You must know those nights. The kind of nights when in the absence of all light there is nothing to see but darkness. The kind of darkness that has presence, a kind of substance that is thick and sticky so that it is almost tangible. It is the kind of darkness that presses upon you like a weight and you are aware of its heaviness. And standing immobile in that darkness you feel betrayed. You are betrayed by your own senses because it is your senses that are your instruments of navigation and right now they are next to useless.
You thought you knew the way. You thought you had a firm grasp of your surroundings. You had made a mental map. But in this darkness that is thick and sticky and heavy there is no time, no dimension, no perspective. You take baby steps and your arms wave aimlessly in front of you. Mostly it's your eyes that have let you down. And you realize, perhaps for the first time ever, how dependent you are on your eyes and how vulnerable you feel ...
Then again, maybe you've never experienced the complete and utter absence of light. Maybe you were born in a city. A modern city infused with motion and artificial light. And in this city, the city you grew up in, you have rarely, if ever, ventured past the borders of its sprawling limits. And the few times you did you never really left your life behind for you brought the city's conveniences with you. You brought portable light. Light to see in the dark. So, you can't really say you have been alone with the dark and what unknown things the darkness brings.
When night comes in the Amazon basin it comes swiftly. The sun is there, and then it's not. On this night the darkness is complete. There is no moon and the forest canopy obscures the revolving sky above and its accompaniment of twinkling stars. How do we know the stars twinkle if we cannot see them Jim wondered. He remembered seeing stars a few times in his past. They say the sailors of the great seas long ago used the stars for navigation.
Well, right now navigation was nigh on impossible. Jim and Gomez were to meet Snow in one of the thatched huts for dinner. Dinner was set for 8 and they were late. They couldn't find the damn place in the dark. Heck, they couldn't even see the tower.
"I'm a plumber not an electrician, you'd think these people would at least have torches. I can't even see my hand in front of your face." Gomez was grumpy and he felt justified. He was hungry and tired not having eaten nor slept since he commandeered that persnickety little skiff back in Cairo.
Jim was in the lead. At least he thought he was. Until his outstretched hands touched Gomez who said 'boo'. Gomez laughed. His mood shifted.
"For the sake of Saki Gomez you can be such an idiot. How did you get in front of me?"
"Jim, I'm a leader not a follower. Quit your bellyaching. Follow me."
They lurched around in the dark for what seemed an eternity. "Gome, over here, follow my voice. I just banged into something. I think it's the wall of a hut. We'll feel our way around. Maybe we find a door or at least get our bearings."
Gomez did not bother to answer.
There appeared a faint almost imperceptible light shining through the smallest of cracks in the wall that perhaps wasn't a wall. Jim stooped to look through the sliver, hardly bigger than a needle, and saw nothing but a yellowy glimmer. The crack was far too small to discern objects, but when the light wavered he startled, took a step back, bumped into something or someone and yelped. Then he jumped forward a few steps.
He turned to feel what wasn't there, hands flailing in the inky pitch straining to touch something tangible and familiar, but when he encountered naught but air he whispered a horse whisper, "Gome?"
But Gome did not answer and Jim was seized by a rising storm.
He wanted to run but couldn't. He froze. Then ran anyway. He hit the wall.
He heard footsteps. A door opened. There stood Snow.
"Come in Lubbock, we've been waiting. Dinner is being served."
There were two people at the table. One of them he knew.
" Gomez?"
"Hey city boy! What took you so long? I'm famished. Snow here was just telling me he'll give us a tour of the tower tomorrow. I told you I'd get us in."
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