Suriname Siren
"Deep in Suriname's rainforest, ecologist Dr. Marieke tracks endangered species—but tracking down lost hiker Adam leads to discoveries far more personal than scientific."
Adam had been lost for two days when Marieke found him. Dehydrated, scared, grateful.
She was thick and capable, machete on her hip, skin gleaming with jungle humidity.
"Yuh lucky mi tracking the jaguars came this way."
"I'm lucky you exist."
"Save the gratitude. We got three days' trek to base camp. Yuh better keep up."
He kept up. Barely. Watching her move through the rainforest like she owned it, that body navigating vines and rivers with impossible grace.
"Yuh staring," she observed.
"You're amazing."
"Mi know." She grinned. "But tell mi again."
Camp two. Night. Rain hammering their shelter.
"Yuh warmer now?" she asked, sharing her sleeping bag.
"Getting warmer."
"Good." She pressed closer. "The rainforest cold at night. We share heat."
"Just heat?"
"We see."
They saw. Tested hypotheses thoroughly.
"Yes! Adam! Right there!"
Her thick body alive with the jungle's energy, her moans joining the rain's chorus.
"Don't stop! We surviving together!"
Surviving became thriving. Base camp could wait another day. Then another.
"Mi should get yuh to safety," she said, not moving.
"I feel pretty safe."
"Yuh in the arms of a woman who wrestles anacondas."
"Exactly. Safest I've ever been."
Adam's hiking disaster became his life's redirection.
Now he assists Marieke's research. The rainforest is home.
"Best wrong turn I ever took," he says.
"Best rescue I ever made," she replies.
Suriname siren.
Called him.
Kept him.
Forever found.