Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2018 17:38:15 +0100 (CET)
From: marin.giustinian@laposte.net
Subject: Belizean Idyll

In the following story, all of the characters are totally fictive. For
whomever it would be illegal, immoral or forbidden for any other reason
whatsoever to read a story about love between two consenting young men is
kindly requested to refrain from continuing. A photo album (pdf) concerning
this story is available upon request <marin.giustinian@laposte.net>. This
being said, I hope you enjoy the tale.

----------

Let me give you some useful data before we get into the story itself.

Belize is a small, independent, English speaking country in Central
America, formerly known as British Honduras. Many different communities
live there : African, Creole, Indian, Garifunas, Mennonites,
Middle-Eastern, European and American whites, etc. Up until recently, along
with Guatemala, a significant part of the territory of Belize still has
vast, unexplored forests and Mayan ruins.

The term 'Mennonite' designates communities of Protestant Christians that
live by a very strict interpretation of the Bible. They are mostly farmers,
have big families and use no modern facilities such as electricity,
automobiles, ready-made fashion, make-up nor any other things they consider
frivolous. No sexual activity other than reproductive intercourse between a
man and a woman, duly married, is tolerated. Their origins date back to the
late 16th century in Holland. Their movement spread through north-eastern
Europe, then to North America during the 18th and 19th century. From the
beginning of the 20th century they were settling in several countries in
Central and South America. A dissident community left Mexico to settle in
British Honduras in 1958. In 1998, an extremely conservative group broke
away from their mother community and founded Pine Hill in the Belizean
District of Toledo.

----------

The story takes place at the start of the 21st century in the Mennonite
community of Pine Hill.

BELIZEAN IDYLL

by Marin Giustinian

----------

The very comely, eighteen year old Mennonite lad laid sweating, wide awake
in his bed, in the humid, sweltering dark. The wet dream he had just
experienced had been particularly upsetting. Lately, Eli was a bit
tormented by mixed feelings. He was expected to have already begun courting
some of the community's young girls and had already been instructed as to
what could be expected of him once he was married, but somehow the idea not
only confused him, but irritated him as well. His recurrent wet dreams
never involved females. All he remembered was the vision of cocks covering
him in sperm whilst he, himself, ejaculated. It woke him up, breathless,
feeling filthy, his pubes all sticky matted in his underwear.

His older brothers were already out of the house and married. He and his
two younger brothers shared the stuffy, little outhouse wherein the smell
of mold, males and mildew always lingered in the thick air. He liked the
sound of his younger brothers' breathing in their sleep. It soothed him,
giving him a feeling of belonging, of security. He loved them dearly but
sometimes they were a real pain. The hormone storm had kicked in for them
both. They were either too rambunctious or too moody and brooding. He'd
been down that path before... maybe he was still treading it. So what!

As he laid there, the distant sounds of the nearby jungle night and the
occasional whimper of one of his young roommates kept him from going back
to sleep. A cheerful bird was faintly singing somewhere, meaning that dawn
wasn't but an hour or two away. So, he slipped out of bed, stashed his
stained briefs under his mattress, pulled on his jeans and stealthily snuck
out into the moonlit night. His bare chest welcomed the whiffs of fresh
night air and his feet in the warm dusty dirt felt good under the full moon
as he strode down the little path leading into the forest.

He, like everyone else, had been warned of the dangers of wandering around
in the jungle. It was so easy to get lost. It could happen in no time.
Also, all kinds of stories were told about the fierce, wild animals, the
poisonous spiders and scorpions, the deadly snakes and even more chimeral
threats that lurked in the unknown parts of the forest. For the Mennonites,
nature was considered as being the realm of Evil. They considered
themselves as belonging to the race of those who were summoned by God to
conquer the wilderness. They ripped out trees, burning what remains,
murdering the wildlife in order to create pasture land for docile, obedient
God fearing animals and raise plants known by believers. Such was God's
command, as clearly stated in the book of Genesis of the Holy Bible, when
it says, "Let man rule over all the Earth". And with the Good Book, no
discussion was tolerated because everything that's worth being is written
in that book!

For the time being, he could care less about God's command. The scent of
the forest, the sumptuous, full moon, illuminating the rich foliage in its
misty silver glow, enchanted him, consoled him. The heady scent of flowers
and underwood decay made his cock and balls tingle, shifting around, naked
and free in his farmer's jeans.

