Page 12 of Worlds Apart
Being surrounded by social animals felt far more foreign than communing with giraffes.
Sunny slid her feet into her slippers, grabbed her flashlight, and walked toward the tent flap that opened to the savannah. Wary of all the warnings about wandering at night, she unzipped the doorway, quickly re-zipped the netting to prevent bugs from flying in, then sat in the canvas chairs on her small porch, watching the dance of stars in the East African sky.
The sun had gone down and shimmering midnight blue lingered on the horizon. Overhead, the sky was packed with so many celestial lights that Sunny could barely take it in. She leaned forward, looking for the moon, and her flashlight tumbled from her lap.
She picked it up and set the light down on her small table but stood when she heard rustling in the brush.
She grabbed the flashlight and shone it into the darkness. “Whatever is out there,” she spoke into the darkness. “I’m going right back inside and—”
“Sunny?”
She let out a relieved breath and closed her eyes. “Martin?”
“Yes, it’s me.” He stepped closer on the rock-lined path that cut through the grass. “Could you…?”
“Oh!” She lowered the flashlight. “Sorry.”
He caught sight of her, blinked, and dropped the beam of his flashlight to the ground. “I’m sorry, I saw your flashlight waving and thought you needed an escort to the reception tent. I didn’t mean to interrupt your bath.”
Sunny glanced and down and realized that she was still in her towel and hair turban.
Kill me. Let me die now.
“Right.” Her voice squeaked. “Sorry. I, uh, came out to look at the stars, but I dropped my flashlight and I didn’t mean to signal anyone…” She blinked. “Is that a machine gun?”
He looked at the firearm slung over his shoulder. “Uh… no. Yes. It’s a rifle not a machine gun.”
“Why…?” She blinked. “Lions.”
He nodded. “Lions.”
Okay, so that was a thing that was different.
“I wasn’t waving for an escort, I just dropped my flashlight but thank you. That was very thoughtful.”And I am still standing in my towel.
Martin stepped closer. “No, I shouldn’t have assumed.”
Sunny opened her mouth, closed it, then said, “But you’re responsible for keeping the lions away so...you probably should.”
Martin gestured over his shoulder. “There is a local pride just over the nearest ridge. They are hunting right now, so you might hear them.”
Sunny didn’t even have the words to respond to that. She was still in her towel and goosebumps were rising on her skin. They might have been from the breeze, the idea of hunting lions, or just maybe the idea of Martin Karanja seeing her in next to nothing.
“So.” She cleared her throat. “Is everyone still up at the reception tent?”
“The Calloways retired with their two boys, but Ethel will likely be playing backgammon with Alice until midnight.”
So they were just pretending that Sunny hanging out naked and wrapped in a towel was nothing remarkable.
“Right. That sounds fun.”
“You could join them if you like.”
Sunny looked down at her towel. “I think—”
“You could join me.” Martin adjusted the strap of his rifle. “For a drink.”
Oh!
