The American (part 1)

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Julio barked. Amancio had just reached the top of the tree and situated himself on a sturdy branch. Julio was in the tree across from him, swinging from a leafy hammock.

"Not today, Master. I'm not in the mood," Amancio said along with an exhausted sigh. The young Encantado knew that no matter what excuse he had, Julio was going to express his disappointment.

Like always, Julio arched an eyebrow and said,"You're getting soft, Amancio. You don't have enough control over that girl. Not too long ago, you had her swimming in the palm of your hand and all of a sudden, the tables are turned. You're never going to get anywhere if you keep this up."

Amancio cried in frustration, "It's not my fault! She found something . . . something that was important to me back when I was human. Then she used it against me. What was I supposed to do?"

"If you had her transformed by now, you wouldn't have this problem. Instead, you want to mess around and go out on your little adventures. You can't play games with her forever. She's not your little toy. She's your assignment."

"I know! It's just . . . and she said . . . Ugh! I just can't do this."

Julio sat up and snorted. "What? You actually believe what she said that day at the waterfall? How you two promised to stay friends no matter what? Give me a break."

Amancio narrowed his orange eyes. "How did you –?! That's private!"

Julio ignored him and continued, "I don't know why you haven't pulled the trigger on her yet. You always come so close to transforming her and then you find a way to blow it. Take her to the Encante, show her how lavish our life is. Once she sees our endless lagoons, the islands, the pyramids! You know she won't be able to resist! All you have to do is show her – how hard is that?"

Amancio protested, "It's not as easy as it looks. She gets into my head and it's hard to ignore her."

"Amancio, listen to yourself. You're the Encantado. You're the one who should take control. If you don't do your job soon, I'll do it for you and then you'll be stuck here for who knows how long."

"Leave her alone. Do what you want to me, but don't you touch Sofi," Amancio snarled. 

Julio eyed him in surprise. "Don't tell me you actually have feelings for this human. You're losing your head. You need to choose now. Me or that girl? Encante, or this lonely river? It's your choice. Whatever you choose, Sofi will suffer. And me? I won't care either way."

"Yeah," Amancio added. "You proved that when you abandoned me here twenty years ago! All of a sudden, I meet a girl and you come rushing to my aid. There must be something special about her if you're willing to spend all this time outside the Encante."

Julio shifted his gaze to the overhead canopy. "There's nothing special about her. I just want you to successfully abduct your prey. That's all."

He tried to keep his face straight as his student studied his expression. Amancio got up and descended from the tree. When he reached the forest floor, he huffed in dissatisfaction. Amancio could tell when Julio was lying. There was something about Sofi that Julio was aware of. Something that he was keeping secret.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sofi wandered out of the bushes when she spotted half the town crowding around someone on the center of the bridge. Arturo was among them. She knew that Amancio would be upset if she was late meeting him on the overhang, but her curiosity led her astray. She approached her brother and said, "Hey, Art. What's going on?"

Arturo looked down at her and explained, "These strange people just came into town. They're talking with the elders now. Well, they're trying to talk to the elders. Americans, I think."

Sofi stood on her tip toes to catch a glimpse of the foreigners. But she didn't have to. The five visitors towered over the rest of the villagers. There were four men and one woman. The man who seemed to be the leader was speaking Portuguese with much difficulty to the main elder, Pablo. 

Elder Pablo was shaking his head passionately while rambling on sternly in a strong dialect of Portuguese. The other four foreigners of the group stood around in mild uncertainty and uneasiness. They all held black, bulky filming equipment. 

The man talking to Elder Pablo was very red in the face and poked at a map of the Amazon rainforest in his hand. Elder Pablo continued to shake his head. The frustrated foreigner gave up and groaned something in English. His crew sighed in disappointment at his comment.

The American began to shuffle away and waved his hand to the elder in defeat. Pablo nodded his head in gruff satisfaction and headed in the opposite direction. The crowd slowly began to disperse. Soon Sofi and Arturo were the only ones in the visitors' presence.

"What was that all about?" Sofi asked. 

Arturo answered, "That man was trying to ask permission to get access the river. He claims that he works for National Geographic and he's putting together a documentary."

"Why is he filming in this region of the Amazon? There are plenty of other towns near the river that would let him explore it."

"He says that due to the lack of commercial fishing, there is a strong concentration of wildlife in this region compared to the surrounding territories. He called this place a hot spot."

Sofi studied the American. He was the tallest out of his coworkers with cropped blonde hair that clung to his moist, pink head. His skin was fair, except for his arms which were red from exposure to the sun. He had typical blue eyes, equipped with large, trapezoidal glasses, and a pencil-like nose. The man was dressed in hiking gear and so was the rest of his crew. They were all standing a little ways off, putting all their equipment back in the bags.

Sofi waited until Arturo had left her side and returned back to work before she approached the foreigners.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in Spanish. She didn't want them to know she spoke English. The blonde man looked up in surprise. He began to ramble on in her language.

"Finally, someone who can help us out. I knew somebody in this town had to speak Spanish. You know, you're very pretty. Where are you from? Venezuela? Ecuador?" He was very fluent.