He lost track of time as he advanced. He felt a strange kind of careless
freedom overtaking his normally anxious self-awareness. The path narrowed,
became difficult to see, but he cared less. He went deeper and deeper,
lured into the luxuriant, welcoming vegetation. He enjoyed the leaves
brushing, tickling and caressing his skin, arousing his pert, little tits,
making him feel strange, new and delightful sensations. The random rustle
of the branches above him made him smile, as he caught a fleeting glimpse
in the moonlight of a furtive bird or the lively monkey he had startled. It
was good to feel that there were others around with whom he could be alone.

Only God knows how deep his wandering into the thick forest had led
him. The sky began glowing with the oncoming dawn and when daylight was on
the verge of breaking, it dawned on him that he should hurry back before
the others awoke and found him gone.

He turned around and strode in the direction he thought was 'back'. But
everything around him looked the same! He balked, hesitating, suddenly not
being sure of the direction he should take. He had, after all, roamed
aimlessly, following his instinct, heeding his passing whimsies, from
clearing to clearing, forgetting completely the possibility of there not
being a path to follow, leading him home.

Little by little, panic set in. Was he lost?

Yes, indeed, he was lost, completely lost, no longer having the slightest
idea where he was and where his home could be. Somehow he felt he would
eventually get home, but that act of faith didn't really help, for he knew
also he would be punished, that his father would probably thrash him for
disobeying and even more so, for being such a deplorable example to his
brothers. The more he brooded over the idea, the more it upset him and the
more he was upset, the more desperate he felt.

The sun was now rising. He knew that his father would alert the community
and send out people searching for him... but in what direction? He had
never expressed interest for the forest, so this would be the last place
they would think about finding him. All he had with him were his jeans and
suspenders, so therefore, they would find his belongings and deduct, at
least, that he wasn't the worst of sinners in the eyes of the community : a
runaway.

He kept on stumbling around, not realizing that he was in fact drifting in
the opposite direction of his hopes. Little did he imagine that spread
before him was a vast, wild territory of barely explored jungle, a
mountainous wilderness full of wildlife, wherein he had no chance of
survival.

Hunger nagged him, the heat as well and the hum of the swarming mosquitos
were becoming unbearable. The steamy moisture rising in the heat stifled
him. It seemed to coat him with a kind of sticky film of sweat.

Then, all in a sudden, he distinctly heard the rush of a waterfall. He ran
in that direction. He reckoned that where there's a waterfall, there's a
river and a river flows to open, flat land where there are farms and people
and rescue!

As he pushed aside the last branches obstructing his passage, a beautiful,
rippling pool, gleaming at the foot of a gentle cascade, appeared just
before him, tumbling like a bride's veil down the rocks. He knelt and drank
and then not resisting, he shed his jeans and slipped into the crystal
clear current, never noticing the little pile of soap nuts on a nearby rock
and the brown Indian tunic hanging to dry on a low branch just above.

----------

As Monrad came back to fetch his clean tunic and wash up, he was surprised
to see somebody.  He first hid, afraid that the intruder might be hostile,
a plunderer or a poacher out to kill for fur. Eli was swimming, graceful in
the morning light. He immediately saw that the strangerEli was about his
age and even as blond as he was dark. He felt that this boy might even be
the companion he was hoping for.

The sound of the waterfall masked all the others around so Eli heard
nothing as Monrad, already nude, crept to the edge of the pool and eased
himself into the water with some soap nuts in his hand. At that very
moment, Eli stood and seeing the other boy, immediately cupped his sex with
his hands. Half way shouting, halfway stuttering, he called out, "I'm
lost. I was too hot. Excuse me if I bother you. I'm sorry! Is this your
pool?"

"Easy! Take it easy, man! This pool belongs to nobody and you are as
welcome as I to cool off in it," replied Monrad, "I come to bathe here
every day," he said as he began lathering himself up, "You need to wash
too. It's safer to be clean here in the forest. Take this. Scrub yourself
with it. It's like soap."

Eli considered the gesture as a sign of friendship and edged up to Monrad.
Taking the nut, he smiled and simply said, "God bless you! Thank you... I
need your help."

"I'm not going to wash you, if that's what you want!" laughed Monrad.

"Not that kind of help! I'm from Pine Hill and I got lost and don't know
how to get back home. Can you help me, please," he pled, scrubbing himself,
not noticing his growing cock, nor Monrad's neither for that matter.

"Sure I can. I can accompany you up to the path you took, but that's at
least an hour's walk from here."

"An hour's? What time is it?"

