Chipurro's Exotic Tales

Previously

…Days bled into one another, marked not by the ticking of a clock, but by the slow arc of the sun and the deepening shadows that lengthened into velvety nights. He learned to read the subtle language of the forest: the alarm call of a bird, the territorial marking of a jaguar, the silent, patient growth of a fern unfurling its delicate fronds. His senses, honed by years of travel, sharpened to an almost unbearable acuity. He saw the iridescent shimmer of a hummingbird’s wings, a blur of impossible color against the dense green; he heard the almost imperceptible scuttling of insects beneath the leaf litter; he tasted the sweet, tart burst of a wild berry, its flavor