Dominic’s photo this week is this…

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course i’ll be adding these words to my 100k Word Count 😉

 

The tour guide spoke little English but managed to communicate with the small group of tourists by way of hand signals.

“If i’d known it was this far i wouldn’t have bothered!” Sarah whined as she shuffled along behind her boyfriend Jack.

“Stop moaning Sarah! The hotel said this was a trip not to be missed.”

“Well, i wish someone would tell that German guy up the front that we haven’t got all day!”

It was supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime this trip to Bali. It was somewhere they had both dreamed of visiting. Sarah had envisioned meditation, Yoga, a hot stone massage, or two, and the sound of calming water running over smooth rock. Something along the lines of Eat, Pray, Love, how she loved that film. Unfortunately, Jack had other ideas. He said you couldn’t come to a place like this and not see the sights. And if that meant trekking up mountain sides to see crumbling old religious ruins, then so be it.

Sarah stopped. “Thats it Jack, i can’t go on anymore, its too hot.”

Jack turned and bent down, his face almost touching hers. “Stop showing me up Sarah, you’re being childish!” He snarled, his face full of anger.

“Woah! Where did that come from?” Sarah was shocked, she had never seen her mild, laid back Jack show any aggression in the 3 years they’d been together.

“Just MOVE!”

Tears pricked Sarah’s eyes. Why was he being like this? It was so out of character. Sarah bit her lip and held back the tears as she carried on up the mountain, deciding it would be childish, and embarrassing to stop and refuse to move. She would just have to grit her teeth and carry on. But there was no way she would be talking to Jack until he apologised.

At the top of the mountain the tour guide became very excited and led the exhausted group through a stone archway that led to a beautiful water garden. There were gasps of “Oooo” and “Ahhh” as the visitors walked the narrow pathways between the cool pools of water. Sarah had to admit, it was pretty impressive, but she wasn’t going to tell Jack that. Jack? Where was he? Sarah turned a full 360 degree’s. He’d been right in front of her. Sod him, if he wandered off and got lost that was his look out.

The group spent an hour wandering around the sacred space. The German couple had a guide book and took great pleasure in informing everyone when the garden had been discovered and what the experts thought it had been used for. And then it was time to go, or so they presumed by the way the tour guide looked at his watch and then clapped his hands furiously saying “Come, we go.”

“Oh, he wants us to leave before it gets dark.” The elderly American lady informed the group. “Apparently, strange lights have been seen here, the locals are scared of this place.” Sarah gulped and looked round for Jack.

“Sorry, stop, wait, my boyfriend Jack, he’s not here. We need to find him before we leave.”

The American lady looked quizzically at Sarah. “Who honey?”

“My boyfriend Jack, he was with us.”

The German man came forward. “We need to leave. Whats the problem?”

“She says her boyfriend Jack is missing.” The American lady was eyeing Sarah suspiciously.

“Jack? Who’s Jack?” The German man looked at Sarah as if she were mad.

“Oh for heavens sake! My boyfriend, Jack, tall, brown hair, baseball cap, he was with us, and now he’s not.”

“I think she’s had too much sun.” The American lady turned to the German man. “We need to get her back to the hotel. Come on honey, we need to get you out of the sun.” She tried to slip her arm through Sarah’s.

“No…we can’t leave without Jack!”

Seven pairs of eyes stared as the American lady put her arm around Sarahs shoulders.

“But honey, you came on your own.”

 

Enjoyed that….could definitely turn it into a longer story 🙂