Welcome to Manifesto, my fantasy/sci-fi novel. If you’re new here, you can go to the beginning here.
Quick recap: Having survived a long flight, the group arrives in Cusco worn out, however, having seen the Amazon river from up above, Shawn carried a little flame in his chest.
Just a second! Small update:
I’ve been struggling with posting weekly, but not due to disinterest but rather an accumulation of situations…. you know? Let me share a bit of my life with you.
My non-fiction book, “The Enchanted Forest,” about fungal phylogeny, will be published in about a week. A lot of finishing up is necessary. Editing the texts, adjusting colors, making sure the outlines are in place, copyright pages, contributions… etc.
Other books are also in production, not by me, but I am in charge of the publishing, the niche research, and the overall operation itself. (High-content fiction books as well as medium-content puzzle and coloring books.)
After finishing the non-fiction book, I hope to devote my entire writing to Manifesto and my social media. I want to dive into my characters more. Post backstories and worldbuilding. The list goes on. Bare with me!
Now to the story.
Scene 3:
Shawn stepped on the metal ladder and drew his first Cusco breath, reminding him more of dust and earth contrary to his expectations of a humid plant fragrance, which was probably due to his ignorance of the elevation they were in since Cusco was a mountainous area, and indeed descending into a rainforest, but just further east.
For a moment, he stood there, taking a look around, oblivious of the group walking ahead of him, thinking it was odd that the stars were almost touching the ground. That was when it occurred to him that they weren’t stars but lights in distant cottages. Mountain cottages. A sea of lights, varying in colors, spread all across the horizon. “Cool,” he said aloud.
“Shawn?” Truman called, waiting for him, while the others were quite a bit ahead.
“Did you grow up around mountains?” Shawn asked, catching up with him.
“As if we had any in the UK.”
“Oh, true,” he grinned in slight embarrassment.
The group caught a jumbo cab in front of the airport on their way to the hostel. Although Shawn felt gruesome stiffness in his neck and shoulders, he couldn’t help but stare at the citizens with his head pressed against the window, some of them alone, lazily strolling through the city, some in a group, enveloped in a thick miasma of smoke and airborne dust.
Dust? It was then that Shawn noticed the condition of the buildings and the road, which must have been the main road since it led from the airport, nonetheless, the brick houses surrounding it were in a sorry state, appearing as if they were to cave in at the sight of a stronger wind. In the middle ran a train track covered in sand and dirt. The entire area had an eerie, weathered feeling, as if it had been built and abandoned some time ago. Staring down one of the alleys, Shawn felt uneasy, sensing that if he were to walk down there, he might be in danger.
The road was surrounded by brick walls, which also have seen better days, covered with posters of what seemed to be a presidential vote, an old one.
“Quite worn down, the city, isn’t —” Shawn turned to Truman, leaving a fat stain from his forehead on the window, just to see him in a deep sleep, drool running down his chin. He rolled his eyes with a smile of jealousy, wishing he’d be able to fall asleep so effortlessly.
His eye caught Ruby’s head resting on David’s shoulder as they slept. He scoffed, shifting his gaze, feeling someone looking at him from the backseat.
His and Tiff’s blue eyes met. Her face illuminated by her phone revealed her petite nose ring, her stylish black-framed glasses, and her short black hair with blue and purple strains. Her lips, covered in soft lipgloss, glistened, and although she caught him in what seemed to be a judgmental moment, he felt no animosity from her. On the contrary, maybe even a slight smile and a sense of… compassion. Maybe she also sensed the vibe the two of them, Ruby and David, emanated and felt the same about it, or maybe she didn’t notice Shawn’s reaction at all, and he was imagining, or maybe she smiled at him because she liked him. Whatever the reason for her smile, Shawn turned right away, embarrassed for having an unsightly side of him noticed. Somehow, he regretted not having smiled back, but that would have been just weird, wouldn’t it? And why did he care in the first place?
It wasn’t a long drive to the hotel. In mere minutes, they arrived. The dead group came back to life, treading at a slow pace into the colorful hostel. When they entered, they were greeted with a large tree painted on its corridor walls, its branches spreading all around them. The furniture and floors were just as colorful, an olive green and red striped blanket hoisted over an old sofa, wooden chairs next to a big wooden table, and carpets with all sorts of ornaments. The atmosphere was warm.
Truman, still with a drool trail on his face, looked around.
“You got a thing there,” Shawn said.
“What?”
Shawn pointed at the corner of his mouth.
“Oh… shit,” Truman laughed as he wiped his face.
“How can you fall asleep like that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had issues with it.”
“Yeyeye, show me your pockets. You surely have some melatonin or Xanax pills stashed somewhere,” Shawn made fun of him, “Truman… more like Sand-man.”
“Skills, my friend.”
“Guys?” Tiff interrupted.
“Sorry, we’re out of Xanax for n—” Shawn said, riding the wave.
“Thanks, I’m good,” said Tiff, handing them their key. Truman took it, thanking her. When she walked off, the guys exchanged a look, somewhat embarrassed, both shrugging and smiling, wrinkling their tired, swollen faces just a tad more.
They barked into their room, ready to collapse into a deep slumber, but as they entered, they were stunned by the colors of it, bright green and bright blue blankets covering the also wooden beds (everything seemed to be made out of wood) and a painting of an alpaca on the wall.
“An alpaca? Bro… I never thought I’d need an alpaca on the wall, until now, that is,” Shawn burst out.
“True, lol.”
“True-man.”
Truman shook his head and rolled his eyes but grinned. Both laughed. In what felt like a single motion, they undressed and hoisted their luggage on a pile in a corner. Shawn took the liberty of using the shower first. Having brushed his white jewels, he passed out before he could pull the blanket over his body. Snores filled the otherwise silent room.