Sounds Of The Rainforest

The rainforest is alive and crackling with noise. Not everyone is aware how noisy it can get. Cackles over here, chirps back there, hoot-hoots above, dancing across branches. All sorts of noises. Everything is alive.

And then… everything quiets. And that usually is a sign. A new noise is heard, something unnatural. A saw blade, slicing over and over through a tree. A single poacher is working on this tall tree. He’s pushing the saw blade through the trunk of the tree. Back and forth. Working steadily, working deeper through the tree.

He glances up the tree, the scarlet macaw’s nest high above. That’s what he strives for. A nest, baby macaws, maybe the parents as well. Whatever he can wrap his greedy, sweaty hands on. It will all fatten his wallet and plump up his belly with money and food he won’t deserve. Money and food acquired through dark, through evil, through separating a family of beautiful macaws.

He wipes the sweat from his forehead and returns to sawing. He begins to perspire again, immediately. The sound of the sawing echoes through the humid forest. A dry sound repeating through a thick, wet air that hangs heavy on all. Until the sound isn’t alone anymore. An angry squawk echoes from one corner of the forest. Then again, closer.

And then a final squawk accompanied by brilliant red feathers streaking from the canopy above and diving at the poacher. A scarlet macaw dives at the poacher, claws out, sending the poacher stumbling back. The macaw swoops up, circles and prepares for another attack.

The poacher’s eyes dart around, trying to locate the bird. Suddenly, the red feathers appear from his left, they flash past him, talons smacking his face. The macaw swoops back up and the poacher fixates his stare on him. Bright red feathers, with a peppering of blue and yellow, now the poacher is located on him like a homing missile.

He pulls his saw from the tree and as the macaw circles around and attempts another dive, the poacher swings the saw, striking the macaw in the face. The macaw thuds onto the forest floor. The poacher steps warily, crunching through leaves. The macaw lets out a weakened groan.

The rainforest is quiet as the poacher stands over the macaw. A cut across this otherwise beautiful macaw’s face. The poacher wonders if anyone would want this macaw as a pet now. Probably not. Too many will view him as damaged goods. Best to dispose of this one. The poacher drops the saw and slides his gun off his back and readies it.

And suddenly, new sounds in the rainforest. Violent rustling of leaves and pounding on the dirt. The poacher turns and a flash of khaki and forest green dives at him knocking him to the ground, his gun soaring backwards. The poacher on his back, trying to figure out what just happened.

The khaki-clad Dave, pushes off his body. He moves quickly, snagging the saw, and then jumping towards the gun. Without hesitation, he scoops it up, rushes to the riverbank and before the poacher can scream “Stop!” Dave heaves them both into the water. The rapids carry them swiftly away. The poacher scrambles to his feet, charges Dave like an angry rhino. Dave spins, physically no slouch and fully aware of it. He squares up, lowers his body like a football player, and buries his shoulder into the poacher’s legs. Dave grasps his legs and pops himself straight up and launches the poacher clear over his head. The poacher flips through the air, lands on his back onto the slope just before the river and tumbles into the water.

Dave scampers to the scarlet macaw. He lays on the forest floor, still breathing, eye examining his surroundings, a cut across his face. Dave scoops him up gently. Chirps emanate from the canopy. Cackles echo through the trees, growing louder and louder. A few hoots of approval, the rainforest is crackling again. Dave rushes off, but keeps his hands steady. He pushes through tall grass. He sprints through bushes. And on the other side, the Jeep sits on the trail.

Juan is behind the wheel. Lucy sits in the passenger seat, wide-eyed, binoculars hanging around her neck. Dave gets into the Jeep and Lucy helps him with the macaw.

“That was not exactly following our usual methods, was it?” Lucy has a slight bit of chastising in her tone.

“The main goal is to do what we can to save these macaws.” Dave reminds her. “All the details after that change when someone is holding a gun.”

Juan shakes his head, not in disapproval, rather, he is impressed. He quickly turns the Jeep around on the trail. Lucy checks on the macaw.

“I know.” She responds. “And I’m glad you did it. But I’m also mad you did it. I don’t want you on the endangered list as well.”

“Hold on!” Juan yells out as he speeds down the bumpy trail.

