Woman of his Dreams

Scott held the picture and looked around Peten, Guatemala.

This looked right. 

It looked familiar.

He had studied the picture for hours. Actually that wasn’t right. He had studied it until it was permanently burned into his brain.  

How in the world did he get here?  

Not quite the place that he usually ventured. This whole mess was so unlike him. Why would he just pick up and go halfway around the world just because of a picture?

To the world this solo trip was the spur of the moment. He had quit his job, moved out of his apartment and put everything into storage. He had no clue on how long it would take to find this place or what to expect when he got here.

Friends looked at him like he had lost his mind.

Family told him he was being irrational and that maybe he should seek some counseling. 

He didn’t know what they would think if he had told them the whole story. The picture was one that just appeared one morning. It had replaced his bookmark in a JA Jance novel that he had been reading. He hadn’t read a page since that moment. In fact he hadn’t done much else except search for this place.

Thank God for the internet. He had searched multiple pages for the partial phrase on that white building. Fate or luck held that those letters occurred in only a few words. Guayacan was one of them. Searching for that term lead him to a certain hotel. It had a white exterior as did the one in the picture.

The architecture looked familiar and he had been more and more certain that what the picture was showing was the Hotel Guayacan in Peten, Guatemala. So certain that he was risking all to find out.

Scott looked across the water and viewed the hotel. This was the spot. The picture had been taken here. Although the boats and buses didn’t line up, all the buildings lay at exactly the right angle.

Now what?

He felt relief. He had spent so much energy to get this far. But getting here wasn’t the reason. He didn’t come here because of the picture; he came here because there was the picture. 

What he hadn’t told anyone, not even his best friend Donny was about the dream. It called to him. When he slept he melted into it. There were times that he woke up sweating thinking that it was all so real. He could see details in his dream. The vivid colors of some of the buildings. He could smell the grease of the buses. He had slipped his hands into the muddy brown water and let the cool water wash off his face as he felt the vicious sun beat down on his tender skin. It was all so real.

How it formed on a picture and made its way to his book he could not fathom. The picture was real. He had shown it to others just to test his mind. He didn’t understand it and had thought at first that he was slipping under the deep end. It was real, so maybe the rest was as well.

Scott knew he usually dreamed in color. Except for a few exceptions, this dream wasn’t much different than most. Most of his dreams felt real. Most had vivid colors. This was a series of dreams. All centered around this one spot in the world. This wasn’t a reoccurring dream any more than each day is a reoccurring day. Similar things, similar surroundings but still different. The one exception. The one thing that happened exactly the same in each and every one of these dreams was…

Scott’s moistened his lips and relived the sensation. The softness. The sweetness. It was the most incredible kiss that he had ever had. He felt his eyes closing as the sensation intensified. Her perfume filled his nostrils and swirled in an erotic dance. His knees shook and as in his dreams he opened his eyes and saw her face and sparkling eyes.

Reality struck him sharply as the sun shined brightly into his eyes. He squinted and looked at a young lady walking towards him. She looked somehow familiar. He tried to look closer at her features hidden in the shade beneath her cowboy hat. In her hands she carried a camera. It was strung around her neck but she still cradled it delicately with both hands. 

She stepped closer and as she looked up and smiled at him she pointed her camera lens at him and asked, “how about letting me take your picture?”

Scott looked up and could clearly see the woman of his dreams.