The jungle was dense, so muggy it threatened to overwhelm and smother us

The jungle was dense, so muggy it threatened to overwhelm and smother us. We could hear rain pelting the giant green leaves on the banana trees far off our makeshift trail.

"We need to move quickly, Alex. We'll be losing daylight soon."

I looked down at my watch, squinting as a raindrop found its way onto my nose. The scenery never really changing this far into the dense forest, it somehow felt like John and I had been hacking our way in for several days instead of several hours.

"Fine. I'll take the lead for a bit." I slowly made my way around him and took the machete from him. Adventurers had been blazing trails for centuries, but had somehow missed this sacred, untouched wilderness.

The machete quickly fell into a rhythm. Swish, hack! Swish, hack! The discordant sounds lulled me back to the banana trees just beyond our reach. I remembered a trip we went on when I was a small child. My father was working, but for me it was almost a vacation.

Our campsite had been built near a grove of banana trees, and I took it upon myself to frequently run and play among them. I quickly discovered that they made great forts, much to Meredith's dismay. She eventually gave up, though, and those banana tree forts soon became grand halls for hosting tea parties.

"Alex, could you please watch where you're swinging that thing? I should like to keep my head a bit longer, if you don't mind."

The machete felt like it weighed a ton as John broke me from my reverie. My arm felt like it might fall off at any moment. I looked behind me and saw why John had become concerned. The path I was cutting had turned away from our course and was now a couple of whacks away.

I knew John had realized I'd lost my focus. "I was thinking we could stop for a break?"

"Of course," he replied dismissively. I could feel his sigh and knew his eyes were rolling.

I carved a path to the nearest clump of banana trees and settled down within their sheltering leaves. John pulled out sandwiches and the tea thermos Meredith packed for us early this morning.

While I sat, thoughtfully munching on my sandwich in my grown-up tea party, John compared the map and the GPS to confirm that my detour hadn't pulled us completely off-course.

"If we get back on course soon," his voice was laced with annoyance, "we should come upon the temple before nightfall."

"Or we could just stay here," I suggested, stretching out on the ground.

John's annoyance spread from his voice to his face. "Alexandra, we're nearly there. I'd rather just go and get this over with."

"Yes, because you're such a great fan of exploring sites after dark," I replied dryly. "We could set up camp for the night here. It won't disrupt our schedule."

John sighed, "Fine."