- I want to be alone, I say.
- Loneliness is not the answer.

I open my eyes. Why the absurd assumptions? I didn’t say I want to be lonely. I said I want to be alone. And since when am I looking for an answer?

 I get up and walk outside. There is a secret barrier between the indoor and the outdoor world. Even if you only go as far as your own porch, you still feel the absence of walls around you. Loneliness? It’s nothing more than the absence of people.

    In due time, I heard through the scuttlebutt word of a most amazing creature.  An Indian Goddess.  With iridescent beauty holding forth, standing proud, high atop a lush green hilltop in Armuelles.  Our destination!  And this Goddess’s name was Estrella.
    Estrella.

    So this was what it was all about: Estrella.  They spoke of her with reverence.  Beauty untouchable.  Estrella’s light feminine mannerisms captivate.  A ray of hope shines from above with the mention of this Goddess.  Genuine seven crowned Chiriqui.  Her dimensions consummate apparition like karat fixates diamond.  Blamless vitality shifts through spectrum.  Bizarre shades of night.  The earth created for her amusement; water conceived so she might have somewhere to walk.  Well formed bare feet, exquisite in their arch.  She moves through dreams.  And upon them.  Every ethereal grace rewards those touched by Estrella.

Hurry up, nightfall is coming,

And with it are clouds and rain,

Chapter 1

The file containing reports of two recent tiger attacks sat on Sasha’s lap. One from Indonesia and the other from Nepal. The reports were slipped in with his mission plans from the Department of the Environment. As one of only three Rangers in the Russian Far East, he could identify with the rangers in other regions of the world, tracking tigers, trying to protect both the animals and the people with whom they shared the land

The cabin was rudimentary at best. A fireplace, a stack of logs belt high, two chairs and a small table. One window. No running water, no electricity and no outhouse. A smile crossed his face as he untied his boots. The lack of amenities did not bother him. He considered himself an outdoorsman. He massaged the instep of first one foot and then the other until the sensation returned. Moving the chair closer to the fire so that his feet were only a few inches from the screen separating the fire from the rest of the cabin, he twisted his neck until it cracked and then rolled his shoulders to loosen his spine. This is what they had taught him years ago when training to be a ranger. “Helps the blood circulate after a long day spent outside in freezing temperatures.” He continued to smile, eyes closed.