[[The Soucouyant]]
[[Androids]]
<img src="becky.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="soucouyant">
"Leh we make a [[lime]] nah?", she asked you.
[[5]]
The scent of the [[island]] air was of humid citrus and sea salt. The margareta in you hand was a poor approximation of the real thing.
What does "make a lime" even mean on the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago?
[[Put down your drink, and water the lime trees]]
[[Put down your drink, and water the nearby bushes]]
[[Put down your drink, and pick up another one->legendtalk]]
[[You feel much relief|legendtalk]]
"Now we limin'!", Your lovely host declares. You haven't known her long, under a day really. You met her in a corner shop in the market, only a few hours after you got off the plane to the island. She was selling [[Obeah]] wares.
You go to pick up the watering can-
[[but the woman fills your empty hand with another drink instead->legendtalk]]
Obeah, she explained, was the modern day Voodoo of the islands brought over from African ancestors.
As the sun was going down and she was closing up shop, she invited you to [[have a few drinks in the backyard.]]
As the sun went down, her skin took on a more pinkish tone. Skin too fresh and unweathered, you thought, for someone living in the sun all day. [[The evening wore on.]]
You drank and you laughed with the woman. Many drinks were had, but now it was time to go. [[You excuse yourself.]]
"There are many reasons to leave, but only one to stay." she says.
You say [[you're not interested]]
She says, "That is not what I want."
[[She starts peeling off her skin]]
She starts with the tips of her fingers, pulling upwards towards on her arms, then her chest and head. It came off in one thick sheet, like a snake shedding dead skin, except this skin was [[very much alive.]]
The eyes were the first to set on fire, soon the entire body was aflame. [[It smelled like burning meat and rancid fat.]]
There was no more body, only a ball of fire.
And it was [[coming towards you]]
as the flame hurtles for your neck, you remember the woman telling you drunken stories only hour ago, of folktales and legend. She told you the story of the Soucouyant. A woman who sheds her skin at night to feed. The only way to defeat her was with salt, or making her count grains of rice. It's unfortunate, you thought, that [[you drank that margarita first.->Beginning]]
[[4!]]...The air was arid and static
"3!"
The room was filled with people with smiles on their faces, but you've never [[felt so alone.]]
Maybe you were always this lonely, and never realized until just now.
"2!", The crowd hollers as they raise assorted shaped glasses in the air.
As you survey the scene, you [[spot a pair of eyes looking directly at you.]]
He was 5 people away from you. Too far to reach but close enough to hear.
[["I'm glad you made it]], you yelled over the warm breaths expelling "1!"
He came closer. He was close enough to [[touch]] now.
You placed your hand on his cheek, it was hard and cold.
The crowd around you leapt into song:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
[[You kissed him->Beginning]]