Vacations weren't usually this stressful. At least as far as Rachel could remember.
Yet here she was, pushing large leaves out of her way to make a clear path into the jungle itself, heading as far away from the village as she could. At no point before this getaway had she ever had to leave her resort in order to find peace and quiet. But then again, she never was one to do things the easy way.
The doting girlfriend of a rather successful businessman had doomed herself to near-enough 24/7 schedules and almost endless paperwork by agreeing to become his secretary. At first it seemed like the perfect idea - not only would she get to be with her man all of the time (and in turn, eliminate the old cliche of a man cheating on his significant other with his secretary), she wouldn't even need to do that much other than pencil in a meeting here, or perhaps cancel an appointment there, etc, etc...
However, within mere weeks, it had become obvious that her man did not feel the same way. More and more work was dumped upon her desk each day, and more often than not it was to carry over into their free time. Rachel would spend most nights doing her household duties alongside filing work, collecting forms, adding up company receipts for expenses, and much, much more. Any suggestions of doing them later and getting up to a little 'work' of their own just let to an angered boss instead of a horny boyfriend.
And so the 24 year old beauty decided that she needed to be alone for a while. Judging by her man's anger over how much catch-up he'd have to do and what paperwork was now going to take longer to fill, he seemed a little too preoccupied to care that his attractive girlfriend was about to jet halfway across the globe to, essentially, get away from him for a while. If anything it made booking the plane tickets much easier to do, and only helped Rachel think that it was the right decision.
Since she was a child, Rachel had always had a fascination for the jungles of India and had sworn that, one day, she'd fly there to explore them. Of course, now a young woman, her intention was less about strapping a leopard-skin loincloth to herself and swinging through the trees like Sheena, but more about finding a secluded spot and basking in the scenery - and the sunshine! If this was going to be her first big break from work, she would spend it in bikinis and sunglasses, sipping cocktails and soaking up rays.
However, as her childhood urges got the better of her, the buxom beauty could see only one way to achieve both dreams at once - stay in one of the villages situated within the jungle itself! She spent hours online until she finally found the perfect spot to stay. Within a week, she was there - a small site of huts and houses placed a few miles within a vast forest of trees, mountains and lakes. It was deep enough into the jungle to catch the sights and smells of the surrounding area, but also amongst a hundred or so other people who led simple, quiet lives. And that's all that Rachel intended to do - take up a week-long residence in a comfortable tent, and relax the time away.
But boy, had she picked the wrong bloody week.
Despite the villagers seeming friendly and mild-mannered, within a day they were completely the opposite - loud, skittish, and above all, rude. Scrabbling madly all over the place, they had taken to bringing all of their belongings indoors, harvesting what few crops were ready, even convincing the supply truck that brought various things to and from their village to the city that it was not to return for at least another three days. And all the while, no one told Rachel WHY. It was as if she didn't need to know. In fact, whenever she inquired, the townsfolk almost seemed insulted that she would ask them such a ridiculous question. So onward they went, speaking quickly in their language, excluding Rachel as much as they could, until eventually she decided she'd had enough.
"I came here to relax, for Christ's sake" she grumbled, slipping her perfect, curvaceous body into a barely-there dark blue bikini top and bottoms, "but if they don't want to give me some peace and bloody quiet, I'll find some peace and bloody quiet!"
Striding rebelliously from her tent towards the jungle at the edge of the village, she didn't even give them the curtesy of a friendly wave as she marched into the foliage. Watching her go from the window of her hut, the mother of one of the village families breathed a sigh of relief, and began to relax once again. Soon they could go back to the way things were, and with no great loss to her fellow villagers, apart from a tent full of objects to discard. The foolish foreign woman would solve the problem for them.