Alek pushed a low hanging vine out of his way. He trudged through the brambles, their thorns ripping at his jeans. Finally, he reached a break in the trees.
Far below, the city stretched out to the ocean, an accumulation of building seemingly growing out of the valley like an oasis of wildflowers. The immaculate concrete statue of Christ the Redeemer opened his arms to the buildings, people, mountains laid out before him. Boats, barely white specks in the calm blue waters, dotted the sea. The fresh mountain air filled his lungs, while the song of the tropics reached his ears. He watched a butterfly with vibrant stripes of violet, tie-dye-blue-wihite, and black flitter to one of the vibrant red passion flowers bloomed on the forest trees.
A breezed brushed the teenager's sweaty hair as he took in the spectacular view.
"Breath taking, isn't it?" a voice said beside him.
"Very," Alek breathed.
"What are you thinking about?"
For a moment, the boy imagined a different girl standing there beside him. She looked from him with warm brown eyes, then back out to the city. He could practically smell the gardenia of her hair mixing with the scents of the forest. Tara's features softened from their regular hard, guarded status. The corners of her lips raised and all Alek could think of was lifting her chin so that their eyes met, gently cupping her cheek, and softly pressing his lips to hers, feeling the warmth of her kiss he missed and craved.
Alek sighed and the image of the girl of his dreams dissipated and looked over to where Vika stood. Her glowing golden eyes grasped the scenery. She seemed to almost breath not just the air, but the mountains and sail boats themselves. She was pretty, but he felt no attraction to her as he did for the brown eyed girl he had imagined.
"I was just wondering how something so beautiful could exist in such a harsh world," Alek said, as though he was thinking of the view the was his Russian companion was.
"The world is only as harsh as we perceive," she recited with a smile. After taking one last deep breath of a the view, Vika turned on her heels and headed back to the forest.
"We should continue on our way," she called over her shoulder. "It is difficult to get through this forest in the dark."
Alek nodded and turned to follow. He reached upward to move a branch from his path when the Morpho Helenor butterfly he had spotted earlier landed in his hand.
The pure beauty of the simple creature was intimidating, though the boy knew how delicate it really was. He smiled sadly at the butterfly.
"I only wish too see you agin," he whispered. "And I will. Nothing will stop me from being with you again, Tara."
As if accepting the mission itself, the creature flapped it's wings and flew past him, toward the city. Alek took one last look at the brilliant scene, then ducked back into the darkening forest.
This shot is dedicated to those searching endlessly for their love~
This is the pic I used for the city's descrip- Rio de Janeiro, so beautiful <3
Jessie Bennett
