I'd give anything to feel cool again. Ruth fanned herself and wondered, not for the first time, what the heck she was doing traveling thousands of miles from home. Her family warned her not to go, her mother pleading with her to stay so she wouldn't lose another child. The authorities cautioned against it as well, but with her sister Carlie missing in the jungle and no clear answers from the people investigating, she couldn't sit still. So on a plane she hopped, traveling way out of her comfort zone, with her nerves strung taut, hoping that somehow, someway she might make a difference.
Forget making a difference. I'm more likely to faint from dehydration. Not a breeze stirred the humid and heavy air at the airport, and the stench of hundreds of bodies ? sweat and perfume blending with the aroma of cooking food ? made her wish for the crisp cleanness of her garden at home. My oasis.