Children of the Amazon by Andria Reingold-McLaughlin

Author:Andria Reingold-McLaughlin [Reingold-McLaughlin, Andria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781643784496
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2020-02-12T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The Trap

“Mom’s still alive!”

“Yes,” Sergio hissed, pulling his fist in with victory.

“She’s in a white room without windows,” I said remembering the details.

“That’s weird,” Sergio said. He was being adorned with tiny white flowers and blue beaded necklaces. “We’re in the middle of the Amazon. What do you mean white room?”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes while four and five-year-old children began combing through his wavy hair. My brother, King of the Amazon Children! “I know but that’s where she was. She was looking for a way to escape. She’s in danger.”

“You mean other than her plane crashing, being attacked by a gigantic bat and being kept against her will?” he said, sounding smug.

I nudged his arm. The children began nudging one another playfully with smiles that seemed to have been hidden for a long time. They had a beautiful olive skin, much like our mother, and bright, gleaming eyes full of love and kindness. Their voices were melodious and their body language was graceful. They moved as if they floated and ran at an amazing speed.

They developed strategies in the Amazon that kept them alive without their parents’ help for months. When the bats hovered, I noticed how quickly the children dispersed. No child ran with another. There didn’t seem to be a buddy system, and the littlest ones were just as quick and self-sufficient as the older children. They all assumed the roles of their parents and hunted for food, gathered fruits and vegetables, and carried on the lifestyles that their parents would have. They took their daily chores seriously and worked very hard throughout the day. They all seemed so… mature.

After my brother was adorned and looked completely ridiculous, we went outside again and gathered at the clearing where the children sat around Sergio in crouched positions. The humming began. My brother began a charade, planning the attack.

Four children dragged netting found in my mother’s airplane, which held cargo in place during turbulence. Sergio inspected the netting. He referred to his survival guide to devise a trap. The children were given jobs and the work began.

Mori took me by my hand and led me off into the brush. Although she was very slender, she had a round face. She wore her hair back and tucked under, creating an exotic twist resembling the simple white flower I had seen earlier. She was tattooed as they all were but had a beautiful design of the sun on the back of her neck which seemed familiar. She had begun to dig up roots embedded in an old gnarled tree. She led me back to the dwelling and used my mother’s pestle to grind the roots to a mashed pulp. The smell was also familiar. She added some paste that we ate the night before and sprinkled a dried herb over the top. She smeared the paste on banana leaves and motioned for my help. Together, we worked until we were called from a child in the distance. She quickly gathered the pasted leaves and placed them in a bowl.

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