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Sit or lie in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Now let go of every other thought on your mind and imagine yourself lying on a gently swaying hammock with a white sandy beach beneath you. Feel your body getting more and more relaxed with each sway. Above you is the clear night sky filled with so many stars you can’t make out any constellations.

Everything around you is pitch black, the stars are the only thing you see. Just lay there gazing at each and every star, soaking in the peace, waiting for one to shoot across the beautiful night sky so you can make a wish. You can feel a warm breeze wash over your body and you get a whiff of the ocean that you can hear splashing onto the shore a few feet away.

Imagine the gust of wind blowing away any bad thoughts from your mind and let your body fall into an even deeper relaxation. Imagine yourself floating above your own body, looking down at yourself swaying on the hammock, being completely free. Become a part of the wind, being a gentle gust that gets blown higher and higher into the sky towards the stars. You get pushed up by one last strong gust and when the wind stops you feel yourself slowly begin to fall back down like a feather rocking back and forth.

You continue falling ever so gently until you slowly melt back into your body lying on the hammock. One by one the stars begin to fade and the sky begins to slowly turn lighter shades of blue. With each star that fades you become more and more conscious of what is around you. When the last star vanishes you feel the sun beginning to rise and heat your body. See the sun rising higher and higher, waking your body up. When it reaches the point of being directly above you and your body is fully alert, slowly open your eyes.

Namaste.

SECRETS OF THE AMAZON

by Breann Fowler

Characters:

Annie

Mitch

Candi

Concierge

Scene

Large boat floating down the Amazon River with the rising sun gleaming down on it. Man is below deck grabbing fuel canisters while his wife is on deck. The wife slices her hand open and lets the blood drip into the river watching the movements in the water grow. She hears her husband coming up the steps and throws the knife into the jungle and hurries back into the kitchen area, wrapping her hand in a towel.

MITCH: (Leaning over the side of the boat, struggling to get the gas hose into the tank) Annie, could you come out here?

(Annie walks out)

MITCH: I need you to hold onto me so I can get further down without falling in.

(Annie fights back a smile, and grabs onto his legs)

MITCH: I got it!

(Annie lets go of Mitch’s legs. Mitch yelps as he splashes into the water)

MITCH: (Surfaces) What the f…AH! Ow! Shit there’s piranha’s in here! Get me out! (Struggles to stay above the surface and frantically swims toward the boat. Tries fighting off piranhas, screams growing louder with each bite.)

(Annie stands at the edge of the boat watching with fascination as the water around Mitch becomes clouded with blood. After several minutes of struggling to stay above the surface, Mitch goes under, and doesn’t come back up. Annie reaches down and puts the cap back on the gas tank and walks up to the captain’s pit. She turns the ignition, and cruises off down the river with a sly smile.)

Scene

One week earlier. Annie just returned home from a two-month trip to the Amazon. She is sitting at the kitchen table with Mitch showing him photographs from her trip.

MITCH: (Looking at a picture) Ooh. (Flips to another picture) Ahh.

ANNIE:  (Staring at Mitch) Is everything OK?  You seem distracted.

MITCH: (Looks up from pictures) I just got a promotion to chairman at work, and I’ve been really busy getting all settled into my new office and training. I’m exhausted actually, so I’m going to go to bed, do you mind if I finish looking at these tomorrow? (Gets up and heads to the bedroom)

(Annie starts to reply but realizes it was a rhetorical question, and watches Mitch disappear into the bedroom. She sits for another ten minutes, then walks down the hall and cracks open bedroom door to see if Mitch was still awake, but he wasn’t.)

Scene

Annie goes to Mitch’s office building to surprise him with lunch. She takes the elevator up to the 26^th floor and approaches the Secretary’s desk. She eye’s down the young secretary as she reads the name on her blazer and waits for ‘Candi’ to get off the phone.

CANDI: (Slams phone onto receiver and looks up at Annie) Can I help you?

ANNIE: Yes, I’m here to see Mr. Grady.

CANDI: (Eyes Annie down and narrows eyebrows) Do you have an appointment?

ANNIE: No. I’m his wife. I just wanted to drop off his lunch.

