Close encounter - Part VI

“Are you hungry? C’mon, get up! Let’s go out, Sandro and Alejandro will be here around noon, let’s have some Colombian breakfast! C’mon dear, I’m starving.”

“Alright, let me take a shower.” Says Amanda still wrapped in white linen, not really eager to move.

As soon as they open the front door, the picturesque scene of the Colombian “Mar de siete colores” (the sea of seven colors)” blooms in front of them like a postcard from a dream-like location. This is not a dream, it’s his brother’s backyard.

“Keep going north, Sandro said that he was going North today. Did you bring your camera?”

“Yes, backpack, back seat.” Said Miguel with his eyes fixed on the precarious road ahead, with the occasional peek at his right rear mirror.

As they drive North, around 20 min along the dusty road they find a big commotion. As they get closer, Amanda opens the window and ask in fair Spanish what’s going on.

“Que paso? Porque toda esta gente?” (What happened? What are this people doing?)

“A un rubio lo mordio un Tiburon” (A Blonde guy has been bitten by a shark)” answered a mid-aged lady, by her looks you can tell that she's a local, not a tourist.

“A BLOND GUY?” Quivered Amanda in disbelieve!

“WHAT ABOUT THE BOY? TELL ME, THE BOY… EL NINO!”

“No se nada, acabo de llegar, se fueron en una ambulancia” (I don’t know, just got here, they left on an ambulance). Responds the lady looking straight into Amanda’s eyes.

“Se fueron al Clarence Lynd, derecho por esa via!” They went to the Clarence Lynd Hospital, follow that road).

They drive as fast as the winding road permits, not saying a single word, they reach their destination and run towards admissions.

“Rapido, el SHARK ATTACK, WHERE ARE THEY?”

“Emergency room, end of the hall, on your left.”

Amanda runs towards the door, opens it and finds a late-teen, slightly tan, with her tank-top stained with blood, blonde girl sitting in the waiting room. The girl has her hands on her face, covering her swollen red eyes.

“What happened?" Said a wide-eyed Amanda.

“We were sitting on the sand, then he said, “I’ll be back, I want to swim.” Then the screams and the blood."

“But what about the boy? Where’s the boy?”

“My husband was alone on the water, what boy?”

Amanda then understands that is not her Brother the injured one. Sandro and Alejandro must still be on the water. Relieve and shame engulfed her. She is happy that neither her brother nor her son are involved, but at the same time she empathizes with this lone woman drowned in despair.

“You're all alone here right? Everything will be alright, he is in good hands.” Put her arms around her and with the most tended hug you can imagine, provides Emma with the warmth she is longing for.

“What’s your name?”

“Emma Lorenz.”

“Let me talk to my husband Emma, I’ll be back.”

“Sandro’s phone is dead. No luck, let’s go back home and wait there. It’s almost noon, they must be on their way."

“I can’t leave her, she’s in shock, let’s wait a bit, until she calms down. Alright?” Not being totally certain he simply nods and heads towards the exit, some fresh air won’t hurt.

A car comes with their lights on at full speed, gets to the entrance and the driver runs in the direction of the entrance. Miguel moves forward and to take a better glance of the situation and sees his son’s sitting in the back seat of the 2022 Hyundai Kona.

“ALEJANDRO!”