The suns light fell upon the earth, lighting up the mood of the world as it sung out rejoicing in the presence of the sun. As Rosie sat by the pool and read a magazine on such a fine day she thought she was probably the only person who was not enjoying the day.
The reason she was so dismal when everything around her was flourishing was purely due to the lack of presence provided by another. She sighed as she continued to read an article about how things could be tough for young married couples and she could not help but agree.
Since she was a little girl she had always believed that a honeymoon was supposed to be the most romantic time of her life, filled with making memories with her new husband.
But as she continued to read by the pool Rosie thought about the memories she had made with Max on her honeymoon, or rather lack of them. When they left they went to spend a week with her new in-laws.
That in itself had been an exciting prospect and her new in-laws had insisted that they do lots of activities together, spending time as the new family that they were.
Max had protested against not been able to spend time with his new bride, but Rosie had soon calmed him down saying 'Max, its fine, we have the rest of our lives together, plus some time on the beach after this week is over.'
After she had said that he smiled at her, a loving gleam in his eye, desperately wanting to please his new wife. They enjoyed a week with his family, going to the beach, going on picnics and just being a family, something that Max had missed out in recent years, and generally just getting to know each other.
When the week had ended and they bid their farewells are set off for the romantic part of their honeymoon, the time when her and her husband would spend every moment together, totally in love and inseparable.
Well, that had been what she had believed. Since they arrived at the resort they were staying at she had barely seen Max. He was always at the bar talking or drinking or enjoying having fun without her. Every time she tried to organise for them to do something she would find he had already organised to do something without her.
So she would be left to do something on her own. Being on her own had made her miss her family back home at Leopards Den, thinking about them and what they were doing made it more bearable, easier to get by each day.
And when she did see him, he was always raving about how much fun he had had that day doing whatever it was that he did without her. So in turn she would talk about how much she missed her Dad, and her step brother and Dup, and the animals, and everything that provided stability in her life, something her new husband was not doing.
Then each night they would lie side by side in their bed and they would both stare up at the ceiling until one of the fell asleep, with barely a word murmured between them.
So as she continued to read the article she thought about the decisions she had in the past few days and weeks, wondering if she had made the right decisions. In her heart she knew that she had done the right thing. Max was the other half of her; she knew that they were perfect.
And just like the article said, they would get through this rough spot and everything would be fine between them both, but for that to happen they Rosie needed him to talk to her, talk to her about the baby, about how much he loved her and make her feel special not alone.
One thing Rosie never thought she would do was wish that her honeymoon was over.
[x]
Danny looked over at Alice, hoping that she could not see his fear. When one of the locals called up with a supposed wild dog, Danny could not help but he sceptical. In all his time in Africa he had not even come close to seeing one, hearing of one in the area, not a trace.
So for one to turn up out of the blue had been a big surprise. Not knowing how to deal with an animal made Danny feel very uncomfortable. Something that he did not know however was that Alice was just as uncomfortable in this situation.
'I haven't done something like this before.' Alice whispered to Danny, over the cage that was separating them both.
Danny looked up into her eyes and smiled feeling a weight lift of his shoulders. 'Yeah well don't tell him but nor have I.' Danny said. He looked at Alice and they shared a look that comforted them both knowing that they were both on unfamiliar territory. Danny turned to the man who caught the dog 'You did the right thing not killing it.'
The man shrugged gun in his hand. 'So you know what you are doing then.'
Alice and Danny both looked at each other before turning back around. 'Absolutely,' they both said in unison. He looked at them both before emphasising that he had a gun before walking off in the direction of his wife and children.
Danny looked back over at Alice, giving her a reassuring smile. This wild dog was bringing out a side of Alice that Danny had never seen before, a side to Alice that showed how nervous she was about catching a wild dog, an animal that was notorious for causing considerable damage.
It took time and patience to get the animal into the pen trap that they had rigged up, but it only took seconds for something to go wrong.
When the latch did not close properly Danny's heart sank. Knowing one of them would have to stick their hand in there to fix it he looked up at Alice. He knew that they both knew the dangers of putting their hand in there.
Danny was about to say that he would do it, anything to keep Alice safe. But he was too late and she had already done it. 'Alice be careful,' he said quickly.
But it seemed that he jinxed the situation as the dog bit down of Alice's jumper. Danny's heart sunk lower as he ran around the other side of the cage where Alice was standing, coming to her rescue. Her arm was being yanked around by the wild dog, but finally she managed to get it loose. But both of them were in shock. Danny pulled up Alice's sleeve to assess the damage, and was relieved to find that most of the bite had been taken up by the jumped with only a few scratches on her arm.
Alice, brushing off what happened urged Danny to go back to what they were doing, determined to get the wild dog locked up where it could not hurt anyone anymore.
'Danny,' Alice said, when they finally had the dog and were loading it into the jeep 'Thanks for that, it really scared me when it got hold.' As she spoke she felt the blood rush to her cheeks and hoped it was not visible.
Danny looked up from the rope he was securing and smiled at her. 'I'm a regular super hero aren't I? Don't deny it Alice, I am your hero.' Noticing the awkwardness Danny easily made light of the situation.
But what he did not realise was that he was Alice's hero; she just hoped that he would realise that she was the damsel that he wanted to save not Vanessa.
'Your right Danny, you are my hero, you're a regular superman, saving poor girls like me on a day to day basis.' Alice said, hoping that this conversation would go in the direction she wanted it to and Danny might finally realise that she loved him, and he might realise that she was a much better candidate for the role of Lois Lane.
Danny just looked at her though and brushed off the conversation climbing into the Jeep and turning to Alice 'Rosie and Max get back today, it will be good to have them back today.'
Alice nodded. It was perfect. Not that she resented Rosie or Max, but it was just another couple for her to have to look at and envy.
Little did she know though, their arrival would just be the start of a long line of chaos as Leopards Den…
Well, thanks to those who reviewed cloloveswah, wildatheartfan and Guest, there have been two now, I don't know if you are the same both times or two different people, regardless of that I thank you. I hope you enjoyed, tell me what you think, press the botton below