“Not planning on being on that list.” Dave cracks a smile at Lucy while Juan rolls his eyes, mans the four wheels beneath them and feels like a third wheel. “How’s the little guy doing?”

“No one plans on it.” Lucy looks down at the macaw. “Heart rate is a bit elevated but otherwise good.”

The Jeep soars down the path, kicking up dirt. Cheers and applause follow their departure in the form of hoots and cackles and screeches that can’t be heard anywhere but the rainforest.

*******

Dave and Lucy stand in front of the 14 visitors, their eyes locked in. Joining Dave and Lucy in the front of the Visitor’s Center on their perches are Sofia, a beautiful scarlet macaw who dances and bobs her head with delight, Isabella, another scarlet macaw who watches the visitor’s with a tilted head, and Mateo, faded remnants of a cut across his beautiful face, the most recent rescue. Lucy is positioned between Sofia and Isabella. Dave stands with Mateo.

“And Sofia, what do we say to the nice group of people?” Lucy looks to Sofia.

“Bye-bye.” Sofia squawks to the delight of all the visitors, head bobbing up and down with glee.

“And how were they as a group, Sofia?”

“Very nice!”

Lucy gives Sofia some treats as the audience laughs. “And Isabella.” Lucy turns to Isabella. “Do you have anything to say to our visitors?”

“See ya!” Isabella crackles as she cocks her head to the side, instilling giggles throughout the crowd.

“Wait, Isabella.” Lucy puts on her best acting hat. “We aren’t finished yet.”

“Any questions?”

The group of 14 roars with laughter like a crowd of 100. This is helped along by Juan off to the side, along with Olivia, who took a break from the desk to join the show.

One woman in the crowd raises her hand. Lucy points to her.

“How many words can they learn to speak?”

“Well, quite a lot.” Lucy responds. “As you can see, just having these two a few weeks, they already learned quite a few. Sofia is up to 20 or so words, Isabella at 16.”

“But it all depends on each macaw.” Dave chips in. “We’ve been working with Mateo the past few weeks, and he has learned four words. Which is still great. He just hasn’t picked up some of the other ones we’ve been trying to teach him.”

“However, that could have to do with Mateo’s teacher.” Lucy slyly points at Dave, who smirks as everyone chuckles.

“Mateo, where are you from?” Dave asks.

“Forest.”

“Good!”

“Forest!”

Everyone laughs as Mateo gets louder and bobs his head.

“Very good!” Dave gives him a treat. “Let’s try out some of our other words. Mateo, not up but…”

“Down.”

“Good! Mateo, not left but…”

“Down!”

Everyone laughs. Dave grins. “Down is his favorite direction. What can I do? Alright, Mateo. Who am I?”

“Dave!”

Everyone laughs. Dave gives him a treat.

“As you can see, what he lacks in word count, he makes up for in learning the most important words.” Dave grins at Lucy, she smiles back. They work the crowds together perfectly. Even if they never get a crowd larger than 20 people at the reservation. “And what else do you know how to say?”

“Help!” Mateo squawks and then bobs his head. A smattering of confused laughter rolls through the crowd like a wave.

“I didn’t even teach him that one.” Dave admits. “I think I’ve probably left ‘Law & Order’ on a few times when he was in the room. I’m assuming he must have learned it from there.”

“See? These animals are so smart, they even learn words we don’t teach them.” Lucy explains. She notices a teen in the crowd with a raised hand and points to him.

“Are macaws smart enough to be able to return here after you guys have released them into the wild?”

“We’re not entirely sure.” Lucy explains. “We’ve never had any macaws come back to visit us. But that doesn’t mean they don’t know how. This place is essentially a hospital to them. Once they’re all fixed up, they have no need to come back. I know how to get to the hospital, and although I appreciate what the doctors there do for me, I don’t go back if I don’t need to. Doesn’t mean I don’t know how to get there. Which leads us to an important point. We oftentimes say an animal cannot do something because we’ve never seen them do it. And it doesn’t mean that. It simply means… we’ve never seen them do it.”

A collective murmuring of understanding and enlightenment circles through the crowd. Dave watches Lucy with admiration. She has such a way with people, with explaining things to them. Helping people to understand and view animals as equals to us. It’s impressive.