"How should I know? A watch is useless here! Listen! First things first!
Come, let me scrub your back and hair. Then you can do mine! I always think
better when I'm clean! Not you?"

As Monrad washed Eli's back, he said, "My name's Monrad. For the time
being, I live here. My camp is just up there behind the trees. And you? Who
are you?"

"Eli, Eli Mueller. Last night I couldn't sleep and I got up and went out
for a walk and wound up lost. I'm so glad God sent me here to find you!"

"God? You're one of those religious, pale looking kind of people who
devastate the forest and stay off to themselves. Strange people, you are!
But you don't look like the other boys of your kind that I've seen around,
with their shirts buttoned up to their chins and funny straw hats on their
head. You, you're different looking. Real nice looking. Now, kneel down in
the water and let me do your hair. It's all matted. Here in the jungle, if
you don't keep yourself clean you can get eaten up by vermin or smelled out
by the wild cats!"

While Monrad was massaging Eli's scalp, his cock rubbed up against Eli's
back.

"Now duck down and rinse all the foam off. You'll really feel better after
that!"

Eli did as he was told and then stood. Monrad looked down at Eli's hard
cock and giggled, "Yes, you do feel better. That I can see!"

Eli blushed, smiling and said, "Your turn Monrad. Hand me the soap nut."

Eli washed Monrad's back all over and then said, "Kneel and wet your head
too. I'll do your hair now. It's really long."

"Mmm... That feels so good!" moaned Monrad as he leaned back, wiggling just
a bit against Eli's stiff cock. Bathing Monrad like that nearly made Eli
tremble with lust. He felt like he was on the verge of shooting off. For
him, such a situation should have seemed sinful, but in such beautiful,
pure surroundings, he felt that it was simply natural and his deed, even
something virtuous to do between friends. His new companion was so direct,
so courteous and so attentive, that washing each other and enjoying it with
healthy young erections couldn't be a satanic inspiration!

Eli was pensive as they came out of the water. Not bothering to dry off,
they slipped into their clothes. Monrad smiled at him, reached out and took
him by the arm. "Listen Eli. Before I guide you back to the path, we need
to eat something and I need to stash my things and put out the fire. You
never know what can happen. Best to be careful. The ruins in the forest are
sacred, but they draw evil people who plunder them and then sell the
artifacts to ignorant Americans and Europeans. It's a pure shame, a
crime... but like a lot of things, I guess you just got to live with it.
Come on up to my camp and when we get everything settled, I'll put you back
on your way home."

"Sure..." replied Eli reluctantly as he slightly shuttered at the idea of
facing his father. He thought to himself, "I guess I have to accept the
wrath of the others...  But why do I have to accept being chided and
condemned just for being myself? That's sick!"

Monrad called back, "Well, are you coming or not?"

"Lead on! I'm hungry too!"

----------

Just a minute or two later they entered a little clearing where Monrad had
built a fire beside his tarp shelter. A net, hanging in a tree was bulging
with fruit. Wrapped in leaves, there were two little, wild guinea hens too
that were recently roasted. He invited Eli to sit in front of his shelter
and spread what looked like a real banquet on the grass mat he had pulled
out from under the shelter.

As they were devouring their food, Eli inquired, "Where did you get all
that food? It's really delicious!"

"I gathered it just around here and I snared the hens not too far off and
skewered them over the fire yesterday. The forest gives me all I need for
free, without toil, without damaging anything."

"I understand better when you said that my kind of people destroy and
plunder... When I see this, I realize how totally stupid it is."

"If I wasn't sitting here with my hands full of food, I'd hug you, Eli, for
what you've just said!"

"Well let's hug anyway!" he exclaimed, shuffling over to a laughing Monrad.

They finished eating, shoulder to shoulder, glancing at each other,
enjoying every morsel.

"I'm really impressed with you, Monrad. Everything I've lived until now
seems so complicated to me! The Scriptures, manners, work, drudging in the
fields, minding myself all the time, worrying if I'm a good Christian or
not!"

"Well, why don't you let those thoughts just float away. Send them up there
on those big white clouds over our heads. Enjoy being here, now. It's kind
of a miracle that we found each other and that we're here together, just
you and I. When I gathered food yesterday, I didn't know I was going to
have company in for lunch, but I guess the spirit of the forest did! You're
the living proof! Eli, what's behind you can stay behind you. It's only up
to you. If you need to hang on to things, well hang on... But if they're a
burden and if you have enough faith in yourself, then let them go! It's up
to you and only you to decide what you do with your life! For me, the
forest is my guide, not a book like for your kind. Books are only alive if
we lock up our lives in them. I want my life to be free. I'm not a
book... nor are you, Eli. We are alive. Flesh and blood and fun and
pleasure alive, living. Believe me! It's real, man! Be real with real
things and not with words! I'm right, aren't I?"

