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CHAPTER 1 -Time 9:36 waiting for her

Paula made her way across the slippery rocks, carrying her sandals in one hand and her cell phone in the other, which she used as a flashlight to illuminate her steps, leaving her sandal prints in the sand. She wasn't late, she was just anxious, and so she walked fast, as if shortening the distance to the mentioned place would finally let her finish with the promise that bound her to Jade in a romantic rather than moral way. She reached the other side of the beach and looked at the time. 9:36 pm, she finds herself waiting for Jade on the boardwalk for another 13 minutes or so. No one can know that Paula is there, and especially no one can see her with Jade.

Paula was very scared that night, she did not want to be discovered, although she has fed sharks and piranhas hundreds of times before, as a veterinarian she has all the permits along with the necessary licenses to work and handle wild, exotic species and marine animals, that night she felt very uncomfortable. She had never done it with a human corpse before. Jade picked her up in the van at 9:45 p.m. Paula got in the passenger seat and Jade drove in silence. Looking at Jade, she felt somehow calmer, admiring the face of this beautiful woman who had driven her to madness.

Although Jade did not know the address of the pond where Paula fed the fish and sea creatures, Paula gave directions on the GPS and Jade drove in silence. Arriving at their destination they both quietly got out of the jeep, Jade went to the back of the truck and with Paula's help pulled out the body wrapped in a black bag.

Jade, who remained coolly attentive to Paula's every sign, asked.

"Isn't it dangerous if the blood seeps out?" She asked Paula with her wild, beady eyes.

"No, it's frozen, it's been in the fridge all day." Paula assures him.

Then they both carried it, wrapped in one of those suitcases that Everth used to transport the dance costumes of the academy's students when they traveled to some competition in Costa Rica.

In all, they used three costume carriers to wrap the body. Far from feeling guilty or on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Jade remained calm, thinking only that her heart and the man she loved were safe. Paula then led her to a small house built next to the pier that overlooked the main aquarium on the beach.

"Follow me, hurry."

"God, it weighs over 80 kilos."

"We can handle that weight, it's what we lift at the gym." Paula said, making a little joke in that tense moment.

"Be careful not to step on any turtle nests." Paula warned her. Jade stared at her and a wild, passionate feeling enveloped Paula from Jade's eyes.

"Thank you for helping me with this."

"Don't worry, I'm glad you're alive."

At that moment, they both looked at each other in silence.

They entered the aquarium and Paula turned on all the lights with one hand, then turned to Jade and helped her carry the body as they walked until they placed the body on a table.

"Very well." Paula said firmly. "It's time to feed the piranhas."

Then, without hesitation, she unwrapped the body and, with Jade's help, threw it into a pond where hundreds of piranhas swam, the aquarium allowing them to see all the fish through the glass, many of which were endangered animals or species being studied by marine biologists. The piranhas immediately began to devour the body, and a few minutes later only the skeleton floated in the red water full of piranhas.

6 Months Earlier

The song of hummingbirds is heard and the wind buzzes in Jade's ears along with the song of songbirds, seagulls flying over the sea before the last warm rays of the sun are lost in the feathers on their wings. The silhouette of a woman's body glides to the edge of the beach where the waves lace the sand. The shadow moves and lengthens until it is reflected in the water caught on a rocky pebble, the silhouette of her body, along with her delicate, feminine face, framed by two tender, shining black eyes and thick, red lips like cherries under the trees.

Jade, a beautiful 26-year-old woman, dances barefoot on the stones, her white skin and curly black hair illuminated by the imposing moon and its silvery rays as the hours pass and night falls. Time seems to glide unchanged on the waves of the sea, while she dances and performs different movements in her hands, like a gypsy enchanting the night.

The foam of the sea reaches the shore of the beach. Jade turns, dances, and moves the bells that adorn her skirt. A hummingbird flies over the rocks and circles Jade's face, she smiles and follows the bird with her eyes, the flutter of its wings approaching the evil and reflecting the shadow like that of a cotton mop and a sharp beak on the water. Jade, sitting on the step of the rocks, washes her feet with the water trapped in a circle of stones, the sea splashes again and again and a small cliff of water is trapped where she washes her feet.

The night passes and the moon hides behind the clouds giving way to dawn, the sky begins to lighten with the rising sun of a new day.

