Okay- here we go! It's a two parter! *Trigger warning- Implied suicide/ death* "Wow. Look at this place!" "I've got to admit- even with the pouring rain, it is beautiful." "Though I could do without the mosquitos." "At any rate, we're here- so we might as well get down to it. Now if only we knew where to start." "You mean you don't have a plan?" "Well.....no. Not really. I mean, I spent like ten years just trying to get here. I suppose I didn't really think too hard about what to do next. I mean, it's a small town and like 70% of it is jungle so I think we can safely rule that out." "Awesome. The one time you don't have a plan is the one time I follow you to a foreign country." "Okay then, how about we start right here. There's lots of locals, I bet one of them has heard of her. Or at least can tell us the 'Campo del Verde' is." "Excuse me Sir..." "Why Buenos Tarde Senorita! Can I interest you in any of these genuine Selvadoradian treats? Guaranteed to give you the feeling of being in Bellomisia itself!" "Um, No thanks. I filled up at the Cantina. But if you could help me with something, I'd be eternally grateful. Any local knowledge that you could share with my brother and I would be amazing." "I'll do my best." "My brother and I are looking for someone. A Mckenzie Glenn, we think she lives on Campo del Verde." "Lo Siento Senorita, but I've never heard that name before. It doesn't sound like a local name I've ever come across either." "And the Campo del Verde? Does that sound familiar?" "I do widh you the best of luck, but you'll be hard pressed to find anyone specific from the Campo, it's the main road in Selvadorada and just about everyone lives there." "Oh. That's.....not what I expected. Thank you anyway." "Not a local name? What do you think that means Mira? Do you think she used a fake name at the Newcrest Home?" "I guess so. But I always thought they fact checked that stuff." "Well maybe, but I mean it doesn't look like they have a google fiber connection running through the town, I doubt there would have been much a record to double check. Coming from a small town like this in another country, Ms.Mathers probably only had her word and the hospital record to go on." "True. But I was hoping we'd get something more concrete. That name and the street are the only things we have. If both of those are useless then we've totally screwed." "Excuse me- did you say that you were looking for someone?" "Yes! We are. We've actually hit a bit of a Brick wall. We're looking for a woman named Mckenzie Glenn. We think she might live on the Campo Del Verde....somewhere on the Campo Del Verde anyway." "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that name, but I know someone who might." "That would be fantastic!" "Over there, but the Patron statue, that's Renaldo de Luna, the local tourguide. He knows everything there is to know about Selvadorada. If anyone can help you- he can." "Thank you! Thank you so much! "Excuse me, are you Renaldo de Luna? "I am. Is there something I can help you with?" "My name is Matthias Viridi, this is my sister Miranda. We're from Newcrest visiting Selvadorada and-" "Lo Siento young man, but I do not conduct tours anymore. I will happily give you a number to another guide." "Actually, we aren't looking for a tour guide. My sister and I are actually looking for someone specific. Her name is McKenzie Glenn. The only record we have is the Campo del Verde." "Well I'm sure you've realized by now that the Campo del Verde is a large road, if you want anything meaningful then you would definitley need a house number or at least a local name. I've lived here for a long time, I have never heard of the name 'Glenn'. It's definitley not a Selvadoradian name." "Please Sir, we're desperate. This woman that we're looking for....she's our mother. We haven't seen her in over fifteen years." "That's a very moving story. And I wish I had more to help you, truly I do. I know what it's like to lose people that you love. But unfortunatley I have never heard of a name like that." "Oh. Well thank you, I suppose that's it Matt, we've been here for a week and it's clear that none of the information we have is useful. We might as well head back to Newcrest and see what else we can dig up." "I hate you leave you like this. I'll tell you what, come by my house for dinner tonight. Perhaps my wife might know more. Her family goes back even farther than mine, and if she doesn't know one of her busybody friends might have some intel for you." "That would be amazing Senor. Thank you so much!" "Is this the place?" "Yup, 1345 Campo del Verde." "Mira?" "Yeah?" "Just promise me something, if this turns out to be nothing- then we can put this all behind us. I know how much is means to find her. But, I don't want you to lose track of the future while you're caught up chasing the past." "I promise Matt. After this, I'll put it away. Believe me, I have plenty of reason to look to the future." "Hola? Can I help you?" "Hi! I mean- Buenas Noches, My name is Miranda Viridi, this is my brother, Matthias. Your husband Renaldo invited us for dinner." "......" "Ma'am? Are you okay?" "Yes. I'm sorry. It's just...for a minute there, you reminded me of someone. Please, come in." "Ah! Good evening young visitors. I see you've already met my lovely wife. Solana these are the visitors I was telling you about- they are looking for their mother and they believe she might live somewhere on the Campo del Verde." "Any information you might have, however small would be so helpful." "Tell me, do you happen to have a photo of the woman?" "No, we don't have any pictures." "OH! Wait! I do have a picture! Here- this is her. It's pretty grainy but if she looks familiar..." "........" "Mr.De Luna? What is it?" "I think you should leave." "What? Why? We just got here." "I don't know who put you up to this, or where you got that picture, but what you're suggesting is impossible. Now I'd like you to leave my home." "Renaldo. If what they're saying is true......." "Solana. It's impossible. We've had so much pain in this family, I won't get my hopes up just to have them dashed." "Look. You obviously know who the woman in that picture is and we are not leaving without some sort of explanation." "Tell me Mr.Viridi, do you have children?" "Ummm, yeah, a son. He's two months old." "That's wonderful. Being a parent is unlike any experience in the world." "I had two children once. Twins, like yourselves. A boy- Antonio. And a girl- Maritza." "But one day- everything came crashing down. They went into the jungle one night. Somehow, Antonio fell to his death. They found him in a deep ravine. When we went to see Maritza in the hospital she was staring at the wall, refusing to speak, eat, or move." "She blamed herself for his death. And I'm ashamed to admit that I blamed her a little bit too. But had I known what was going to happen to my family, that the worst was yet to come. I would have held her closer that day. Instead of sending her off." "She was so lost. We sent to her stay with some cousins in San Myshuno. To give us all a chance to heal and to give Martiza a chance to start somewhere fresh. Losing her other half was like tearing away half of her heart." "For five years we heard almost nothing from her. The occasional letter telling us that she had enrolled in college and was planning on staying in San Myshuno. Then, one day she just showed up on the porch- bags in hand. She refused to say why she came back. Only that she needed to, that it was the right choice." "We were so happy to have her back. And at first, it was almost like it was before that night- we were happy. Maritza was learning the tourist trade from her Papi. But the longer she was here, the sadder she became. It was clear that she was torn by something, but she refused to talk about it." "She would spend hours outside next to Antonio's grave. Sometimes standing out there in the pouring rain. She was talking to him, as if he were still here with us." "And she didn't come back." "Wow. Mrs.De Luna, I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what that must have been like. I mean, if I lost Mira, Leah or God forbid-Brice. I don't know if could go on. " "There's a reason I've told you all this. I'm not keen on sharing my deepest pain with strangers." "Then why us?" "Because....that woman....in the photo. That woman is my daughter." Okie doke my friends, that's a wrap on part 1, part 2 is uploaded and will be live sometime tomorrow. Ciao!
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About MeI am a elementary school teacher who loves bad puns and terrible movies. Archives
November 2019
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