it was not the Macaw I missed it. "Okay, let's go that way," he said pointing to the direction of where the Macaw flew. We looked around for it, we still went in further listening for the sound of the parrots.

"Is there anything we can do to save the species from extinction?" I asked as we still looked up in the trees hoping to see a blur of a rainbow somewhere.

"Luckily, conservation efforts are trying their best organizations such as WWF are now trying to reduce the rate of illegal bird trades. The thing about the macaw is that they live for a very long time, which is partly why they are still not extinct," he explained and he fixed his hat. Just then two perfect Macaw's perched themselves on a tree just close enough. Carefully and slowly Rocky lifted up his camera and flashed a few photos are them. They were majestic, their colors vibrantly shone among the green of the trees. They both playfully nipped at each other. I lifted my camera up and snapped a few photos myself.

"I can't believe how truly beautiful they are," I whispered and both Rocky and the tour guide nodded. The next few days we barely saw any, I started to type up the article. This was going to be my big break.

"You are finally gonna make it," said Rocky as he dried off his hair with a towel.

"I am hoping after he sees this I will be able to write exactly what I want," I said as I continued to type down my ideas. I finished writing my article and sure enough, we were taking off back home. I printed out the draft and I put it down on my boss's desk.

"That experience must be great! but you need people to care Carly," he said and he wrote a large X on the paper and passed it back to me.

"People should care!" I shouted. "They're going to be extinct!" I argued.

"That's not my problem," he said and he waved me out. I burst into the bathroom stall and I sat down on the toilet and wept. my mascara was getting smudged I was gasping for air, my face felt red and hot.

"Hello?" asked Rocky's voice.

"Come in, it's just me," I said.

"Oh honey, he did not like the article?" he asked me through the closed door.

"He hated it," I said through my sniffles.

"Well good news then," he said and I could tell he was smiling through the door.

"What's that?" I asked.

"National Geographic wants it, don't be mad, but I submitted it to them before you sent it to Bossman," he said. I came out of the stall.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah! they want you to work for them, I just got the call a few seconds ago. Go strut into the boss's office and quit," he said as he snapped his fingers.

"You're the best!" I exclaimed and gave him such a tight hug that he nearly fell over. I raced out of the bathroom with my smudged mascara and marched into my boss's office.

"Donavan! Do what you want. I quit!" I shouted and I flicked my hair back and I packed a box and ran out of the building that was my home for three years. After three years I had finally got my big break. After three years of saying yes, I finally quit and the feeling was fantastic. I never stepped foot into that office again.