Paula, an athletic and beautiful 30-year-old woman, stands in front of the beach, resting on two arms in a handstand, with her legs stretched out towards the sky, drawing the shape of a straight arrow. Paula stands on her head, carries all her weight on her stomach and shoulders in a somersault in the air, and lands on her feet. The sun pierces through the clouds, sending faint rays that illuminate Paula's face and pale skin. She covers her eyes by gently raising her hand to her forehead, clasping her fingers together to form a solid roof over her eyebrows, and glances toward the sea.

Paula takes a deep breath and her chest heaves, she sighs and sits in an Indian position on a yoga mat facing the sea.

Her eyes narrow slightly and the sun illuminates her eyelashes. Water bubbles on the sand a few inches from where Paula sits in silence. The sea reaches the shore, birds fly in and out of their nests, poke their heads out, spread their wings, turtles emerge from their nests and walk toward the water. Paula sits in meditation, the sound of her voice is heard.

"Just because I'm meditating, quietly facing the beach, doesn't mean this story has a happy ending. Sometimes we meditate to search for lost happiness; sometimes we try to prolong it for a few brief moments, to float, when calm washes over you and drowns out all anxiety. Happiness seems to me to be a state of consciousness to be maintained throughout the journey, rather than something to be sought because we think it is lost.

She watches the waves of the ocean dance in balance and synchronicity until they dissolve into the sand. She feels the dance of the universe. I like dancing very much, I find it a very beautiful artistic and emotional expression. Although I will never be the first person to dance at a party... or get up on a table and call attention to myself by dancing. Not at all... I'm not like that, I'm quite shy.

Paula gets down on all fours and does the cat pose, then stretches her body on the sand until she lifts her chest into a snake pose. She continues her yoga practice while meditating in her mind.

At a meeting, I go to the garden to talk to those who have a book or are looking at the plants. I have nothing against dancing as a symbol of extroversion, nor against extroverted people. But I'm a bit of a strange person....

Paula stands up and raises her arms, linking them in a kind of loop behind her back, above her head, linking her hands together. Then she lifts her left leg behind her and grabs her ankle with both hands in the yoga pose. "The dancer.

I prefer natural dance...because everything that comes from nature is beautiful. Like the dance of a hummingbird. Yes, it seems to me that love can be born out of dance if it's really pure, and that's what my story is about, dance and love. I fell in love with a dancer.

But this story can be seen from many perspectives. And like everything in life, and in veterinary medicine... it's always about finding the perspective that best fits the reality.

Paula finishes her yoga practice as she leaves the beach; she has to go to the vet's office early in the morning to see patients. As the hours pass, people, workers and tourists arrive at the beach. In the middle of the morning the music is already installed on the stage and the tourists who enjoy the beach occupy the sea and the awnings under the tall palm trees.

The song "ONE LOVE" by Bob Marley is playing, the blue sky has a bright color that almost melts into turquoise, and the white clouds look like light white mops.In the middle of the beach, a wooden platform hangs over the sand, supported by metal pipes. On either side of the stage are tourists and stalls with awnings in perfect rows. In front of the stage, a small group of young people dance with the sun at its zenith. On stage is Jade, dressed in black spandex that accentuates the curve of her ass, embroidered bells on a green hip belt that decorates the belt that covers her hips, and a turquoise sports bra that reveals the fact that she is not wearing a bra and marks the symmetrical shape of her breasts. Jade dances in front of the girls, instructing them to dance from the stage. The music plays, the Habibi song.

Paula looks at Jade in a photo of Jade dancing that is in her vet's office.

She is Jade Leblond, rebellious, passionate and creative. Yes, I know what you're thinking...and very sensual.

As Paula remembers Jade and looks at her picture, Jade remains on the beach, dancing and smiling. Jade's smile frames her face and gives her infinite charm, she smiles and gives her class to the tourists on the beach.

Paula takes Jade's photo and frames her smile with her middle finger, caressing the glass that frames the photo.

Her mother, Lebanese, and father, Costa Rican, conceived her in Costa Rica and raised her according to the teachings of the Koran. Her family is practicing Muslims. She left the religion of Islam at the age of 16 when she fell in love with an older Costa Rican, Everth. Jade was thrown to the winds by her family when she left her religion to pursue her love of freedom. She has never seen her parents again. Now her only family is Dance, the children she teaches, the turtles and sea creatures she suns, and her beloved Everth.

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