(Candi’s eyes widen and her mouth opens, but no sound comes out. She continues to stare at Annie.)

ANNIE: (Shifts uncomfortably and clears throat) Well, could you tell him I’m here please?

CANDI: Yes (hesitates) just a moment. (Picks up the phone and presses an intercom button) Mr. Grady your…wife…is here.

(Door behind Candi swings open and Mitch marches out. Candi turns quickly at his approach giving Annie a whiff of her Britney Spears Fantasy perfume.)

MITCH: (Glances at Candi) Annie, what are you doing here? (Glances at Candi again)

ANNIE: (Glances at Candi also) I brought you lunch (hands him the bag). And I thought I could check out your new office.

MITCH: Now’s not a good time, I was just heading to a meeting. I’ll be home late tonight, don’t wait up. (Kisses Annie on the cheek and goes back into office)

(Annie stands there staring at the office door in disbelief. She can feel Candi staring at her and turns to her. Candi turns away quickly.)

Scene

Annie slowly walks out of the building to her car. Sits in car for several minutes putting the pieces together and realizing her husband might be having an affair. Drives home and begins looking for evidence. Finds porn, lube, and condoms in night stand, but doesn’t care. Searches through his dirty laundry, and smells his shirt. Chuckles to herself. Drives back to his office that night and follows him and Candi to a hotel. She walks in five minutes after them.

ANNIE: (Approaches concierge) Excuse me, hi. I’m Mrs. Grady, my husband just checked in about ten minutes ago but forgot to get an extra key for me, would you mind?

CONCIERGE: Of course not Mrs. Grady, give me just a moment. (Bends down and grabs key, hands it to Annie)

ANNIE: (Smiles) Thank you so much. (Walks to the elevator and goes to the third floor. Approaches room 313, pushes ear against the door. Very quietly slides the key in and pokes head around the door. Hears the shower going and inches forward. Hears voices coming from the bathroom and cracks the bathroom door open just enough to peer in. Sees the reflection off the mirror of Mitch and Candi rubbing against each other occasionally letting out little moans. Stands there for several minutes trying to decide whether to bust in and scream at them, but doesn’t know what she’d say. Slowly closes the door and creeps back out of the room. Takes the stairs down to the lobby floor and sneaks out of a side door.)

Scene

The next night Annie is in the kitchen making dinner, Mitch comes home early from work with a gift for her.

MITCH: (Wraps arms around Annie and hands her the gift) I’m sorry I’ve been so distant lately, I really have missed you, and I wanted to make it up to you.

(Annie rips paper off gift, and stares at a picture frame engraved with “For my loving Wife, All my love, Mitch” that held six of the photographs she took from the Amazon.)

MITCH: I looked through all of your pictures and chose my favorite six and had them framed for you. I wanted to show you that I care about what is important to you, and not just what’s important to me.

ANNIE: (Plasters on a fake smile and gives Mitch a quick kiss) We should take a long weekend and go down there!

MITCH: (Draws back) Go where? To the Amazon?

ANNIE: Yes! It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life and I want to share it with you.

MITCH: You’re serious? (Lets go of Annie’s waist and leans back against the counter folding arms across chest. Look softens and gives a shrug.) I guess if we took the red-eye we would sleep through most of the flight anyway, and that sounds like just the thing we need to get back on the right track.

(Annie jumps into his arms)

Scene

Annie and Mitch take a plane to Brazil. When they arrive, they take a taxi to the marina. They get swarmed with vendors and captains of tour boats.

MITCH: Well, which one do you want to take?

ANNIE: Actually, I thought we could rent our own.

MITCH: That sounds awfully dangerous. Shouldn’t we have a professional, someone who knows the area? Neither of us even knows to drive one of those boats.

ANNIE: I do! The captain let me drive all the time when I was here, he had to sleep at some point you know! Besides, I want to be alone with you, what fun is it going to be having some stranger watching our every move? (Caresses Mitch’s chest and kisses him lightly on the neck)

MITCH: (Lets out a moan) I guess that does sound pretty nice.

