The building was newly furnished, and completed just before that. An international organization aimed at improving world health and living standards in third world countries had constructed the small school, and paid myself and other professionals to come down and spend several years training the locals how to educate their youth.

We were walking through a marshy part of the jungle. Several guide took a few of us through. They never took the whole group, as too much noise would prevent you from seeing anything. There were maybe four of us, and three of the locals. I asked one of the locals something, pointing toward something in the canopy. She took my arm, staring at the designs on my skin. She looked down at my feet, and at her own, then back up into my eyes and opened her mouth. My feet were the same color as hers, and arms held painted designs of wavy lines and dots she knew. She knew.

Defensively, I brought my finger up to my lips. Her eyes flickered toward the girl up ahead, another guest that the organization had brought down. Similar designs had been painted on her arms as well.

"You are trying to enchant her? You want her?"
"Yes, I do."
"You'll have to keep her, you can't forget her in a week, or a month, or a year. When the muds wear off, the spell remains. This is what you want?"
"Yes, it is" I touched my breastbone. "I know it is."
She looked back at us, maybe twenty or thirty meters ahead, and smiled. I smiled back and waved.

"Ok," she said, drawings a few additional lines and dots. The wet mud was cold on my skin.
...
It shouldn't have been too much of a surprise that we were being audited. Big organization sends a bunch of people down to the middle of Africa, of course someone will want to see how the money is being used. I just wish we had been given a little more time to organize things.

Everything was a mess. My desk was surround by boxes, boxes of stuff I hadn't even thought about going through yet. I picked up one of the boxes. It was a bit unusual. It was black, with a silver hand, and a small red square inset between the two points where the handle connected with the box itself. Try as I might, I couldn't get the thin to open. Pressing, pulling, nor trying to slide it had any affect.

Some guy was saying something as I tugged on it. He wasn't giving any advice, just commenting. I wasn't really listening. He was never really worth listening to. He was a jerk, he was always a jerk. I continued struggling after he walked off. After a few minutes I looked up. A girl met my gaze at the same time through the window in the door. Behind her, the creep from earlier acted as if he was about to strangle her. I motioned behind her, and as she turned around her pretended to strangle her.

I pushed open the door and struck him on the collar bone. He whined in complaint.
"Stop acting like a jerk and people will stop treating you like one."

My professor was being rather gracious, giving us one last week to turn in anything we hadn't submitted. I had been a bit behind all year, this had been a tough semester. Now I was up late, working on what I could. I wasn't alone though. As soon as I get one of the write ups done, I'd send it to Kalina, who was just as behind as me, but without expierance in this subject.

It was just about 1, and my mind was shot. I put on something decent and decided a refreshment would help. I turned the ignition over and headed into town. The sun was just now setting, despite the late hour. The pavement ended, but the road continued as a dirt path. Not to far ahead, a cement ramp would put me onto the freeway. As I drove up the ramp, I was pretty sure I recognized someone going the other way. The moon's glow off the long white car gave it a classic elegance often void of more contemporary low-cost manufacturing. I parked far from anyone else, as usual, and walked up to the building.

The building was made of black metal and glass. It was a Kresge, an old store that had managed to find its way back into the lime light in modern times. It mixed upper-end department store shopping with a high class lounge social atmosphere. It wasn't a run away success, but it maintained a strong presence and became a cool place to be. I ordered a lemonade.

A cute girl sat next to me. Her eyeliner accented her almond shaped eyes. Her dark tan skin gave her an elegant look.
...
After a while, we parted ways. As I was leaving, I noticed Salah and Risa at just about the same time they noticed me. We caught up for a minute or two before I finally headed out. It had been a long time since I'd seen either of them.

As I walked out, they shouted to me, 'Don't forget to call Beilu!'