The final riddle leads us down a narrower, rockier path. The ATV bounces hard over roots and stones. In the distance, I spot a family of iguanas sunbathing. I pull over, and Sienna quietly snaps a photo of us with them for the selfie with a local animalsquare, both of us trying not to laugh as they give us judgmental side-eyes.
Then we hop back onto the ATV and continue on our journey to find the final duck—with Sienna mumbling about what this one will be dressed as. Her arms are locked tightly around my waist, her laughter never stopping even as we hit a particularly nasty bump that nearly throws us off.
Then it happens.
The front tire slams into a jagged rock. There’s a loud hiss. Then another. Both front tires go flat at once, and the ATV skids to a sad, tilted stop in the middle of the trail, spitting up rocks and dust.
Sienna’s arms tighten around my waist. The jungle goes suddenly quiet except for the slow leak of air from the tires.
We both stare at the ruined tires.
Sienna is the first to speak. “Oh my God,” she whispers, her voice cracking in disbelief. “Did we just…?”
I kill the engine and swing my legs over. Both front tires are shredded. Sienna slides off, still clutching the rubber ducks like hostages, and walks around the ATV in stunned silence.
She pulls out her phone, holds it high, and spins in a circle. “Zero signal. Not even one bar. We’re completely, catastrophically screwed, Milo. Fucked. Doomed. Toast. Finished?—”
I can’t help but smile. “Are you just naming different adjectives for how ruined we are?”
She stops spinning and blinks at me. “Now is not the time to scold me over adjectives. We’re in ruins, Milo!”
“Can you stop using adjectives for how wrecked we are right now?”
She grumbles something under her breath—probably calling me a few choice adjectives of her own—and the reality of our situation finally settles over both of us.
No signal. No spare tires. No rescue coming anytime soon. Just us, the jungle, and that ridiculous picnic basket I’d teased her about this morning. Funny how the thing I made fun of might actually save us from dying out here.
“So…” Sienna murmurs, looking at me. “We’re really fucked then?”
I nod once, holding her gaze. “Looks like it.”
“Well…” she looks at me with a mischievous look in her eyes. “What should we do until help arrives?”
The jungle suddenly feels a whole lot bigger with those beautiful brown eyes on me.
An hour later,we’re still sitting on the tilted ATV. Sienna has checked her phone approximately four hundred times. I’ve stayed mostly quiet, scanning the trail, hoping for any sign of rescue.
No one has come.
The heat is thick and sticky. Sienna’s hair is frizzing wildly in the humidity, and she’s complained about it far too often to count. But she looks beautiful, regardless. Finally, she sighs, slings the picnic basket over her shoulder, and starts walking into the denser jungle beside the trail.
“I’m not sitting here waiting to be rescued like a damsel,” she calls over her shoulder. “There has to be a clearing or a ridge with signal somewhere.”
Grabbing everything I need, I follow her. We’ve been walking for about ten minutes when she stops dead and tilts her head slightly.
“Did you hear that?” she whispers.
I freeze. At first, there’s only jungle noise. Then I catch it—a low, steady roar in the distance. Water. And a lot of it. Sienna takes off like a rocket, crashing through branches and over rocks, laughter trailing behind her.
“Sienna—slow down!”
She doesn’t. She just laughs louder and tells me to keep up. Not even a minute later, we burst into a clearing so suddenly it feels like the jungle parted just for us.
A stunning waterfall thunders down from a high rocky ledge into a deep turquoise pool ringed by mossy boulders and hanging vines. Sunlight cuts through the canopy in golden beams, turning the mist into sparkling rainbows.
Sienna skids to a stop at the edge, breathing hard, her eyes wide with pure wonder. “Milo…lookat it.”
She already has her phone out, snapping a quick selfie of us with the waterfall behind us. Then she’s moving again—kicking off her sneakers and peeling off her tank top and shorts to reveal the same pink bikini that taunted me during our couples massage yesterday.
