Week 15 Story: The Tourist

As the sun rose over the horizon, Sarah closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. She had been up for hours, anxious for the day to start. She filled her lungs with the cool, crisp November air. She had finally found the peace she was looking for.

Just out of a nasty divorce, she had decided to take a trip to clear her head. For years she had begged her husband to take her to Italy. It was her dream vacation and where her family roots had started out. But no amount of pleading had ever allowed her to take the trip. Anytime they travelled it was to a beach somewhere. Always a beach.

For her 34^th birthday, she was going to travel around the world and see all of the beautiful places she had dreamed about. The cool blue waters of the Trevi fountain. The crumbling ruins of the Coliseum where so much history was made that you could almost hear the roar of the crowd in the ghosts that still lived there. She wanted to take the cheesy picture “holding up” the Leaning Tower of Pisa. She wanted to bask in the sun as she sat outside a small café drinking Italian coffee and eating a pastry made from scratch. She wanted to roam the countryside and meet small families who own vineyards for generations. She wanted to taste their craft and savor the food they made with love.

The day had finally come and she was on her way to the country she wanted to call home. After nearly twenty hours of travel, she had arrived in her dream destination. She had jitters and could barely keep her excitement in. She hailed a cab outside the airport and struggled to communicate where she needed to go. She chose to stay in a hostel to say money so she could enjoy her trip longer. But it was in a small town and she was unfamiliar with the terrain. The driver tried to understand but shrugged and began to drive. She was wary the entire trip, but they somehow managed to make it there in one piece. She hoped this was not how the remainder of her trip was going to go. She thanked the driver and looked up at her new abode for the next three weeks.

Lorenzo and Luca sat outside their apartment deciding what to do for the day. They were both out of work and needed to make some fast cash. They had bills to pay and parties to attend.

That’s when they saw her. A pale, freckled foreigner. She was dropped off outside the hostel across the street, six bags in hand and looked more lost than anyone they had seen in a long time. She would be an easy target for sure!

Luca spotted her instantly and could tell she was American. By her dress and her fashion and the items she carried with her. She knew she had money and would be stupid enough to give some of it up. Luca begged Lorenzo to go to the tourist and make friends with her. Asked him to show her around and trick her out of her money,

Sarah was still taking in the views when a handsome stranger approached her. Although his accent was very thick, he spoke some English. He asked if she needed helped and proceeded to carry her luggage up to the fourth-floor room. He invited to show her around and even asked her if she cared to join him and his wife for lunch. Sarah was more than willing to accept his offer and was thrilled to have found the people of this town to be so nice!

As the evening drew into the night and the hour became late, Sarah realized she hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. She joined her new friends and several other people at a large table filled with all the delights she had craved. Fresh pasta, prosciutto, whole grain crackers, grapes the size of her hands. All washed down by the most luxurious wine she had ever drank. The candles glistened in the night and she could spent the rest of her evenings just like this.

When it was time to say their goodbyes, Lorenzo offered to walk Sarah back to her room. Even though it was just across the street, she took him up on the offer, not knowing what types of people lurked in the shadows in a place like this. During their short walk to the next building, Lorenzo’s posture was out of place. He seemed stiff and closed off.

He began to tell Sarah a sob story of how Luca and him were going to get kicked out of their house if they did not make their rent. How they would be forced to go back home to an abusive family and how scared they were. It was sudden and something didn’t add up with the story. Feeling as if she were now being taken advantage of, she told Lorenzo that she would love to help, but needed to go upstairs to get her wallet. She asked him to stay downstairs because her apartment was a mess.

Not wanting to return, she asked her very kind landlord, who also happened to be the local police captain, to tell Lorenzo to leave. She looked down from her balcony window and saw the exchange between the two men. Heated at first, Lorenzo took the hint and left.

Now each time he passed her in the street, he looked the other direction. Almost as if she had never existed in the first place. She was unsure what her landlord had said to him, but whatever it was, she was thankful. She could not enjoy the rest of her trip in peace and she would always have a watchful eye out for those that wanted to prey on the tourists.

Author’s Note:

The original story that I wrote this from was the Crocodileand the Monkey’s Heart. In the story, the crocodile’s wife begged him to get the monkey’s heart so that she could eat it. The monkey wanted to get across the river so that it could get better fruit. The crocodile, seeing this desire, devised a plan to carry the monkey on his back to the other side. What the monkey didn’t know was that the crocodile planned to drown him, rip out his heart, and give it to his wife. The monkey, being smart, soon found out the plan and told the crocodile that he had left his heart back in the trees from the banks where he originally was picked up. The crocodile, being dumb, believed the monkey and took him back. The monkey jumped off his back and up into the trees and was safe from the crocodile.

For my version of the story, I used a tourist in a foreign country that looked very out of place. Two locals who wanted money thought that they could friend her and con her out of her money. She asked her landlord, the police captain, to get rid of the local so that she could keep her money and be safe. I thought this was a more interesting twist on a story and I’m sure something that happens quite often to tourists in other countries. Hope you enjoyed the read!

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