As Monrad spoke he kept on touching Eli, talking close up to him.

"Carry on! I need to hear what you're saying, Monrad! I need it a lot."

"Oh Eli! I feel so much about you! I feel you're strong and fragile at the
same time!" exclaimed Monrad, then after a moment of silence, looking at
Eli, he said, "All right, I'll go on, but with my body and not with
words. When our bodies connect, we understand who we are, for real, without
Bibles nor anybody else telling us who we should be... Nobody but yourself
can know who you are, so to yourself be true, and you alone!"

While he was talking, Monrad continued caressing Eli's heart and neck. Eli
leaned into him as if drawn by some magic magnet. Almost whispering in
Eli's ear, he coaxed him to lay back and leaning over him, they both closed
the distance between their lips.

As they kissed, their eager hands roamed over their velvety skin making
each feel they were sparkling with some kind of luminous energy. Eli's
shivering fingers slipped under Monrad's tunic, touching the insides of his
thighs, wandering up to his sex, caressing his pubic curls. Eli felt
Monrad's hand slowly unsnap his suspenders, unbutton the fly of his jean
and rub the slick, clear substance oozing out of his stone hard cock. Their
kiss became kisses, tantalizing, licking their necks, their tits, their
pits, their ears, their throat.

Gasping, coming up for air, Monrad, in a sweeping gesture pulled his tunic
off and Eli stripped, throwing aside his jeans. At last free, nude and
daring, they rolled over each other, rollicking and laughing, smelling like
the waterfall, smelling like boys, smelling like love. Eli felt a sudden
warmth enshroud his throbbing cock. Monrad's mouth had seized it, twirling
his tongue around the swollen head. Eli reached down and thrusting his arm
between Monrad's thighs, grabbing his buttocks, pulled him up to suck him
as lovingly as he was being sucked. Like the increasing pace of a rhapsody,
they both began to buck and hum and then swallow the offerings flowing into
their mouths as nature quenched their thirsts with the gushing of each
other's semen. They guzzled the creamy surges of sperm they were receiving
as they gave theirs at the same moment, ejaculating together. Spent,
surprised and satisfied, they continued to suckle their softening cocks
until together they found the way back to their lips. As they hugged,
somewhat panting, Monrad suddenly broke away and stood, dancing around,
stretching his arms up over his head, chanting some strange pagan song and
weeping all at the same time. Almost stunned, Eli just stared at his
companion, then stood and grabbed him, holding him tight. "You're my..."

"Hush..." replied Monrad, "No need to talk... I'm yours and you're mine,"
and thus they held each other by the waist, their cocks squeezed together,
facing one another for a long moment. Slowly drowning in the mystery of
each other's eyes, of each other's soul, they knew that their lives were
destined to be free... free, together!

----------

As they were getting under way, Monrad commented, "You look like you're
scared to go back."

"I am scared. The community is not my life. My life is here! Here in the
forest... Here with you, No? God sent my here to find you and to wake me up
from the dream of my ancestors. Their dream was a nightmare for me. The God
of the Bible is not the God of Love that I dreamt of worshipping... and who
at last I worshiped with you, Monrad!"

"I see..." After walking in silence some, Monrad spoke up, "I think I need
to tell you some about myself as we walk, about what I left behind and what
I hope now that were together. Is that all right with you?"

"Of course! I'm listening!"

As they walked heading to the path that continues to Pine Hill, Monrad told
his story.

"My grandmother, the one on my mother's side is a very respected shaman
woman. She comes from the Yucatan and belongs to the nation of the
Toltec. She was the one who did most of my bringing up as a child and a
young teenager. Even though she wasn't a Christian, she had no problem with
me being a baptized in the church of the Witnesses of Jehovah like my
father."

"You believe in God then?"

"Sure I do, since the gods believe in me, since they come and visit me in
my dreams. But let me explain. Things are really quite simple for me
because of her and of the relentless love of my own mother and father."

"Please go on!"

