Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Look!” I yelled, pointing under the hut. “See how high off the ground it is! I bet it is as
dry as a bone underneath there!”
“I am not sleeping under a hut in the mud,” cried Paula indignantly.
“Suit yourself, girl,” I replied, as I crouched down and started crawling under the hut. Her-
man hesitated, not knowing what to do. Should he follow the sailor or the girl who was
now walking across the street towards the hotel?
“What the heck,” he muttered and slipped down on his knee. “How is it down there?” he
asked.
“Dry as a bone, and there's a lot of room.” Herman wriggled underneath and slithered over
to where I lay.
“Wow, it's quite warm too,” added Herman. “Cool!” he exclaimed in relief.
I removed my wet clothes, and with the aid of a torch, I found my dry pants and shirt.
I found Herman's dry clothing as well and handed it over. “Thank heavens we thought of
this.” I fished out our sleeping bags and spread mine out along the dirt floor. It was very dry
and dusty, and the dust made us cough. I rolled Herman's sleeping bag to him and climbed
into my own, saying, “I hope Paula is OK wherever she is.”
“Well, I couldn't tell you this before, but she was with that one guy on the boat next to ours
earlier. She seemed to be having a quite a lot of fun with him. I bet she's with him now,”
said Herman, sounding almost gleeful at my obvious discomfort.
“Well, to hell with her then,” I retorted. “I hope she enjoys his company while we are grov-
eling here under the hut in the mud, the bitch.” I didn't sound too sure of myself when I
said this, and Herman detected the note of angry jealousy in my harshness.
We were dozing off to sleep when we heard her voice. “What's it like there under the hut
then? Is it dry?” We could just make out her long, wet hair and noticed there was someone
else with her.
“You gotta be kidding me; you guys are actually going to sleep under there tonight?” came
the nasally twang of the sailor who had been dancing with her. “Come on Paula, come with
me; you can stay with me tonight. I've got a room at the hotel.”
Herman and I lay in stunned silence, anticipating Paula's reply. “OK,” she said, “Let's go.
I am not going to sleep under that hut tonight.” They stood up to go, and I remained silent
long after they had gone.
“I don't believe it!” I finally cried. “Can you believe that! She has been my girlfriend
for weeks, no, months, and the first opportunity she gets, she goes off with some damn,