Scene

They buy a map and set out just as the sun is going down. Shortly after, Annie goes below deck to grab them some Champagne. She slips a sedative into his glass, and takes an Adderall with hers. Twenty minutes later, Mitch is passed out cold. Annie changes the route to the “Restricted Area” barricading herself in the captain’s pit. The sun comes up, Annie kills the engine and goes to wake up Mitch.

MITCH: Whoa, what happened? (Squints into the sunlight)

ANNIE: I guess the jet lag and champagne didn’t mix, you were out pretty hard. But there’s a problem, the engine died about an hour ago. I think we’re out of gas; I need you to go refill the tank.

MITCH: Oh, great. Well, will you start breakfast while I do that? (Gets up and puts shirt on)

ANNIE: (Smiles deviously) Absolutely.

Advertisers see themselves as revolutionary, creative, and brave. They see their industry as a way of having fun with each other. They have five seconds to catch someone’s attention and sell them something. They give people an idea, something they can’t resist. A major part of making it appealing is their natural reaction to seeing “ugly” and wanting to fix it, so they turn it into something people will be attracted to. They consider their industry to consist of talking to people that are not like them, and convince those people to do things that are not like themselves. The advertising industry is so appealing because the creativity and ideas are limitless, in advertising, anything is possible.

The advertisers see their goal as getting people to like them because of the way they sell something. They must create a theatrical experience, say the right thing, and do the right thing to get someone to do something you want them to do. In order to do that, they have to connect with people. Every single cut of an advertisement serves a purpose and is meant to do something. They put things in people’s faces and change them, hopefully enrich them in some way or another. To be the most effective and successful, they must get absorbed in the company and then create a campaign that suits them. They have to make the client forget they are a client. Their role in society is creating these advertisements that serve as a mass communal offering when not many things offer that in life. Most importantly, the advertisements they create give people a sense of their role in society.

I had just graduated high school and decided to take a two-week road trip to Tucson, Arizona and back with my childhood friend, Kelsi. We stopped at many destinations along the way and stayed in fancy hotels. Kelsi loved being on the top floor, and always requested it. I never really had a preference, but I did always quite enjoy the view she got us. It was our last night of the trip, staying at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento on the 26^th floor.

The pool area was closed, but it was late and everyone was asleep so we hopped over the black gate and went for a dip. We were indulging in our spontaneity and mischief when we suddenly realized we forgot our towels. We snuck back into the hotel lobby leaving a trail of water and waited for the elevators, continuously looking over our shoulders. The doors opened and just as we were getting in we heard someone yell “Hey! You two, stop!”

We hurriedly hit our floor number and watched the security guard come sprinting towards us as the doors closed. When we got up to our floor we rushed towards our room. We were almost there when we saw two security guards come bolting around the corner, yelling into their radios, and we took off in the other direction back towards the elevators.

Suddenly everything around me sounded deafeningly loud, only to realize it was the thudding of my own heart. Kelsi went for the staircase but I saw the elevator doors open and jumped in. As they closed it was complete silence aside from my heavy breathing.

I could hear the security guards voices faintly above, as the elevator continued going down, and I realized it started dropping faster and faster. 23……22…21.20, all of a sudden it began to shake, I hit the emergency stop and it sparked. It shook harder now, hitting the walls, a loud screeching noise, I looked up. The floor numbers were jumbled. I curled into a ball in the corner holding onto the railing squeezing my eyes shut as hard as I possibly could, somehow the tears still fell. I heard the wires snap and felt the elevator free falling. Seconds later I felt the loud crash and everything went black.

I laid there for a moment in the darkness, wondering if I were dead or alive. I blinked to make sure my eyes were open, I still couldn’t see. I wasn’t sure I could even move, but then I realized I was slowly bending my arms up, I felt my face, my neck, and then my shirt; they were dripping wet. Was it blood? I couldn’t tell in the darkness.

There was a sudden explosion of brightness. I squinted against the harsh light and saw Kelsi rushing towards me in her pajamas and wrapping her arms around me whispering “It’s okay, it’s okay”. I realized I was still crying, my entire body shaking, covered in sweat. I slowly began to remember that we never went swimming, and we had returned home from Sacramento earlier that night.