“Long story short, we’ve never had any macaws come back to visit us so don’t bet on it.” Dave chimes in, not to bring the mood down, just to provide a sense of realism. Lucy is slightly annoyed. “And these three are on their last day here with us. They’re fully healthy and will be returned to the wild tomorrow. So, how about we all say goodbye to them and wish them luck.”

14 different goodbyes leave the mouths of 14 happy travelers.

“Bye-bye.” Squawks Sofia.

“See ya!” Squawks Isabella.

“Help!” Screeches Mateo.

*******

Dave lays on his back in his bed, hands behind his head, eyes shut, shoes on, tied tight. It looks like he is just pretending to sleep, but he really sleeps this way. Lucy enters slowly, examining him. His chest only heaves slightly. She inches closer, trying to figure out if he is truly asleep. Dave doesn’t stir.

She gently places her hand on his elbow and his eyes flutter awake. He sits up.

“What’s up?”

“Did Olivia talk to you, yet?” Lucy asks. Dave shakes his head, rubs the sleep from his eyes. “Well, she wants you to know that you need to be more careful. What you did last month, rescuing Mateo, you can’t do that anymore. It’s too dangerous.”

“Aha, I see.” Dave’s head nods involuntarily. “And who told her that I did this? You? Is this you trying to tell me to stop doing this?”

“Actually Juan told her. He’s worried you’ll get hurt! And I agree with them, I’m worried you’ll get hurt too! We have these rules in place for a reason. You can’t be taking on a poacher like that!”

“And if I had followed the rules, Mateo would’ve died! And the same goes for other macaws! What am I supposed to do?!”

Lucy backs away from Dave. His anger is too volatile. “You just can’t go breaking all the rules, Dave. You’ve been doing things your own way too often. As sad as it is to say, we can’t save them all.”

“Why not?”

“Look, I don’t know if you think saving all these animals is going to bring your Dad back, but it won’t!” As soon as Lucy said it, she regretted it. Regardless of any grain of truth there may have been in what she said, she never should’ve said that.

Dave’s mouth scowls. His eyebrows bounce up in reaction. He looks away, his eyes steaming with anger. He doesn’t speak. It’s quiet. Except for distant sounds of the rainforest outside.

“Look, I’m going with Juan on a quick mission. Injured jaguar. We think it’s best you stay here.” Lucy starts towards the door, afraid to look Dave square in the eyes.

“And where’s everyone else?” Dave asks, not even interested in the answer. He refuses to look at Lucy.

“Everyone’s out. Except Olivia, of course. At the desk. Hey, I got to run. I’ll um– see you later?”

Dave looks even farther away from Lucy. He gives the smallest and slowest head nod. It’s an affirmation, but it’s not promising. Lucy leaves.

Olivia’s phone is pressed so tightly to her face, she’s leaving a red mark on her cheekbone. Her eyes are open wide, her pupils calm and determined. She nods along as someone speaks to her on the other end. A pencil clutched in her hand. It is sharpened. It is unused. She holds it with a blank piece of paper in front of her. There’s always a blank piece of paper on Olivia’s desk, awaiting notes to be written on it. Yet, Olivia rarely touches graphite to paper. The pencil serves as more of something for her to steady herself with, something to help brace herself. She clutches it as if letting go would mean she would be flung into the stratosphere.

Dave enters, meandering slowly around. His annoyance leaks from his eyes, his limbs, and all of his general movements. He carries a stick and taps on things as he passes by them.

“Yep. You got it.” Olivia says into the phone. She hangs it up and drops the pencil, breathing a sigh of relief. Her eyes still determined. Her and Dave notice each other.

“What was that?” Dave asks, still meandering.

“Poachers spotted.” Olivia now looks over her map. “Section B3. Too far from any squads out there, though. Everyone’s in the opposite direction, I’ll have to wait until someone comes back.”

“What?! Send me out!” Dave drops his stick and turns to face Olivia.

“Teams of two or more, Dave.” Olivia doesn’t even look up from the map. “You know that. Can’t have you going out by yourself or doing whatever you want. Right?”

