Rebecca Alone on the beach at Tulum After It Closed, and after Spraining her Ankle

Rebecca finally lay down, utterly exhausted from the pain. She turned onto her side, and watched the waves for a few moments, clearing her mind, and staying present.

Out of the blue, she thought she saw movement far down the beach from where she was. She sat back up, as her heart started beating frantically out of excitement or fear.

Should she ask for help? Should she hide? Because she was in pain and exhausted, she resolved to keep still until it became evident one way or another. Besides, it could be a crane or heron or other bird that walked the shore.

She watched the figure. Sure enough, the figure seemed to be moving closer to her and getting bigger. She still couldn’t tell if it was a human or a bird. Whatever was making its way down the beach, seemed to have one foot walking in the water, and the other foot walking on land.

That was so interesting to Rebecca, she sat up intrigued. She prayed that if it meant Rebecca any harm, she would remain invisible to the stranger.

She finally decided that it looked like an old Mayan woman carrying a bag full of sticks. Suddenly, the woman changed direction and headed directly for Rebecca. She must have seen her! Although it surprised Rebecca, she didn’t feel afraid.

She asked herself how dangerous an old woman could be. Plus, she didn’t have any energy left to move or hide. She resolved to wait it out. Still sitting up, she leaned against a large rock, and watched the woman approach.

Rebecca couldn’t place her age. The woman seemed to have a wisdom about her, but she didn’t appear to have many lines on her face.

“Hello,” she tried with a smile. Did they speak the same language?

The woman nodded back, and Rebecca saw the woman looking closely at her. She nodded to herself, and seemed to make a decision. She set her bag down with a sigh, and then sat down next to her. Although she was silent, Rebecca felt strangely comforted by her presence, as they both watched the waves together, and the pinks and purples appearing in the clouds as the sun began to set.

After the sunset, the woman took two sticks out of her bag and rubbed them together. Immediately, they burst into flames.

“Wow,” Rebecca said, quite impressed at her technique. The woman set the burning sticks down between them, creating a nice campfire between them. She continued to silently pull sticks out of her bag. She added some to the fire to keep it burning. She also handed Rebecca a stick, and indicated to Rebecca to put it under her makeshift pillow. She didn’t know how that would help, but curious, she obeyed.

Looking back at the fire, Rebecca’s eyes widened. She had never seen flames quite like this before. They seemed to be tinged with blues, greens, and purples. Watching the fire, Rebecca felt hypnotized by the flames, and quite unable to drag her eyes from the colorful flames.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she might have noticed the woman moving around a bit and placing something near the fire. However, she was so entranced by the dancing fire and trying to memorize it so she could paint it when she returned home, that she wasn’t paying close attention.

After a few moments, the woman removed something from the fire. She handed it to Rebecca, who saw that it was a very large shell she was using as a cup. The woman indicated with a hand motion that Rebecca should drink from it.

Rebecca liked to lead with her nose, so she sniffed it, and it smelled a bit spicy. She started sipping the liquid that tasted different from anything she had ever tasted before. It was slightly bitter, but seemed to have a smooth, creamy flavor that was surprisingly tasty. Maybe it was cacao? She drank the entire cup down. She thanked the woman and gave the cup back to her.

The woman nodded and smiled at Rebecca, looking quite happy that she drank it all. Then, she patted Rebecca in a comforting way, which calmed her down even more. They sat companionably together, enjoying the Full Moon that was slowly rising over the ocean.

Although she didn’t realize it, Rebecca must have drifted into sleep. When she awoke, she felt groggy, like she was underwater. As she swam back up to consciousness, she felt like she was disembodied and looking down at herself. She noticed that the woman was taking her ankle and holding it gently by her calf and her foot. Slowly and gently, she moved her foot towards the fire. Before Rebecca knew it, she had placed her foot directly in the flames!

Rebecca shrieked when this happened, but otherwise she was quite paralyzed. Neither could she fight the woman nor remove her foot from the flames. The woman must have been stronger than she looked, Rebecca realized with dismay, as she held her foot over the flames.

Rebecca wondered if maybe she was still dreaming, or drugged, or maybe she was in shock. Because here she was already hurt with a sprained ankle, and unable to leave the beach, and now she had to contend with possible third-degree burns!

What was she going to do? Was this woman crazy?