"Even if my father is a half black Creole, I'm considered, because of my
mother, more an Indian than anything else. Many of us believe in what we
call 'two spirits'. That means that most men are born with a man's spirit
and most women are born with a woman's spirit and then there are a few of
us who are born with both. We're 'two spirits'. Our energy of love can
combine with any another person, regardless of the fact that they be a man
or a woman. My grandmother saw that I was a 'two spirit' boy and that like
most of us, I can connect with all the spirits in the world. That's why we
are respected and often charged with spiritual missions like being a
shaman. You too, Eli, are born as a 'two spirit' boy. Our energies connect
and you felt it, like I did, that God was present in our loving."

"I see... Yes, and above all... I feel what you mean."

"That's not all. A few months ago, I had a dream. A jaguar came and told me
that I must leave the world that the white man made and go back to the
forest of my ancestors. I must find the shrine that was built for me and
celebrate his spirit in it. He was very clear. I can still see him now. I
told my family that a mission had been conferred on me and that I must go
into the forest, find my shrine and celebrate the spirit of the jaguar. He
will guide and protect me. My grandmother blessed me and my parents, my
brothers and sisters did too. I took the bare essentials, dressed in my
Indian tunic and left. The spirit of the jaguar protects me and I learn
more about the forest and the invisible world of the spirits everyday."

"But how did..."

"I'm not finished. When I found the pool where we met, I knew that I had to
wait there for an important event. Even if the spirits of the forest keep
me company, I was yearning for a real companion, someone with whom I could
be totally my real self in order to celebrate love the way I should. Only
another person can show you the path that leads you to your real self. That
other person needs you as you need him. You are that person I was waiting
for... and you came."

"I didn't know I needed you too until you found me," Eli said, stopping in
his footsteps, then looking deep into Monrad's eyes, he asked, "But the
path you are going to put me back on now, is it my real path?"

"Maybe, because we don't know where it may lead in the end, Eli. We don't
know. All we know is that you must see your folks again and tell them the
truth. Your truth. The truth that will set you and also me, free."

"Free to be with you, if you still want me."

"I need you, Eli... just like you need me and our need IS that freedom!"

"Stand by me when I speak to my father... Please!"

"Of course, Eli! I'll always stand by you."

Hand in hand they took the path, now become visible, going into the
homestead. As they neared the house, Eli's two younger brothers ran out to
meet up with them.

"Da bist du! Vater ist nicht glücklich," they yelled, "He's mad as
fire and mother just keeps on crying!"

----------

As they stood in front of the house, Eli's mother stepped out and looking
stunned, she simply hugged her son. Then his father came out. Without
inviting him to go inside, he very sternly summoned his son to explain
himself, there on the doorstep. However painful it was, Eli never raised
his voice nor did he seem too overwhelmed with emotion. His steadfast
presence impressed. He politely apologized for the worry and trouble he had
caused, then he openly confessed his wet dream and his flight into the
forest. Without excusing himself for being so foolish as to wander away
like that, he explained that it was a call of God and that way he met
Monrad.

Eli's father then spoke up, designating Monrad and ignoring his son, "Young
man, we thank you for helping our son find his way back home," then turning
towards Eli, "I'm going to have to punish you and then put you back to
work. You have been a dreadful example for your brothers and sisters, a
shame to the whole community and a grievous burden for us all. We expect
you to humbly present your deepest regrets and beg all and everyone for
their prayers of pardon."

"Sir, never will you punish me for being myself and never will I comply to
what you've just said. I'm leaving and nothing nor no one can stop me. Is
that clear?"

"Bist du verrückt geworden? You've lost your head in the jungle! You
obey me now and that's it."

"No Sir, that's not it," he stated, steady and calm on his two feet, as his
father became more and more nervous, glaring at him with ugly, narrow,
threatening eyes.

"Listen me out, father, and you all, keep silent while I talk."