Dave clenches his fists. These rules are meant to protect… humans. But this organization is meant to protect… animals. And these rules stop him from doing that. It infuriates him. Olivia looks up.

“Right?” Olivia reiterates sternly.

“Yeah.” Dave stomps off.

*******

Dave sits in a chair. This is stupid. He is a waste of space right now. He could be doing something. But he is not allowed to. His existence is pointless right now. He could actually be saving lives. There could be scarlet macaws in danger. There are always scarlet macaws in danger. That is why he is here. That is why. He shakes his head back and forth as if someone is currently telling him a series of really stupid statements.

Dave looks up from this chair in the hallway that he has never sat in before. This chair that is placed awkwardly in the middle of this hallway. Dave loathes this chair. This chair means death to him. He has a view through a window from this chair though. A window that grants him a direct view to Olivia. Olivia who has been glued to her chair ever since Dave stormed off. Her chair must also mean death.

Suddenly, one of the Rangers from nearby runs in through a side door screaming for Olivia’s help. Something about his GPS not working. Dave isn’t paying much attention to the ‘what’, rather he is fixated on Olivia getting up and dashing out of the place.

She exits in a flurry. Hoots and cackles and chirps and trills echo from the rainforest. Beckoning. Dave shoots out of his chair like a firework and silently darts for Olivia’s desk. He places his hand on the map, holds it, examines it. Olivia has circled a spot out in Section B3. Dave knows the exact spot. He’s been there several times.

He quietly lifts a keychain off the hook behind Olivia’s desk for the last Jeep sitting outside. He glances back towards the door that Olivia exited. No movement. Dave waits. Still no movement. Is it safe to go? Will she notice? He doesn’t care. And he sprints out to the last Jeep.

*******

The Jeep skids to a halt in the soft dirt. Dave leaps from the Jeep and gets a feel for the soft dirt himself. The dirt has swallowed some of the Jeep’s tires. They’re sunken in. Not a good sign. But that’s a problem to handle later.

Dave moves quickly through the forest. He is agile and fast, like a jaguar stalking its prey. But Dave isn’t a predator. Nor is he prey. He is here to stop the predators. Where ever they are.

He covers much ground quickly and then stops. Catching his breath in the damp and heavy air, but with shallow quiet breaths while he listens. The usual noises of the forest.

So, he continues again. Quick. Agile. Brushing past branches. Hopping over fallen logs. And then stops. Quiet breaths. Filling his lungs with warm, moist oxygen. His throat feels dry. It shudders as he exhales. He breathes in deeply again, drinking the air, very nearly hydrating himself. Still the usual rainforest noises. He must not be near enough the poachers yet.

And then, as Dave lifts his right leg to take a step, a noticeable lull in the ambiance. Dave suspends his leg in mid-air. Animal noises cease. A wind whooshes through but the leaves refuse to rustle. Quiet. And then a clanging sound of metal. Another clang. Dave inches forward, certain he is moving towards the sounds.

He continues slowly. The noises are getting louder. Unmistakable noises of metal being whacked against something. Dave watches the ground, placing his feet only on smooth brownish-red dirt. No twigs, no dry leaves, nothing that would make a sound. And then, the shout of a man. It’s fairly close. Dave gazes ahead. There are so many trees, the forest is thick with lush green, Dave can’t see more than 50 yards ahead of him. But the people must be near.

“Hey! Stop what you’re doing!” Dave suddenly lets his booming warning lurch from his throat.

A sudden and sharp clang of metal and then clearly “Vamanos! Vamanos!” And then footsteps racing away, towards the left. If these people were doing nothing wrong, they wouldn’t run off. They would only do so if they were up to no good. Dave takes off towards the direction where the footsteps are headed. These are poachers, he’s sure of it. And they’ll likely get away. But if Dave can make out some type of detail on them or their vehicle, it could help out in the long run.

He races along the brownish-red dirt. Branches and leaves smacking his face as he sprints through. More distressed screaming comes from the poachers. They’re closer. Dave is cutting them off. He may just reach them before they leave. He looks ahead, fallen logs to his right. He changes direction slightly to the left so he won’t need to slow his pace. He keeps his feet on the dirt. On the… dark brown dirt. Why the sudden change in color?

