Trekking deeper and deeper into Myanmar’s Northern Forest Complex, Ellie couldn’t believe her luck at being one of two student botanists chosen to join an expedition to explore a region previously unexplored by man. It’s amazing to think that there are still some places on Earth that we know less about than space, she had told her friend, Jess, when the letter had arrived confirming her place. The mother of all hangovers the next day was worth it, though, she thought, as she took in the vibrant colours and cacophony of sounds of the forest.
The expedition was coming to its mid-point, miles from the last mountain village, and everyone was tired from the physical effort of cutting through the dense green vegetation day after day. Spirits were still high though as they made camp, the prospect of a couple of days to rest and take in their surroundings the reward for the effort of the last few days, before turning back, not to mention a few treats they’d packed for the rest days.
The darkness of the nights, free of light pollution, and the exercise meant that Ellie slept like the dead, her body in tune with nature, waking with the dawn chorus of the forest birds. Ryan and Chris were already restoking the fire for the morning brew, and the laughter of some of the others taking a dip in the cool, clear water of the nearby river came through the trees. She gave Naomi, her tent-mate and fellow student, a gentle kick.
“Wakey, wakey sleepy bones. We’ll never get any exploring of our own done if you sleep the day away.”
Naomi responded with a stream of mild expletives before opening one eye and then the other. Ellie never ceased to be amazed that Naomi could look so selfie-ready that early in the morning, I’ve got to try dyeing my eyelashes when I get back, she thought to herself. Without warning, Naomi threw off her sleeping bag and mosquito net.
“Last one in, collects firewood,” she shouted, pulling on her waterproof shoes before sprinting towards the river.
“You’ll never catch her,” Ryan laughed, watching the spectacle unfold.
“No, I won’t,” Ellie replied, laughing, “but I can dive-bomb her when I get there.”
“That I’ve got to see,” Ryan said.
Ellie flushed; she’d had a thing for Ryan as soon as she met him, and the schoolgirl butterflies in her stomach danced at his attention. For fuck’s sake, get a grip, she told herself.
“You’ll have to be fast to catch it,” she taunted, chasing after Naomi, Ryan in pursuit, abandoning a puzzled Chris to the fire.
The look on Naomi’s face was priceless as Ellie well and truly soaked her, Ryan capturing the moment on his satellite phone.
“That’ll be one for the expedition book,” he laughed, backing away from the river as Naomi made for him, dripping like a creature emerging from the swamp. Peace in the camp was eventually restored by a prized packet of chewing gum.
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“Who’s up for some extra exploring today with Thuta and me?” Ryan asked after breakfast.
“Now’s your chance, Ells, just you and Ryan, go for it!” Naomi whispered, digging her in the ribs.
“And Thuta,” she replied.
“Beggers can’t be choosers,” Naomi countered, winking
“I would,” Ellie replied tentatively, aware that her face was as red as a beetroot, “I’ve seen a few seed pods I’d like to collect.
“Anyone else joining us? Naomi?”
“Not me, I need to catch up on my beauty sleep,” Naomi replied, yawning dramatically to stress the point.
Ellie looked at her in amazement, weren’t they supposed to be collecting samples together, today? She watched as Naomi secretly made a heart shape with her hands.
“Me neither,” replied Jess, “my feet really need to be free of my walking boots for a while.”
“Making sense of my notes,” Chris replied, not raising his head from the thick notebook on his lap.
“Taking the chance to do some sketching,” added Jenny.
“Looks like just us three then,” Ryan said, smiling broadly at Ellie.
Naomi stifled a giggle, and it was Ellie’s turn to dig her in the ribs to shut her up.
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The deeper they went into the forest, the darker it got, occasionally punctuated by a small clearing with a dazzling brightness. Ellie was glad of her snake gaiters as it was impossible to see where they were treading, and they’d had encounters with a couple of snakes over the last few weeks that could’ve felled an elephant. She was captivated by the trees and plants of the forest and had already collected at least thirty samples of unusual species by the time they emerged into a large clearing and stopped for a water break and lunch. Ellie watched in wonder as Thuta pulled a number of weird and wonderful plants from his rucksack, along with a few other things that could’ve been grubs and insects, but she wasn’t sure.
“Lunch,” Thuta said, seeing her curious face.
She nodded. Thuta’s English was enough to get across what he needed to, alert them to dangers etc. but he certainly wasn’t a conversationalist.
While Thuta and Ryan busied themselves making a fire, Ellie explored the clearing, carefully making her way through knee-high, thick yellow and green grasses, punctuated now and then by small red, yellow and white flowers. As she reached the far perimeter, a flock of brightly coloured birds rose suddenly from the trees, cawing menacingly, and circled overhead, startling her. Her heart pounding, she turned to return to the others, but something caught her eye. Tentatively she edged towards it. Surely not she thought to herself, it can’t be. I must be seeing things. She gasped with surprise as, a little way in front of her the grasses flattened out and she saw the body of a young girl lying at the centre. Slowly she moved closer to the child, careful not to startle her. Standing close to the body she realised that, although it looked like a girl, this wasn’t any sort of girl she had ever seen. Her skin was silver, made up of tiny scales like a fish, which sparkled in the sunlight, and she wore a dress made of the grasses around her. Her silver blonde hair was crown braided neatly on top of her head and her beautiful face had a calm and peaceful innocence. What looked like a fine, white feather cape spread out beneath her but when Ellie looked more closely, she realised that it wasn’t a cape but that the girl had wings. She was entranced by the girl, but, at the same time, overwhelmed by sadness She brushed away a few tears from her eyes. The girl was quite obviously dead and had been carefully laid to rest. Ellie felt embarrassed that she was intruding on her peace, but she knew that she had to share her discovery with Ryan and Thuta.
Within moments of her shouts, Ryan was by her side, Thuta shortly behind. She watched as they looked at the girl and then exchanged a strange knowing look between them. Everything happened so fast after that.
“Code Blue, Jess,” Ryan said into the satellite phone.
Ellie felt a sharp scratch and everything went black.
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