The hard rain had darkened the sand to an almost charcoal color and erased any traces of humans from the beach. The only footprints belonged to those of the tiny crabs whose daily trips across the remote beach left tiny trails of their scuttling feet and claws. The surface of the beach was speckled with bright white shells poking through the dark gray of the sand, reminiscent of a clear night sky.
Rolling breakers curled their way onto the sand caressing it with their foaming white tips. Softly serenading the jungle with their crashing sounds; the jungle responded in kind with exotic bird calls. The air was heavy with moisture from the recent storm, tangy salt from the ocean and mysterious musky scents from the looming jungle.
The sky bore the brilliance of the late afternoon sun, a golden flare that shone brightly upon the water and danced beams of light upon the beach and jungle alike. The three continued to dance and play upon each other in an immortal courtship as old as time itself.
Another set of players entered the game as Dawn and Andy made their way across the beach; Andy held Dawn's hand firmly in his right while he led her across the expanse of sand, he wore a T-shirt and board shorts, while Dawn was clothed in more formal attire, a long linen dress with floral patterns that seemed to hug every curve of her rapturous body. Her attire was finished with a long black silk scarf that had been tied firmly over her eyes as a blindfold.
"Where are we going?" She asked leaning towards her husband, the drinks they had shared over lunch having made her more than a little buzzed at this point.
"That would be telling." Andy leaned in for a kiss, finding a soft spot on her neck.
"I guess it would at that." Dawn smiled and surrendered to Andy's lead.
She did not have long to wait, halfway down the beach Andy stopped. He turned her to face the jungle and started to remove the blindfold.
"I present you with our evening retreat." Andy said with a flourish removing the black silk from her eyes.
She stared blinking at the setting sun; not seeing anything but lush jungle and endless expanse of gray sand. She turned to Andy and smiled.
"It is lovely, but we saw it yesterday." She said and then she noticed the mischievous grin on Andy's face.
"Look closer my love." He gestured back to the looming jungle with a sweep of his arm.
"I don't..." She turned and scanned the edge of jungle looking for inconsistencies within its confines. She was about to give up when she noticed the edge of a Papalapa poking past a palm tree. "Oh. I think I see it." She hiked up her skirt a little and headed towards the foliage.
"I think you will like it hun." Andy grinned from ear to ear and followed in her footsteps, marveling her backside as they went.
The moment they crossed through the threshold of the jungle the lighting changed enough to spot the Papalapa in its entirety. It was an old one built years ago, the jungle had almost reclaimed it yet you could still see an amazing view of the ocean and beach. One corner of it seemed lower than the others; its support pillar was slowly being devoured by the sand. Carefully hung over all the openings was mosquito netting, and littered about the inside were lush tropical flowers in mind blowing, vibrant colors. Bright pinks and blues speckled with orange, fiery red with streaks of yellow, long purple ones with blue tips.
"Well, you like?" Andy swept back the mosquito netting to Allow Dawn entrance.
"Hell yes I do! How in the world did you sneak out here to do all of this?" She marveled at the remote Papalapa's decorations and took a moment to take it all in.