Jonathan and Molly blended into village life perfectly. They met everyone and learned how they operated. Not only the day-to-day living, isolated and independent, but also about the surveillance and monitoring. Behind the exterior of a humble jungle village was some of the most sophisticated equipment Jonathan had ever seen. The people who lived there had a wide range of expert skills and had set up communications systems linking them to the other villages in the surveillance network and to trusted contacts outside the jungle. They had remote cameras and monitoring systems, with antennas and transmitters dotted throughout the forest, hidden high up in tall trees, complete with lightning protectors. As well as communications, the equipment was used to monitor and count animal and bird species as well as to carry out soil, water and air testing.
There were sophisticated systems for water and power supplies. They had a number of greenhouses, camouflaged with foliage so they could not be spotted from the air. They grew all sorts of fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants. Molly spent hours in the greenhouses, helping to tend the plants and learning new gardening techniques.
At first Maribel was like a tour guide to Jonathan, showing him around and explaining what they did. They had long walks through the surrounding jungle, and Jonathan returned with excited stories of wildlife sightings, including impressive snakes and spiders. It was a new world to him, and he loved it. He listened to her and constantly asked questions, hungry for what she knew. Every day he felt more and more comfortable in the jungle. Even the mosquitoes started to leave him in peace.
They talked and laughed constantly, but she felt reluctant to share too much of herself. She knew he would soon be returning to his life. And the people she had grown close to had always left her. Jonathan was patient.
They sat on the edge of a lagoon one day and she asked “So, when are you leaving?”
“I’m not leaving you,” he said gently. “I’m going to stay with you, Maribel, wherever you are, whatever you do.”
Maribel gently closed her eyes and beamed with a smile that radiated a happiness she had never felt before. She leaned her head against his shoulder and told him the story of how she came to live in the village. She had left the city two years ago and had been traveling in the jungle area when she met Linorio by chance at the port in Puerto Verdad. She was on her way to Shiringa, to spend some time in the village. Linorio was heading for Monococha, to deliver supplies. They had talked all the way and, when they got to Monococha, Linorio invited her to stay a few days in the village. That evening he shared with her what they were doing in the community and asked her to help set up the new computer equipment he was delivering. They took the secret boat, through the hidden waterway to the community and, the moment she arrived, knew she was meant to be there.
She had felt instantly at home in the jungle life, hidden in this world within the world. But, she told him, lately she had become restless. She wanted to do more but wasn’t sure what her next move should be.
Jonathan knew he would burst if he held in his feelings any longer. “I feel that something has blossomed inside me since coming to the jungle. And since meeting you, I feel like a pod which, at long last, has opened,” he said.
Maribel knew in that moment that she was safe to reveal how she felt. “It’s happened to me too. I felt like I was in a cocoon, but since I met you, I’m like a butterfly emerging and unfolding my wings,” she replied.
“You smell like rainbows,” said Jonathan, and they shared their first kiss.