"Colombia," Sofi corrected. "I didn't come over here to help you get closer to the river. I came to tell you to stay away from it. It's dangerous."

The American rolled his blue eyes and exclaimed, "Don't tell me you believe in all that Encantado crap too? I bet you haven't even been to the river. Look kid, we've come across towns like yours before. Whenever we mention the river, everyone freaks out. But when my crew gets out there, all we find are a few friendly botos that enjoy rocking the boat – nothing else. This town is especially sensitive. In addition to blocking off the river, your elder doesn't even want us to explore the rainforest. What's up with that?"

Sofi crossed her arms and said, "This place isn't like the other river villages. Notice that the other villages still go fishing despite the legends. Yet the people on this side don't have anything to do with the river at all. That's because the Encantados are real. People have gone missing. So I suggest that you leave before the Encantados realize that you're on their territory." 

Sofi felt a little silly as she passed on the warning, but she didn't know what else to say. She really, really did not want this foreigner to go anywhere near her domain.

The man eyed Sofi suspiciously. "You sure do know a lot about this river."

"I'm the only one who can control the Encantados, and I'm telling you to stay away." Sofi hoped the man would give into her bluff.

"Right. So I bet you've been in the forest loads of times. I bet the elders don't know anything about your little authority over the river. I bet it would ruin everything if I told them."

"You wouldn't," Sofi growled, cursing herself for giving away her secret. 

The American gave her a crooked smile. "You're right. I won't tell . . . if you lead me and my crew there in secret."

"You'll only be putting yourselves in danger," Sofi protested. 

The man remarked stubbornly, "And you'll only be putting your secret in jeopardy."

"You can't even speak Portuguese," Sofi added angrily. 

The man laughed, "That'll only slow me down, but it won't stop me."

Sofi stood there glaring at the man with a mixture of anger and uncertainty. The American situated his pack onto his back and said, "I'll give you by tonight to make up your mind. If you want to find me and my crew, we'll be staying at the resort in the city south of here. If you lead me to the best spot in the river, I'll keep your secret."

The man and his team began to walk off towards their jeep.

"By the way," he said, "my name is Joshua."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Atop a secluded grassy knoll, a boy with red hair sat tuning his guitar. When he saw a girl climbing up from the forest below, he paused. Amancio threw his hands up in the air in confusion and asked, "What took you so long?"

Sofi bent down to catch her breath. When she regained her strength, she stood back up and said, "Amancio, I need your help."

Sofi sat down with Amancio and told her what had just transpired on the bridge.

"So this guy, Joshua, wants to explore the river, but the elders won't allow him. He needs your help to sneak past them. And if you don't agree, he'll tell everyone that you've been coming here?"

"Yes," said Sofi. 

Amancio shrugged. "What's so wrong with letting him study the Amazon?"

"Amancio, you know that this whole part of the forest is crawling with Encantados. What if he or one of his crew members gets killed or kidnapped? It's not like a village girl disappearing. If these Americans die, more will come to investigate. Soon it will be revealed to their whole country that there's something strange going on in this river."

Amancio pondered on the information a little while longer before he said, "Then we need to find a way to get rid of these humans without alarming anyone else."

"It's Joshua. He's the one leading the expedition. If we can stop him, everything will be alright."

Amancio's thick eyebrows furrowed. He was thinking of a plan. Sofi waited patiently until his bright eyes simmered with an epiphany.

"I know what to do. I can substitute Joshua's memories."

"Huh?" Sofi was not aware of this particular ability. 

Seeing her confusion, Amancio explained, "Sometimes when Encantados don't want to draw too much attention to themselves, they cloud the memories of their victims. It's a relatively challenging procedure, even for seasoned dolphins. So I don't know if I could actually pull it off."

"Amancio, you have to," Sofi begged. Amancio glanced away from her in uncertainty. He didn't like disappointing her, but he didn't want to make a promise that he could not keep. It was hard enough maintaining the first promise he made to her.

Sofi would not be denied. She placed both of her palms on his jaw and folded her fingers around his temples.

"Please, Amancio," she pled, kissing him gently in between. "Please try. At least try to substitute Joshua's memories. That's all I'm asking."

Amancio thought it comical that Sofi was actually trying to seduce him into doing what she wanted. He wasn't going to be controlled like that human Toni. And yet, there was something strangely persuasive about Sofi sometimes. Although she was devoted to him, she also kept a part of herself away.

Amancio couldn't help but feel that Sofi had her own adventures in their forest when he wasn't there. She had her own life, and therefore her own thoughts. This scrap of independent nature was what drew Amancio to her. It was what made him try to please her even if he didn't want to. That hidden part of her that she kept secret made him, deep down, want to become human as well so he could discover it before Toni did.

Amancio believed that humans and enchanted ones could never truly connect. He feared one day Sofi would grow out of him. When that day comes, her mature heart will be ready for a real man – Toni. This fear was what kept the young dolphin up at night.

"Okay, I'll try," Amancio agreed. Sofi smiled and let her hands drop from his face. She said, "Joshua said that he would be in the city in the south waiting. If our plan is going to work, we have to do it tonight."

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Obrigada,

 ~ Coco