Dave steps in soft dirt… too soft… the ground gives way and he drops. What a feeling. The earth pulled out from beneath you. Gravity an instant enemy. Falling into a dark pit, cool air suddenly rushing past you and then, smash!

Pain! Fiery burning hot pain in Dave’s left leg and right shoulder. Like a fire poker had been injected into his shoulder blade and jostled around all while someone burned him with ten thousand matches on his left leg. Throbbing pain now.

What happened? Dave looks up, deep reds and yellows closing in from his peripheral vision. Warmth closing in on him. Bad warmth. Sick warmth. This isn’t good. Dave has to fight it off. Fight it off! Concentrate. Concentrate on some object. Directly above him, an oval shaped blue and green object. He concentrates and controls his breathing until the warm reds and yellows fade away. He very nearly passed out. What is he looking at? What is this object?

It’s no object. It’s the opening to the pit he fell into. Ten feet above him. A hole dug by the poachers likely. Probably to trap some animal. And it trapped Dave. He looks to his left leg. Broken. Twisted to the side. Dave looks away, afraid the sight will make him faint. He attempts to pull himself to a sitting position using his arms and a lightning rod of pain scorches through his right shoulder and he screams in blood-curdling agony. His shoulder must be dislocated. He uses all the strength he has in his left arm to prop himself up. Digging his fingers into the dirt, pulling, thrusting, pushing, dragging himself to the wall of this pit. He is sitting now. Slow breaths. Calming his breathing.

He looks up again. That opening is too far out of his reach. It would be difficult to get to while fully healthy. With a broken leg and a shoulder that is of no use to him, he could never reach that opening.

“Help!” Dave let’s out. It’s the most fear and helplessness that has ever occupied his voice. “Someone help!!”

A cacophony of squawks emanate as Dave’s shriek for help has scared several macaws away. He sees a flash of red flutter over the corner of the opening for a fleeting moment. How ironic. He comes out here to help macaws. And now he is screaming for help. And only the macaws can hear him.

*******

Lucy and Juan pull themselves into the reservation having expended much of their energy. They head right for the refrigerator and snag a couple of cold bottles of water. No words are spoken. The rhythmic chugging of ice cold water down hot throats is all that makes any noise. In fact, Lucy and Juan both stop drinking and look around. The surrounding rainforest is quiet. But so is the reservation.

Olivia’s desk is empty. Dave’s room is empty. No one else is here.

“Where is everyone?” Juan wonders aloud.

“I have no idea. Even Dave is gone.” Lucy is slightly worried.

They search the surrounding areas by the reservation and still find no one. They return inside, both perplexed. Lucy and Juan step out onto the deck and survey the treeline adjacent to their property. Lucy looks into the sky. The sun has begun to fall, ready to sink past the tops of the trees.

“Should we be worried?” Lucy asks.

“No, Dave probably just went somewhere to blow off some steam.” Juan reassures her. “Want to head into town for food?”

Lucy considers this. She opens her mouth to say ‘Yes’ but pauses for a brief moment and looks back to the silent treeline.

She feels an unsettling stillness.

She brushes it off. She turns back to Juan and tries again.

“Yes.”

They start to mosey back inside when a sudden sharp squawking surprises them. They turn back to see a scarlet macaw soar out of the forest and land right onto a perch nearby. They’re in sheer disbelief. The macaw is squawking over and over.

“Hey buddy.” Lucy speaks softly as they approach the macaw. “What’s the matter?”

As they near him, they see the little scar painted across his little face. The one featherless area on his body with that scar for life. It’s Mateo. He spreads his wings and stretches them out, letting out another squawk.

“Mateo?”

Mateo squawks and then, “Dave! Down! Forest! Help!”

Instant chills streak down Lucy’s spine. She shudders and whips her head to Juan. Juan is dumbfounded. They turn back to Mateo, who spreads his wings again.

“Dave! Down! Forest! Help!”

Mateo flutters from the perch and lands on top of the Jeep that Lucy and Juan had just driven back onto site. They race out the door. As they near the Jeep, Mateo flies back towards the forest. As if sharing a brain, Lucy and Juan jump into the Jeep, ready to follow Mateo.

