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like,” the man said.
“I like it too,” she said. “The locals are a hassle though.”
“They’re all right, just trying to make a buck like anyone else.”
“Are you kidding? They totally crashed our picnic trying to sell us that cheap shit.”
The man shrugged. “What you feel like doing?”
“Let’s go in to town and have a drink.”
“What about the kids?”
“They don’t ID here, no one’s gonna care.”
The man kissed her neck again and nibbled on her ear, causing her to giggle and pull away.
“I’ve got to shower and change,” the man said, opening the door to the living room.
“Don’t take too long.”
“I won’t.”
    The woman sat down on a wooden bench and looked out over the vast expanse before her. There was a large patch of grass in front of the house with a path through it that led to the road back to Kavali on one side and into the dense jungle on the other. A tree was near the house, large with twisted, leafless branches. This was a pretty place she decided, but just too damn hot and humid.
    It suddenly became apparent to her that she couldn’t hear the boys anymore. Scanning the grass, she couldn’t see any movement. “Friedrich,” she yelled, “Steven, don’t go far. You hear me boys?”
    She stood up and walked off the porch onto the soft dirt. “Friedrich, Steven.” There was no reply. Just the hushed whispers of the breeze flowing through grass. She could hear birds up in the tree and there was the distant hum of a passing plane overhead. The woman walked into the grass, worry causing her heart to drop. “Boys if this is a joke you’re grounded, you hear me?”
    Worry turned to panic and she began running through the grass and into the canopy of the jungle. The shrubbery and trees grew tightly packed and the sunlight was blocked by foliage. “Friedrich, Steven!” she yelled. The vegetation was thick and somewhat inflexible. It made the skin on her arms itch.
    There was motion nearby. As if the shrubbery had been spread apart quickly. A shiver went down her back and the hairs on her neck stood straight but she wasn’t sure why.
    There was laughter just to the right of her. She turned toward it. “Boys!”
    As she took a step forward she felt a tremendous tug on her arm that threw her forward to the ground. She screamed as she hit the dirt, confusion and fear taking hold. She went to pick herself up and realized she couldn’t.
    Her arm had been severed at the bicep and blood cascaded down from the ragged flesh, coloring her white dress a dark red. “Oh God!” she screamed. “Oh my God! God please help me! God!”
    Another tug and the world spun; quiet a long while before the hushed breeze blew again.
     
    *****
     
    The husband came out of the house a while later and flipped on a pair of Tommy Hilfiger sunglasses. It was hot and he’d only worn shorts and a cotton button-up. The breeze felt nice against his bare legs and he stood and enjoyed it.
    The sun was so bright he had to squint even with sunglasses. It reminded him of the Caribbean. Before he’d met his wife he was there at least four or five times a year. It was easy to pick up women at bars and nightclubs with the promise of a weekend getaway for the two of them. Some of the women genuinely liked him. Most did not. They were the type of women that spent their lives in smoke filled bars, counting down their days one drink at a time. Some of them had children or husbands at home waiting for them. One had even offered to bring her sixteen year old daughter along with her and “teach” her how to please him. Though tempted, he had to turn it down in the end. It seemed like that was a line that if he crossed, the line would disappear and he wouldn’t be the same person anymore.
    He stepped off the porch and walked along the path through the grass to the rented jeep he was convinced he’d been overcharged on. His family wasn’t inside. He turned back toward the grass and looked around. “Katherine,” he