Eli glanced over into Monrad's eyes, smiled and then resumed his
declaration. "I had to lose myself to find God's way for me and thus find
my own way. God brought me to Monrad. He saved me in more than one
way. Through him I found God, because I found Love. The Holy Scriptures
which you abide by say, word for word, in 1st John 4:8 that 'God is
Love'. I found that with Monrad. John says also that God is Spirit and the
spirit of nature saved me, and not like you all, stumbling in the dark
seeking the world in a book, I found Light, and God is Light. He is the
light of the world you destroy, ransacking it to impose on the earth your
stupid ways. The God you worship makes of all who follow your ways,
killers. Do you hear me? You are killers! Killers of thousands of lives
that you have never heard of. God is Light and He has shown me the path. I
love Monrad and Monrad loves me. We are going to live together in the
forest, abiding by its spirit, in the light of life, far from your world of
death and destruction. I know that you boil to banish me for speaking such
truth. Yes! I wield the blade of truth and it cuts deep into your dream!
But now it's too late. You have no power over me. You CAN'T banish me. I'm
banishing you! You are condemned to rot here on the corpse of the forest
you have murdered. I'm banishing you to toil like slaves, bound to your
crime and to never seek to find us. I do thank you for giving me my life,
father! I doubt you did it for love's sake. When I heard you pounding
mother's vagina, I knew it was to make her produce. I heard you grunt. I
never heard her cry out in ecstasy, utter a word of love. But since I'm now
here on this earth, I'll praise the Love, the Spirit and the Light that has
made it so unbelievably beautiful, so incredibly bountiful, far from your
righteous claws. Leb wohl. Farewell!"

"Stand back! Oh! Save us Lord! The devil has taken possession of him!"

Eli's brothers started to run up to him, caring less about the Devil. Their
father ran faster, grabbed them by their shirts and flung them on the
ground screaming, "The devil has raped his soul! Beware! Don't go near
them, him and his black demon!"

Eli's mother just stood there, dumbstruck, twisting her apron, muttering
strange sounds between her clenched teeth.

Eli and Monrad ran over to the outhouse where he fetched a few clothes, a
rucksack, a magnifying glass for making fire and a cover. Then turning
their backs to the homestead and the appalled group milling in front of the
house, they took the path leading back to their home.

Monrad had yet to open his mouth, having kept his silence during the
terribly climactic confrontation between Eli and his father. Once they were
in the forest, Eli balked, stopped and grabbed Monrad, shaking, breaking
down, sobbing for all he was worth, more from relief than from
grief. Monrad held him tight against his heart, soothing him until he
calmed. Then they kept on walking. They were back at the camp just in time
to gather some things to eat and light a fire before sunset.

"Let's return to the pool where we met, Monrad. I need to start our new
life together completely cleansed of what I've left behind."

"Yes, Eli, we'll celebrate our own baptism together!"

----------

Exhausted by the day they had spent, by the miles they had walked, by the
tidal wave of emotions they had experienced, they slept like never
before. At daybreak, Eli opened his eyes to see Monrad's loving smile. They
kissed and let nature take over.

There was no stress nor rut, just surging love drawing them together,
uniting them in a constant flow of tenderness, warmth and desire. They
began sucking each as before, but this time, taking their time, relishing
their throats and each other's cock in a kind of spiral dance as their
souls soared. When they had both spilt their semen, they cuddled, never
softening, slightly writhing, grinding their cocks one against the
other. By instinct they found their asses and tongued their holes,
fingering, slathering on their cocks until Monrad coaxed Eli on his back
and began probing his drooling cock into his lover's anus. Eli pushed back
as Monrad slowly sunk into him. The undulating dance continued until Monrad
arched, spewing his offering deep into Eli. After a long moment of calm
kisses, caressing each other, Monrad splayed his legs and begged Eli to
come in. Eli bent over, kissing Monrad, then preparing him, taking his
time, letting his deepest nature accomplish itself, his love connected with
Monrad's. They hummed, rolling and surging in the pure pleasure of suave
copulation, heeding their impending orgasms, welcoming the undomesticated
spirit of utter love as it flooded their flesh and souls.

Over the days and weeks, little by little they became perfectly tuned
together, knowing what and when to do what had to be done. Then one
morning, they simply knew that it was time to go. They broke camp and
headed northwest. This was just the beginning of a long itineracy lasting
weeks on end, until one day, at noon, they distinguished the shrine, their
shrine, emerging over the treetops. The high stone stairway, halfway
shrouded by centuries of vegetation, revealed itself in all of its ancient
majesty.

"The spirit had led us to destination, Eli. This is where we shall
celebrate everyday our offering of love. This is our shrine!"

As if awaiting them, a majestic jaguar calmly gazed at them as they slowly
climbed the stairs, reaching the uppermost platform.

"Look, do you feel what he's saying to us, Monrad!"

"Yes."

They took each other by the hand and looking into the eyes of the animal,
they simply said, "We're here at last and here we stay. Duty is done."

The jaguar tilted his head, flinched and slowly stretched. Then, in a
flash, he vanished.

It is said that the monument has been spotted by plane but for some unknown
reason, at each attempt to approach it by land, there was always some kind
of incident preventing it to be reached.