*******

The sun is barely hanging in the sky. Light is dwindling. Cold is creeping in. And Dave breathes heavy, his injuries aching more and more. The sounds of the forest are slowly growing more menacing. Less hoots. More growls. Less chirps. More roars.

This is nowhere for someone to be at night, alone. There are a number of bad things that can happen. There is probably a number of good things that can happen… but that number is one. And it pales in comparison to the bad possibilities.

Growls and roars subside. Dave’s vision is weakening. He tries to concentrate on the trees and the sky. The blues and the greens creeping away from him, darkening, perhaps giving him their last show. No more encores. And suddenly… nearby…

“Dave! Down! Forest! Help!”

The only four words Mateo ever learned bouncing through the air like a lighthouse’s beam reaching out to a lost ship. And then there is Mateo, scar on his face and all, landing right next to the opening of the pit. Dave is so surprised, he forgets his condition and attempts to get up, only to be met by a wall of pain that sits him back down and releases a scream of agony from his gut.

“Dave?”

That one was not Mateo. That was a woman’s voice. Lucy?

And suddenly, Lucy and Juan join Mateo and peer into the hole.

“Oh my God, Dave! We’re going to get you out!”

These words echo sweetly as everything gets blurry and gray and hazy and cold… and then with a streak of brilliant red.

*******

Lucy marches into Dave’s room. Dave lays comfortably in his bed, leg in a cast, arm and shoulder in a sling. And Mateo, on a perch by Dave’s side. Lucy brings a few books over to Dave’s nightstand.

“Got these from the hospital.” She gives him a kiss on the forehead.

“Thank you.” Dave’s voice is weak. He clears his throat. More strongly he continues. “Mateo will enjoy them too. I’ve been reading them to him.”

“He pick up any new words?”

“You know, he spent that full week with me in the hospital. Never left my side. You’d think I could’ve gotten him to learn a couple more. But he still just has the same four word vocabulary.”

“The only four words he needs to know.” Lucy pets Mateo’s head. She gives him some treats which he happily devours.

“I’ve been thinking about it. Did I teach him those words? Or did he– did he already know them?” Dave ponders. “The fact that he learned those four words.”

“And he found his way back to the Reservation.” Lucy reminds Dave. “When he needed to.”

Dave chuckles. “Alright, alright. You were right. They’re even smarter than I gave them credit for. Clearly. But this guy, he’s special. He knows things.”

It’s quiet for a moment, with the exception of a buzz of noises emanating from the forest and dancing through Dave’s open window. Smiles are exchanged. Mateo bobs his head with happiness.

“You know, when I was out there, in the forest.” Dave uses every bit of strength to search for these words. “I was thinking a lot. Thinking about something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. And I was worrying that I would never get the chance to do it.”

Mateo jumps off his perch and flutters over to Dave’s dresser. The two chuckle and Dave continues.

“And that scared me more than anything else that could have happened to me out there. The idea of not getting to do this thing. To say… to you, Lucy… I love you so much. And my life would be nothing without you. I need you in my life in order for it to BE life. Lucy, will you marry me?”

Lucy’s palm covers her open mouth. Her eyes shine with tears. Mateo flies onto Dave’s bed and lands on Dave, dropping a box. Dave’s eyes pop open.

He grabs the box. He slowly opens it. Inside is an engagement ring. Lucy takes the box with delight and gives Dave a big embrace. Mateo flutters back to his perch.

“Yes! Of course!” Lucy is wiping away tears and speaking through laughs. “You… you trained Mateo to do that?”

“No.” Dave is dumbfounded. “That box has been sitting there for a year. It hasn’t moved once. I've never even touched it.”

They look to Mateo and watch him bob his head up and down. He stares back at them, a gleam in his tiny eyes.

“How did he–?” Lucy’s question stops halfway through because she doesn’t even know if this amazing situation even deserves a question.

“I don’t know.” Dave beams. “But I did tell him in the hospital that I wanted to marry you. He may not talk much. But he’s a great listener.”

Mateo squawks loudly. “Dave!”

The sounds from the forest swell. They lap up against Dave’s window like waves from the ocean. Cascading heavy and then retreating. And then repeating. The rainforest is crackling with noise. This room is crackling with love.